Josip Ilicic

Josip Ilicic (Croatian pronunciation: [josip ilitʃitɕ]; born 29 January 1988) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Atalanta and the Slovenia national team.

He began his professional career with Slovenian club Bonifika, later also playing for Interblock and Maribor in his home country, before moving to Italy in 2010 to join Palermo. In 2013, he signed for Fiorentina, and subsequently for Atalanta in 2017. He enjoyed his best time as a professional footballer with Atalanta, scoring eleven or more league goals in each of his first three years at the club and was awarded a spot in the 2018–19 Serie A Team of the Year. He is the first player to ever score four away goals in a Champions League knockout match, and is also the oldest player to score four goals in a Champions League knockout match.

Ilicic made his senior debut for the Slovenia national team in August 2010 in a friendly match against Australia. Three years after his debut, he scored his first international goal against Cyprus in September 2013.

Club Career

Early career

Born in Prijedor, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ilicic started his career playing in the youth teams of Triglav Kranj and later Britof from Kranj. At the age of 19, he moved to SC Bonifika, where he played for a season in the Slovenian Second League. It was there when his talent was spotted by Interblock, where he stayed for two seasons playing in the Slovenian top division. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Interblock was relegated into 2. SNL after two qualifications matches against Triglav. Despite being one of the best players of his club and one of the top prospects of Slovenian football Ilicic finished the season as a reserve.

Aged 21, Ilicic contemplated an idea of finishing his playing career altogether, however, a few weeks later he received a phone call from Zlatko Zahovic, the director of football at Maribor, who proposed he should sign for the club.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Йосип Иличич (russian)