Branko Ilić

Branko Ilić (born 6 February 1983) is a Slovenian former footballer. Usually a right-back, he also played as a central defender.

Branko Ilić

Ilić in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Branko Ilić[1]
Date of birth	6 February 1983[2]
Place of birth	Ljubljana, SFR Yugoslavia[2]
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
	Grosuplje
0000–2002	Olimpija
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2004	Olimpija	55	(0)
2002	→ Grosuplje (loan)	13	(2)
2005–2007	Domžale	63	(2)
2007	→ Betis (loan)	13	(0)
2007–2010	Betis	21	(0)
2009	→ FC Moscow (loan)	6	(0)
2010–2011	Lokomotiv Moscow	11	(0)
2012–2013	Anorthosis	26	(1)
2013–2014	Hapoel Tel Aviv	29	(1)
2014–2015	Partizan	27	(4)
2015	Astana	9	(0)
2016–2017	Urawa Red Diamonds	0	(0)
2017–2019	Olimpija	41	(0)
2019	Vejle	5	(0)
2019–2020	Domžale	4	(0)
Total		322	(10)
National team
2001	Slovenia U19	3	(1)
2003–2005	Slovenia U21	9	(0)
2004–2015	Slovenia	63	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

In his country, he appeared for Olimpija Ljubljana (two spells), Grosuplje, and Domžale (two stints). He also competed professionally in Spain, Russia, Cyprus, Israel, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Japan and Denmark.

A Slovenian international between 2004 and 2015, Ilić was part of the squad at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Born in Ljubljana, Socialist Republic of Slovenia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Ilić started his career at local NK Olimpija, where he made his senior debut in 2003 against FC Koper. He joined NK Domžale in January 2005, after his former club went bankrupt.

Ilić was loaned to Real Betis in January 2007, becoming the first Slovenian to play for them.[3] His first official appearance came against city rivals Sevilla FC, in a Copa del Rey quarter-final clash.[4] On 4 February he first appeared in La Liga, providing the assist for Robert's goal in a 2–1 away win at Athletic Bilbao.[5][6]

After a positive spell,[7] the Andalusian side completed the transfer for €1.5 million in the summer of 2007, but Ilić eventually fell out of rotation in 2008–09 after the signing of S.L. Benfica's Nélson, in a relegation-ending season where he only featured in three matches.[8]

On 6 September 2009, FC Moscow signed Ilić on loan from Betis, for one year. In late January 2010, however, he was released by the latter,[9] immediately joining another Moscow-based team, FC Lokomotiv.[10]

On 13 August 2010, Sky Sports reported that Ilić was on trial in England with Premier League's Blackpool,[11] but nothing came of it. On 5 June 2013, after one season in the Cypriot First Division with Anorthosis Famagusta FC, he and teammate Jürgen Colin signed two-year contracts with Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. from Israel.[12]

Ilić agreed to a two-year deal with Serbian club FK Partizan on 10 July 2014.[13] The following summer he moved teams and countries again, joining Kazakhstan Premier League champions FC Astana.[14]

On 6 January 2016, Ilić signed for Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan.[15] On 5 February of the following year he returned to his homeland, joining Olimpija Ljubljana.[16]

Ilić signed for Vejle Boldklub in Denmark on 15 January 2019.[17] In July 2020, after a second spell with Domžale, the 36-year-old announced his retirement.[18]

International career

Ilić represented Slovenia at youth level, making his competitive debut for the under-19 team in October 2001 against Greece.[19] He was also capped for the under-21s, playing nine matches in UEFA competitions.[19]

Ilić made his debut for the senior side on 18 August 2004 in a friendly with Serbia and Montenegro. He was included in the squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa,[20] but did not leave the substitutes bench in an eventual group-stage exit.

Overall, Ilić played 63 games for his country,[18] scoring one goal against San Marino in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers (6–0 home victory).[21]

Career statistics

Club

[22][23]

Club	Season	League			National Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Olimpija	2002–03	Slovenian PrvaLiga	13	0	2	0	—		15	0
	2003–04		26	0	1	0	3	0	30	0
	2004–05		16	0	2	0	—		18	0
	Total		55	0	5	0	3	0	63	0
Grosuplje (loan)	2002–03	Slovenian Second League	13	2	0	0	—		13	2
Domžale	2004–05	Slovenian PrvaLiga	13	0	0	0	—		13	0
	2005–06		34	2	2	0	5	0	41	2
	2006–07		16	0	1	0	4	0	21	0
	Total		63	2	3	0	9	0	75	2
Betis (loan)	2006–07	La Liga	13	0			—		13	0
Betis	2007–08		18	0			—		18	0
	2008–09		3	0			—		3	0
	Total		21	0	0	0	0	0	21	0
FC Moscow (loan)	2009	Russian Premier League	6	0			0	0	6	0
Lokomotiv Moscow	2010		1	0	0	0	—		1	0
	2011–12		10	0	1	0	2	0	13	0
	Total		11	0	1	0	2	0	14	0
Anorthosis	2012–13	Cypriot First Division	26	1	2	0	4	0	32	1
Hapoel Tel Aviv	2013–14	Israeli Premier League	28	1	1	0	4	0	33	1
Partizan	2014–15	Serbian SuperLiga	27	4	5	0	9	0	41	4
Astana	2015	Kazakhstan Premier League	9	0	0	0	12	0	21	0
Urawa Red Diamonds	2016	J1 League	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
Olimpija	2017–18	Slovenian PrvaLiga	30	0	4	0	2	0	36	0
	2018–19	Slovenian PrvaLiga	11	0	1	0	7	0	19	0
	Total		41	0	5	0	9	0	55	0
Vejle	2018–19	Danish Superliga	5	0	0	0	—		5	0
Domžale	2019–20	Slovenian PrvaLiga	4	0	0	0	2	0	6	0
Career total			322	10	22	0	55	0	399	10

International

[24]

Slovenia
Year	Apps	Goals
2004	1	0
2005	6	0
2006	8	0
2007	10	0
2008	9	0
2009	1	0
2010	4	0
2011	3	0
2012	0	0
2013	9	0
2014	5	0
2015	7	1
Total	63	1

International goal

Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	27 March 2015	Stožice, Ljubljana, Slovenia	San Marino	6–0	6–0	Euro 2016 qualifying[21]

Honours

Olimpija

• Slovenian Football Cup: 2002–03

Domžale

• Slovenian PrvaLiga: 2006–07

Partizan

• Serbian SuperLiga: 2014–15

Olimpija Ljubljana

• Slovenian PrvaLiga: 2017–18
• Slovenian Football Cup: 2017–18

See also

• Slovenian international players

References

1. "FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010: List of players" (PDF). FIFA. 4 June 2010. p. 27. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
2. "Branko Ilic". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 March 2020.
3. "El esloveno Branco [sic] Ilic pasó reconocimiento médico antes de firmar con el Betis" [Slovenian Branco Ilic passed medical before signing with Betis]. Marca (in Spanish). 25 January 2007. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
4. Melero, Delfín (1 February 2007). "El Betis aguanta el primer asalto ante un perezoso Sevilla" [Betis withstand first round against lazy Sevilla]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2015.
5. "Athletic Bilbao 1–2 Real Betis". ESPN Soccernet. 4 February 2007. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
6. Melero, Delfín (4 February 2007). "Un 'machote' Betis sale reforzado de San Mamés" ['Macho-like' Betis leave San Mamés enpowered]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 April 2016.
7. Cariño, Carlos (9 February 2008). "Si Chaparro quiere, puedo jugar de central" [If Chaparro wants, I can play as a stopper]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2015.
8. "Ilic: "Siempre estoy preparado para jugar"" [Ilic: "I am always ready to play"]. Marca (in Spanish). 12 February 2009. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
9. Ramírez, Álvaro (18 January 2010). "Branko Ilic se desvincula del Betis" [Branko Ilic cuts ties with Betis] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
10. "Илич подписал контракт с "Москвой"" [Ilić signed a contract with Moscow] (in Russian). Sports.ru. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
11. "Pool look at Slovenian, Holloway weighs up move for Ilic". Sky Sports. 13 August 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
12. יורגן קולין וברנקו איליץ' חתמו לשנתיים בהפועל [Colin and Ilić sign two-year contracts at Hapoel] (in Hebrew). One. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
13. "Iliću se konačno ispunila želja da pređe u Partizan" [Ilić finally fulfilled desire to move to Partizan] (in Serbian). FK Partizan. 10 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
14. Бранко Илич – игрок ФК Астана [Branko Ilić – player of FC Astana] (in Russian). FC Astana. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
15. ブランコ・イリッチ選手 加入内定のお知らせ (in Japanese). Urawa Red Diamonds. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
16. Dominko, Peter (5 February 2017). "Obramba zmajev močnejša za Branka Ilića" [Defence of "The Dragons" is stronger for Branko Ilic] (in Slovenian). SN Portal. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
17. Christensen, Lars (15 January 2019). "VB skriver med erfaren slovener" [VB agree with experienced Slovene] (in Danish). Vejle Boldklub. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
18. Viškovič, Rok (21 July 2020). "Čudovito nogometno popotovanje slovenskega Franza Beckenbauerja" [The Slovenian Franz Beckenbauer's wonderful football journey] (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
19. "Branko Ilić". UEFA. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
20. "World Cup 2010: No surprises in final Slovenia squad". BBC Sport. 2 June 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
21. Sever, Grega (27 March 2015). "Slovenia set new record win against San Marino". UEFA. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
22. "Branko Ilić" (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
23. "B. Ilič". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
24. "Branko Ilič". European Football. Retrieved 4 November 2015.

External links

• Slovenian League stats (in Slovene)
• Branko Ilić at BDFutbol
• Branko Ilić at National-Football-Teams.com
• Branko Ilić at J.League (in Japanese)