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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1986-11-14)14 November 1986 (age 39) | ||
| Place of birth | Aschaffenburg,West Germany | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position | Winger[1] | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1994–1996 | 1. FC Südring Aschaffenburg | ||
| 1996–2004 | Viktoria Aschaffenburg | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2004–2006 | Darmstadt 98 | 44 | (8) |
| 2006–2008 | VfL Bochum II | 12 | (7) |
| 2006–2010 | VfL Bochum | 25 | (2) |
| 2008–2009 | →Greuther Fürth (loan) | 38 | (4) |
| 2009–2010 | →1. FC Kaiserslautern (loan) | 30 | (4) |
| 2010–2011 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 25 | (6) |
| 2011–2016 | Hamburger SV | 89 | (11) |
| 2016–2017 | Anzhi Makhachkala | 12 | (2) |
| 2017–2018 | Kairat | 32 | (7) |
| 2019 | 1. FC Nürnberg | 3 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2007–2008 | Croatia U21 | 11 | (5) |
| 2010–2013 | Croatia[2] | 8 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ivo Iličević (born 14 November 1986) is a German-Croatian retired professionalfootballer. Born in Germany, he representedCroatia at international level.
Iličević was born inAschaffenburg,West Germany toBosnian Croat parents. His father emigrated to West Germany from a small village nearOdžak,Bosnia and Herzegovina, then part of theSFR Yugoslavia).[3] He began his career in the youth ranks ofViktoria Aschaffenburg, before joiningRegionalliga Süd sideDarmstadt 98 in January 2005. At the club, he quickly became a first-team regular under formerBundesliga starBruno Labbadia and scored eight goals in 44 league matches. As a youth-team player, he played as a forward, but later became mainly deployed as an attacking midfielder.
In the summer of 2006, Iličević joined Bundesliga sideVfL Bochum and made his top-flight debut in the club's opening match of the2006–07 league season, a 2–1 defeat atMainz 05 on 12 August 2006. On 24 September 2006, he scored his first Bundesliga goal, netting the match-winning goal in a 2–1 win at home toArminia Bielefeld. He made a total of 19 Bundesliga appearances in his first season with Bochum, scoring two goals.
In January 2008, he was loaned toGreuther Fürth of the2. Bundesliga, after making just six Bundesliga appearances (without scoring a goal) with Bochum in the first half of the2007–08 league season. He went on to spend a season and a half with Greuther Fürth, scoring 4 goals in 38 league appearances.
In the summer of 2009, Bochum loaned Iličević to another 2. Bundesliga side,1. FC Kaiserslautern, for the entire2009–10 season. He scored 4 goals in 30 league appearances, helping the team to secure promotion to the Bundesliga for the2010–11 season. He eventually signed a contract with Kaiserslautern in the summer of 2010.
He had a great start to the 2010–11 Bundesliga season with Kaiserslautern, scoring two goals and recording two assists in the club's opening two matches, a 3–1 win at1. FC Köln and a 2–0 win at home toBayern Munich. In November 2010, he scored a goal in three consecutive Bundesliga matches. On 20 November 2010, he participated in all of his team's three goals in a 3–1 win at1. FC Nürnberg, scoring their second goal and setting up the remaining two.
On 31 August 2011, on the last day of summer transfer window, Iličević signed a four-year contract withHamburger SV. He made his debut for Hamburg in a match againstSC Freiburg coming in as a substitute in 66th minute. He scored his first goal only seven minutes later by scoring a winning goal for Hamburg. In his first season, his playing period was not consistent due to various injuries, including a torn muscle. He made 18 appearances and scored two goals.
In the2012–13 season, he suffered a hamstring injury in the match againstHannover 96 at the end of September 2012 which sidelined him for almost seven weeks. After recovery, Iličević made his comeback 15 December 2012 (matchday 17) in the match againstBayer Leverkusen (0–3). In the second part of the season, he was sidelined due to a stomach muscle injury for more than ten weeks. Due to all these injuries, the season was disappointing for Iličević, as he made only eight appearances and scored one goal.
Previously, he worn kit number 11 for Hamburg, but afterIvica Olić's departure from the club, he changed his number to 7. Number 11 was then handed back to Olić when he returned for a second stint with the club.
On 24 August 2016, Iličević signed a three-year contract with the Russian sideFC Anzhi Makhachkala.[4]
On 30 January 2017,FC Kairat announced the signing of Iličević on a two-year contract, with the option of an additional year.[5]
On 30 January 2019, Iličević returned to Germany, joining1. FC Nürnberg on a short-term deal.[6] He left at the end of the season.[7]
In May 2007, Iličević received his first call-up to theCroatia national under-21 team, made his international U21 debut on 2 June 2007 in a 2–0 win against theFaroe Islands inVaraždin. In his second appearance for the team, on 6 June 2007, he scored a brace to help them to a 3–2 win againstGreece inZaprešić. He won a total of 11 international caps and scored five goals for the Croatian U21s, with his last appearance coming on 9 September 2008 in a 1–1 draw againstItaly in Varaždin.
On 29 September 2008, he received his first full international call-up forCroatia's2010 FIFA World Cupqualifiers againstUkraine andAndorra the following October, but did not feature in any of the two matches.[8]
He eventually made his full international debut on 12 October 2010, coming on as a half-time substitute forLuka Modrić in a friendly match againstNorway inZagreb, which Croatia won 2–1.[9] On 17 November 2010, he made his competitive debut in a 3–0 win at home toMalta in theUEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, replacingIvan Rakitić in the 69th minute. On 9 February 2011, he scored his first goal in his third appearance as a full international, netting the final goal in a 4–2 win against theCzech Republic, in a friendly match played inPula. He came on as substitute ofNiko Kranjčar in the 64th minute in the match againstRepublic of Ireland.
Iličević was initially listed amongst the 23 Croatian players selected forEuro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine, but was forced to withdraw due to an injury he suffered during practice with the national team, just one week before the tournament. He also missed the2014 World Cup finals in Brazil due to injury. His final international was a November 2013World Cup qualification match away againstIceland.[10]
1. FC Kaiserslautern
