.jpg) Kek in 2021 managingSlovenia | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1961-09-09)9 September 1961 (age 64)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Maribor,PR Slovenia, Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Slovenia (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Maribor | |||
| Železničar Maribor | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1979–1980 | Železničar Maribor | ||
| 1980–1985 | Maribor | 114 | (36) |
| 1985–1988 | Spittal/Drau | 98 | (32) |
| 1988–1995 | GAK | 113 | (19) |
| 1995–1999 | Maribor | 126 | (17) |
| International career | |||
| 1992 | Slovenia | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2000 | Maribor | ||
| 2001 | Maribor (interim) | ||
| 2002–2004 | Maribor | ||
| 2006 | Slovenia U15 | ||
| 2006–2007 | Slovenia U16 | ||
| 2007–2011 | Slovenia | ||
| 2011–2012 | Al-Ittihad | ||
| 2013–2018 | Rijeka | ||
| 2018– | Slovenia | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Matjaž Kek (born 9 September 1961) is a Slovenian professionalfootballmanager and formerplayer who is the manager of theSlovenia national team.
In his managerial career, he has won theSlovenian league twice withMaribor. As coach of the Slovenia national team, he led the team to two major tournaments, qualifying for the2010 FIFA World Cup andUEFA Euro 2024.
Kek started his career at his home clubNK Maribor, before moving to another Maribor-based team,Železničar Maribor.[2] In 1980, he returned to Maribor.[1] In 1985 he joined the Austrian clubSpittal/Drau, where he stayed for three seasons. Kek then transferred to another Austrian club,GAK of theAustrian Bundesliga where he played for seven years. After that, he returned to Maribor, where between 1995 and 1999 he won threeSlovenian league titles, before retiring. Overall, Kek made 280 appearances for Maribor in all competitions over the span of eleven seasons.[3] He spent most of his career playing in defense, mostly in thecentre-back position and was known for his leadership abilities.[citation needed]
He was capped once bySlovenia, in a 1992friendly match againstCyprus.[4]
After finishing his career as a player, Kek stayed atMaribor, serving as an assistant manager for one season, before being appointed as manager in March 2000 afterBojan Prašnikar left the club.[5] He immediately won the league title in the1999–2000 season.[6] He resigned in September 2000 after a 3–1 defeat againstKorotan Prevalje.[7] In October 2001, Kek returned to Maribor as an interim manager afterIvo Šušak resigned.[8] A couple weeks later, he was moved to the assistant manager position after Prašnikar took over the managerial role.[9] In September 2002, he once again became a manager of the team,[10] and won the league title in the2002–03 season.[6] Kek was sacked by the team on 20 September 2004 after a string of poor results.[11]
Between 2006 and 2007, Kek was the head coach of Slovenia's under-15 and under-16 youth teams.[1] On 5 January 2007, Kek was appointed manager of theSlovenia national team,[12] which he led to the2010 FIFA World Cup after beatingRussia in the play-off. On 24 October 2011, after the unsuccessfulUEFA Euro 2012 qualifications, Kek and theFootball Association of Slovenia came to a mutual agreement on the early termination of his contract.[13] He was succeeded bySlaviša Stojanović.[14]
On 20 December 2011, Kek became the head coach of Saudi Arabian clubAl-Ittihad, however, his brief encounter with the Arabian football finished abruptly when he was sacked less than two months later, on 8 February 2012.[15][16]
On 27 February 2013, after more than a year without contract, Kek took over Croatiantop division clubHNK Rijeka.[17] He led Rijeka to the group stage of theUEFA Europa League in both the2013–14 and2014–15 seasons. In the2016–17 season, Kek led Rijeka to their first-ever championship title and the historicdouble. He also won the2013–14 and2016–17 editions of theCroatian Cup, as well as the2014 Croatian Super Cup.[18] In the2013–14,2014–15 and2015–16 seasons of the Croatian First League, Rijeka finished as runners-up. With over five years at the club, Kek holds numerousclub records, including for most wins and appearances for a manager. On 24 October 2016, he became Rijeka's longest-serving manager by single appointment.[19][20] In June 2017, Kek signed a new three-year contract with Rijeka, which ties him with the club until June 2020.[21] On 7 September 2017, Kek became the longest-serving manager by single appointment in the history of the Croatian First Football League.[22] He resigned on 6 October 2018 after a 2–1 defeat againstHNK Gorica.[23]
On 27 November 2018, Kek was appointed as the manager of Slovenia for the second time in his career, replacing caretaker managerIgor Benedejčič.[24] He managed the team in theUEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers, where Slovenia finished in fourth place with four wins out of ten games.[25] In 2020, Slovenia went undefeated for a record eight consecutive games, and also finished first in Group 3 of the2020–21 UEFA Nations League C and was thus promoted toLeague B.[26]
In theUEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers, Kek guided Slovenia to second place in the group after defeatingKazakhstan 2–1 on the final matchday, securing the country's first European Championship appearance in 24 years.[27]
Matjaž's father, Franc, played forNK Maribor during the early 1960s, earning 51 appearances for the club and scoring one goal.[28][29] His son, also named Matjaž, is a former footballer.[30]
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Maribor | 9 March 2000 | 10 September 2000 | 25 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 084.00 | [31][32] |
| Maribor | 9 September 2002 | 20 September 2004 | 80 | 41 | 20 | 19 | 051.25 | [33][34][35] |
| Slovenia | 5 January 2007 | 24 October 2011 | 49 | 20 | 9 | 20 | 040.82 | [36] |
| Al-Ittihad | 20 December 2011 | 8 February 2012 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 027.27 | [citation needed] |
| Rijeka | 27 February 2013 | 6 October 2018 | 275 | 164 | 66 | 45 | 059.64 | [citation needed] |
| Slovenia | 27 November 2018 | Present | 75 | 32 | 27 | 16 | 042.67 | [36] |
| Total | 515 | 281 | 126 | 108 | 054.56 | — | ||
Maribor
Maribor
Rijeka
Slovenia squads | |||||||
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