 Vukojević withDynamo Kyiv in 2011 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ognjen Vukojević[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1983-12-20)20 December 1983 (age 41)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Bjelovar,SR Croatia,Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder,Centre back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Croatia U20 (manager) Croatia (scout) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Mladost Ždralovi | |||
| Bjelovar | |||
| 1996-2002 | Varteks Varaždin | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2002–2003 | Bjelovar | 7 | (0) |
| 2003–2005 | Slaven Belupo | 53 | (5) |
| 2005 | Lierse | 9 | (0) |
| 2006–2008 | Dinamo Zagreb | 66 | (11) |
| 2008–2015 | Dynamo Kyiv | 141 | (10) |
| 2013 | →Spartak Moscow (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | →Dinamo Zagreb (loan) | 17 | (0) |
| 2015–2017 | Austria Wien | 22 | (1) |
| Total | 324 | (27) | |
| International career | |||
| 2003–2005 | Croatia U21 | 17 | (3) |
| 2007–2014 | Croatia | 55 | (4) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2017–2020 | Dynamo Kyiv (scout) | ||
| 2018– | Croatia (scout) | ||
| 2019– | Croatia U20 (Head coach) | ||
| 2020–2022 | Dynamo Kyiv (assistant) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ognjen Vukojević (born 20 December 1983) is a Croatianfootballmanager and former professionalfootball defender. He is currently the manager of theCroatia national under-20 team, an assistant manager ofUkrainian Premier League clubDynamo Kyiv, and a scout of theCroatia national team.[2]
Vukojević's playing career spanned 15 years across football clubs in Croatia, Belgium, Ukraine, Russia and Austria, as well as seven years with his national team, representing Croatia at twoUEFA European Championships and the2014 FIFA World Cup.
Vukojević started to play football at Mladost Ždralovi[3] and moved toNK Bjelovar before joiningNK Varteks Varaždin in 1996, where he would play until 2002, when, after finishing his youth years, he was released by the club.[4]
After a season back atNK Bjelovar, Vukojević started his professional career atSlaven Belupo in 2003. He moved toBelgian sideLierse S.K. in 2005, but was not given a chance to prove his talent at the club and decided to return to Croatia in December 2005, signing withDinamo Zagreb.
Vukojević made his debut for Dinamo Zagreb in their 3–0 win at home toMeđimurje on 4 March 2006. During the 2006–07 season, he established himself as a regular at the club and was often nicknamed "Dinamo'sGattuso" because of his style of play.
In the autumn of 2006, Vukojević also made six European appearances for Dinamo Zagreb, appearing in all of their fourUEFA Champions League qualifiers againstEkranas andArsenal as well as both of their matches againstAuxerre in the first round of theUEFA Cup. He scored one goal in Dinamo's 5–2 win at home to Ekranas.
In the first part of the 2007–08 season, Vukojević appeared in all of Dinamo Zagreb's 12 European matches that season, making six appearances in the UEFA Champions League qualifying and further six in the UEFA Cup. He scored one goal apiece in Dinamo's home matches againstDomžale andWerder Bremen in the UEFA Champions League qualifying as well as both of their goals in the UEFA Cup group stage, netting the equaliser in a 2–1 away defeat atBrann and the opening goal in a 1–1 away draw atRennes.
In 2007–08, he also had a successful season for Dinamo Zagreb in thePrva HNL, scoring 11 goals in 29 league appearances as the club won their third consecutive league title. During his time at Dinamo Zagreb, the club also won two consecutiveCroatian Football Cup titles.
On 26 May 2008, Vukojević signed a five-year contract withDynamo Kyiv.[5] He made hisUkrainian Premier League debut on 19 July 2008 in Dynamo Kyiv's 2–0 win at home toIllichivets and quickly established himself as a regular at the club.
Vukojević also helped Dynamo Kyiv reaching the UEFA Champions League group stage, appearing in all of their four qualifiers againstDrogheda United andSpartak Moscow. In his first match in the UEFA Champions League group stage, a 1–1 draw at home to Arsenal, he won a penalty after being fouled byBacary Sagna, withIsmaël Bangoura scoring the opening goal of the match from the penalty.[6]
On 4 October 2008, Vukojević scored his first goal for Dynamo Kyiv, netting the opening goal in their 4–0 away win atKharkiv in the Ukrainian Premier League. He went on to appear in all of Dynamo Kyiv's six UEFA Champions League group matches, helping the club to finish third in their group and continue their European campaign in the UEFA Cup. He continued to appear regularly in the competition and scored his first European goal for Dynamo Kyiv on 12 March 2009 in the first leg of their round of 16 tie againstMetalist Kharkiv, netting the only goal in his team's 1–0 victory. He missed the second leg due to a yellow-card suspension as Dynamo won the tieon away goals and secured their place in the quarter-finals. During the quarter final second leg against Paris Saint Germain, he scored the final goal in a 3–0 win, helping the side to a 3–0 aggregate win.[7]
After losing his position in the starting line-up of Dynamo Kyiv, Vukojević was sent on a loan to Russian sideSpartak Moscow until the end of the season 2012–13.[8]
On 11 August 2014, Vukojević joinedDinamo Zagreb on a season-long loan.[9]
Vukojević was first called up to theCroatia national team in August 2007. He made his international debut on 16 October 2007 in Croatia's 3–0 win in a friendly match againstSlovakia, coming on as a half-time substitute and scoring his first international goal only two minutes into the second half to give Croatia a 2–0 lead. His competitive debut for Croatia came in their 2–0 away defeat atMacedonia in theUEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers, where he came off the bench to replaceNiko Kranjčar in the final 15 minutes of the game.
Vukojević was also part of Croatia's squad at the UEFA Euro 2008 finals inAustria andSwitzerland, where he appeared in two of the team's four matches. He came on as a late substitute forIvica Olić in Croatia's opening match againstAustria and played all 90 minutes in their final group match againstPoland. Croatia won both of these matches 1–0.
He made his first appearance in the2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Croatia's goalless draw atUkraine on 11 October 2008 and also appeared in their 4–0 win at home toAndorra four days later, being in the starting line-up for both of these matches.
On 27 June 2014, Vukojević announced his retirement from the Croatia national team.[10] He earned a total of 55 caps, scoring 4 goals,[11] and his final international was a May 2014friendly match againstMali.[12]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 October 2007 | Stadion Kantrida, Rijeka, Croatia |  Slovakia | 2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 14 October 2009 | Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan |  Kazakhstan | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3 | 2 September 2011 | Ta'Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta |  Malta | 0–1 | 1–3 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualification |
| 4 | 25 May 2012 | Stadion Aldo Drosina, Pula, Croatia |  Estonia | 3–0 | 3–1 | Friendly |
On 10 May 2019, Vukojević was named the manager of theCroatia national under-20 team.[13]
Dinamo Zagreb
Dynamo Kyiv
Croatia squads | |||||||||||||
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