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 Runje in 2007 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1976-02-10)10 February 1976 (age 49) | ||
| Place of birth | Sinj,SR Croatia,Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Junak Sinj | |||
| –1996 | Hajduk Split | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1996–1998 | Hajduk Split | 23 | (0) |
| 1998–2001 | Standard Liège | 100 | (0) |
| 2001–2004 | Marseille | 85 | (0) |
| 2004–2006 | Standard Liège | 68 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | Beşiktaş | 32 | (0) |
| 2007–2011 | Lens | 133 | (0) |
| Total | 441 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1993–1996 | Croatia U20 | 8 | (0) |
| 2006–2011 | Croatia | 22 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2017–2021 | Royal Antwerp (goalkeeping coach) | ||
| 2021– | Porto (goalkeeping coach) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Vedran Runje (Croatian pronunciation:[ʋědranrǔːɲe]; born 10 February 1976) is a Croatian retiredfootballer who played as agoalkeeper. A product ofHajduk Split academy, Runje spent the majority of his career abroad withStandard Liège in Belgium,Marseille andLens in France andBeşiktaş in Turkey. With Standard, he won threeBelgian League Goalkeeper of the Year awards.
Runje was also capped 22 times forCroatia national team[1] and was part of the tournament squad at theUEFA Euro 2008.
Runje began his professional career atHajduk Split in 1996, but was unable to become a regular at the firstly team with firstTonči Gabrić, theCroatia national team's back-up goalkeeper at the time, and eventually young prospectStipe Pletikosa being selected ahead of him. He eventually left the club in 1998 and joined Belgian sideStandard Liège.
Runje played for Standard Liège until 2001, being namedBelgian Goalkeeper of the Year in 1999 and 2001.[2] He went on to join French clubMarseille, where he was the first-choice goalkeeper over the following two and a half seasons. He helped Marseille qualify for theUEFA Champions League in 2003 and appeared in five of the club's six matches in the group stage of the competition in2003–04. He was the club's first-choice goalkeeper until December 2003, losing his place following the arrival ofFabien Barthez in January 2004 and making no further appearances in theLigue 1 and European competition until the end of the season.
Runje returned to Standard Liège in the summer of 2004, signing an initial three year deal.[3] During his second spell with Standard, he won another Belgian Goalkeeper of the Year award in 2006.[2] During the summer of the same year, he moved to Turkish sideBeşiktaş. He was the first-choice goalkeeper at Beşiktaş during the 2006–07 season, making 32Süper Lig appearances[4] and also appearing in all of the club's sixUEFA Cup matches during the season.[5]
In the summer of 2007, Runje left Beşiktaş and returned to the French Ligue 1 after being signed byLens.[6] He appeared in all of the club's 38 matches in the Ligue 1 during the 2007–08 season, but was unable to prevent them from being relegated to theLigue 2 after finishing 18th in the top flight. He also appeared in all of the club's six European matches during the season.
Despite rumours that he might be leaving the club following their relegation from the top flight, Runje decided to stay at Lens and eventually helped the club return to the Ligue 1 after only one season in the second division. Runje made 31 appearances in the Ligue 2 during the 2008–09 season as Lens finished top of the league. He kept his place as a regular for the club in the Ligue 1 and went on to make 32 league appearances during the 2009–10 season, only missing the final six league matches of the season due to an injury. Runje and Lens mutually parted ways on 2011, after the two sides agreed to terminate his contract.[6]
Between 1993 and 1996, Runje won a total of 8 international caps for the Croatia national under-19 andunder-21 teams. He also made one appearance for Croatia B in a friendly match againstRomania in January 2001.
WhenSlaven Bilić was appointedCroatia's head coach in the summer of 2006, Runje started to play understudy toStipe Pletikosa in the national team. He made his full international debut on 15 November 2006 in Croatia'sUEFA Euro 2008 qualifier atIsrael, which they won 4–3.[7] His second appearance in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers came in Croatia's 6–0 win atAndorra in September 2007,[8] and he also made further two international appearances in Croatia's friendly matches againstBosnia and Herzegovina andSlovakia during the same year.
Runje was also a member of the Croatian 23-man squad at the UEFA Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland, making his only appearance in Croatia's final group game againstPoland inKlagenfurt.[9] He kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory for Croatia, who played the game with a second string of players, having already secured a place in the quarter-finals after beatingAustria andGermany in their previous two matches at the tournament.[9] His only other international appearance during the year 2008 came in a friendly match atSlovenia in August, where he replaced Pletikosa at half-time.
In June 2009, Runje was promoted first-choice goalkeeper at the Croatia national team after Pletikosa lost his place as a regular at his club,Spartak Moscow. His first appearance in the2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers was in Croatia's 2–2 draw at home toUkraine on 6 June 2009.[10] On 5 September 2009, he produced several good saves to help Croatia secure a 1–0 win at home toBelarus in the World Cup qualifiers, being seen by many as the Man of the Match.[11] He also made several good saves in Croatia's next qualifier atEngland four days later, but was eventually unable to save the team from suffering a crushing 5–1 defeat.[12] He was also responsible for England's fifth goal, failing to make a clearance after a back pass and enablingWayne Rooney to score easily with an unguarded goal in front of him.[12] Runje made a total of five appearances during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, which saw Croatia failing to qualify for the finals after finishing third in their group.[13] Runje's last official appearance for Croatia came in June 2011 against Georgia, where he helped Croatia win 2-1 for aEuro 2012 qualifying match.[14]
Runje is married to his first love Tihana and they have a son Roko. Runje's younger brotherZlatko Runje was also a professional goalkeeper, who last played forNK Hrvace.
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Hajduk Split | 1996–97 | 1. HNL | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 0 | |||
| 1997–98 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 24 | 0 | ||||
| Standard Liège | 1998–99 | Belgian First Division | 34 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | 42 | 0 | |||
| 1999–2000 | 32 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 38 | 0 | |||||
| 2000–01 | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | — | 42 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 100 | 0 | 16 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | — | 122 | 0 | ||||
| Marseille | 2001–02 | French Division 1 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 0 | ||
| 2002–03 | Ligue 1 | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 42 | 0 | |||
| 2003–04 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 24 | 0 | |||
| Total | 85 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 103 | 0 | |||
| Standard Liège | 2004–05 | Belgian First Division | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | — | 42 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | 34 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 39 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 68 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | — | 81 | 0 | ||||
| Beşiktaş | 2006–07 | Süper Lig | 32 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 0 | |
| Lens | 2007–08 | Ligue 1 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 44 | 0 | |
| 2008–09 | Ligue 2 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 35 | 0 | |||
| 2009–10 | Ligue 1 | 32 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 0 | |||
| 2010–11 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 133 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 148 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 441 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 525 | 0 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Croatia | 2006 | 1 | 0 |
| 2007 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 22 | 0 | |
Beşiktaş
Lens
Individual
Royal Antwerp
Porto
