Ivan Leko

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ivan Leko
Ivan leko-1525200440.jpg
Personal information
Date of birth (1978-02-07) 7 February 1978 (age 44)
Place of birth Split, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Shanghai Port (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–2001 Hajduk Split 143 (33)
1996 → HNK Trogir (loan) 7 (3)
2001–2005 Málaga 79 (4)
2005 Hajduk Split 14 (3)
2005–2009 Club Brugge 98 (21)
2009 → Germinal Beerschot (loan) 30 (4)
2009–2014 Lokeren 122 (12)
Total 493 (80)
National team‡
1993–1994 Croatia U16 2 (0)
1993 Croatia U17 4 (0)
1994–1995 Croatia U18 3 (1)
1994–1995 Croatia U19 4 (0)
1998 Croatia U20 1 (0)
1994–2000 Croatia U21 21 (5)
2001 Croatia B 1 (0)
1999–2006 Croatia 13 (0)
Teams managed
2014 Oud-Heverlee Leuven
2015–2016 PAOK (assistant)
2016–2017 Sint-Truiden
2017–2019 Club Brugge
2019 Al-Ain
2020 Antwerp
2021– Shanghai Port
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10 March 2014
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 June 2006

Ivan Leko (born 7 February 1978) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is currently in charge of Chinese Super League side Shanghai Port.

Club career[]

Leko started his career with his hometown club Hajduk Split and played there for several seasons before moving to Spain to join Málaga CF. In his early senior years, he was loaned to HNK Trogir.[1]

In January 2005, Leko returned for a brief stint with Hajduk; in the summer he joined Club Brugge. On 15 January 2009, he decided to sign a contract for K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot. After his spell at the Antwerp side, he went on with his career at K.S.C. Lokeren.

International career[]

Leko made 13 appearances for the Croatia national football team,[2] and was called up to the squad to participate in the 2006 World Cup, but played no part in the tournament, as Croatia exited in the group stage.

Managerial career[]

Leko made his debut as a manager in 2014, with Oud-Heverlee Leuven, but he managed club for a season.

In 2015 he became an assistant manager of Greek side PAOK FC under the coaching staff of Croatian manager Igor Tudor, who was sacked in 2016. A one-season, 2016–17, he managed Sint-Truidense V.V. and the next two seasons, 2017–18 and 2018–19, Leko was the manager of Club Brugge. He celebrated Jupiler Pro League and Belgian Super Cup in his first season in Brugge. Also, Leko won the title of Professional Manager of the Year. In October 2018 Belgian police interrogated him for corruption investigation.[3]

In May 2019, Club Brugge KV and Leko parted ways. The 41-year-old coach had been with the club since 2017.[4] On 1 June 2019, he was appointed at his new club, Al Ain. In December 2019, Leko left club Al Ain FC after a disastrous home defeat against Al Dhafra FC. Both sides had agreed to end their cooperation after five months of poor play.[5]

On 20 May 2020, Leko was appointed the manager of Royal Antwerp.[6] Taking over the team from Laszlo Bölöni, he led the team to win their first Belgian Cup since 1992, with a 1–0 win against his former side Club Brugge in the final. This earned Antwerp a qualification in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage for the first time in the club's history, where they were drawn in Group J against Tottenham Hotspur, LASK Linz and Ludogorets Razgrad. Leko led the team to a surprising 2nd place finish in the group, with 4 wins and 2 losses, culminating in a 1–0 home victory against Tottenham on 29 October; as a result, the team qualified for the round of 32, where they were drawn against Rangers. In December 2020, Leko left Royal Antwerp F.C. just before the UEFA Europa League match against Rangers and moved to Shanghai Port F.C.,[7][8][9] where he took up his new post with team Shanghai Port F.C., under a 2-year total net 5 million euros contract.[10]

On 1 January 2021, Leko became the new manager of Chinese side Shanghai Port.[11]

In February 2021, Leko was introduced as the new head coach of Shanghai Port F.C. at the SAIC Motor Pudong Arena.[12]

Investigation[]

In October 2018, Club Brugge KV coach Leko was interrogated by Belgian police as part of a corruption investigation.[13][14][15] In the subsequent court case, the judge demanded to know why Leko had received a payment from Dejan Veljkovic's Cypriot account in 2015.[16] In June 2019, former Club Brugge KV coach Leko was interrogated all day as part of the investigation into fraud in Belgian football, but was later released.[17][18]

Managerial statistics[]

As of match played 9 January 2022[19]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
P W D L Win %
OH Leuven 26 February 2014 28 November 2014 32 16 7 9 050.00
Sint-Truiden 1 July 2016 8 June 2017 44 16 8 20 036.36
Club Brugge 8 June 2017 2 June 2019 99 53 24 22 053.54
Al-Ain 2 June 2019 21 December 2019 17 9 5 3 052.94
Antwerp 20 May 2020 29 December 2020 26 14 4 8 053.85
Shanghai Port 1 January 2021 Present 30 17 8 5 056.67
Total 248 125 56 67 050.40

Honours[]

Player[]

Hajduk Split

Málaga

Club Brugge

  • Belgian Cup: 2006–07
  • Belgian Supercup: 2005

Lokeren

Manager[]

Club Brugge

Antwerp

Individual

References[]

  1. ^ http://arhiv.slobodnadalmacija.hr/20021114/sport01.asp
  2. ^ Mamrud, Roberto (16 July 2009). "Croatia – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  3. ^ "Club Brugge coach Ivan Leko interrogated by Belgian police for corruption investigation". total-croatia-news.com. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  4. ^ "Club Brugge bevestigt vertrek Ivan Leko, deur staat wagenwijd open voor Philippe Clement". standaard.be. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  5. ^ "Al Ain and Ivan Leko part by 'mutual consent' after poor Arabian Gulf League run". sport360.com. 21 December 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  6. ^ "IVAN LEKO KOMENDE 2 SEIZOENEN HOOFDTRAINER VAN RAFC!". royalantwerpfc.be (in Dutch). 20 May 2020. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Rangers handed Europa League boost as Royal Antwerp lose their manager to Shanghai SIPG". heraldscotland.com. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Rangers' Europa League opponents Royal Antwerp lose manager Ivan Leko". scotsman.com. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Officieel: Ivan Leko verlaat Antwerp voor Chinees avontuur". sporza.be. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  10. ^ "Le contrat mirobolant qui attend Ivan Leko en Chine". 7sur7.be. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  11. ^ "官方：克罗地亚籍主教练伊万-莱科执教上海上港" (in Chinese). zhibo8.cc. 1 January 2021.
  12. ^ "Ivan Leko unveiled as head coach of CSL side Shanghai Port". china.org.cn. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  13. ^ "Club Brugge Coach Ivan Leko Interrogated by Belgian Police for Corruption Investigation". total-croatia-news.com. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Opgepakte Ivan Leko is wereldnieuws: imagoschade voor Club Brugge is nu al enorm". nieuwsblad.be. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  15. ^ "Bonne nouvelle pour Ivan Leko". walfoot.be. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Club Brugge-trainer Ivan Leko ontving in 2015 geld van Dejan Veljkovic". demorgen.be. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Ex-Club Brugge-trainer Ivan Leko buiten na verhoor, advocaat ontkent dat verhoor over transfers ging". vrt.be. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  18. ^ "Ivan Leko aurait reçu de l'argent lors de transferts et pour aligner certains joueurs". rtbf.be. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  19. ^ "Ivan Leko career sheet". footballdatabase. footballdatabase. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  20. ^ TOM VAN AKEN (13 May 2018). "Club kampioen na een punt in Luik". sport.be. Retrieved 13 May 2018.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""