Željko Pavlović (born 2 March 1971) is a retired

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n football

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Club career

Pavlović started his professional career in 1989 at the club

FK Željezničar FK or fk may refer to: In arts and entertainment: * Flyer Killer, fictional automated robots in the ''Terminator'' film franchise. * Fox Kids, a former American children's television programming block. * Funky Kong, a video game character. Place: ...

from

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

and transferred after three seasons to Croatian club

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

, where he spent one season as understudy to

Dražen Ladić Dražen Ladić (; born 1 January 1963) is a Croatian professional football coach and former player who is the current assistant manager of the Croatia national team. Playing career Club Ladić was born in Čakovec, but grew up in the nearby v ...

and made three domestic league appearances before leaving the club for their city rivals NK Zagreb in the summer of 1994. He spent two seasons with Zagreb as the club's first-choice goalkeeper and then he moved abroad by signing with

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n club

FC Linz FC Linz was an Austrian football club, based in Linz, Upper Austria. History SK VÖEST Linz It was founded on 30 June 1946 as ''SV Eisen und Stahl 1946 Linz'', a factory squad of the public ''VÖEST'' steel company (present-day Voestalpine). In ...

for the 1996–97 season. He subsequently continued to play for

LASK Linz Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as Linzer ASK () or simply LASK, is an Austrian professional football club, from the Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and plays in the Austrian Footbal ...

after FC Linz merged with the club in the summer of 1997. At club level, Pavlović played for LASK Linz until the end of the 2000–01 season and then he left the club for

RSC Anderlecht Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, usually known as Anderlecht (, , ) or RSCA (, , ), is a Belgian professional football club based in Anderlecht, Brussels Capital-Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian First Division A and is the most successful ...

from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. However, he never managed to establish himself as the first-choice goalkeeper in the Anderlecht team in both of the two seasons he spent there and returned to Austria by signing with Wüstenrot Salzburg in July 2003. He spent only one half-season with Salzburg and went on to play for

FC Kärnten FC Kärnten was an Austrian association football club based in Klagenfurt, Carinthia. It was founded in 1920 under the name of KSK Klagenfurt. History Austria Klagenfurt Austria Klagenfurt played successfully in the ''Kärntner Liga'' and in ...

until the end of the 2003–04 season. In July 2004, Pavlović signed with Wacker Tirol and has been the club's first-choice goalkeeper ever since, making a total of 57

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

appearances until the end of the 2005–06 season.

International career

Pavlović made his debut for the Croatia national team playing as the team's substitute goalkeeper in the second half of their friendly match against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

on 26 March 1996 in

Varaždin ) , image_photo = , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shield = Grb_Grad ...

. He subsequently had to wait for more than three years to win his second international cap for the team, playing all 90 minutes in a friendly match against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

on 13 November 1999 at the Stade de France. In 2000, he made three appearances for Croatia in international friendlies before he went on to play the only competitive international match in his career, playing all 90 minutes against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in the Croatia national team's second qualifying match for the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

on 11 October 2000 in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

. He made his last appearance for the Croatia national team in their friendly match against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

on 25 April 2001 in Varaždin. Pavlović won a total of seven international caps for Croatia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pavlovic, Zeljko 1971 births Living people Footballers from Sarajevo Men's association football goalkeepers Yugoslav men's footballers Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's international footballers FK Željezničar Sarajevo players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players NK Zagreb players FC Stahl Linz (2013) players LASK players R.S.C. Anderlecht players FC Kärnten players FC Wacker Innsbruck (2002) players NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac players Yugoslav First League players Croatian Football League players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium