Indrek Zelinski (born 13 November 1974) is an Estonian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and former professional

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

. Zelinski played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Sindi Kalju,

Tervis Pärnu Tervis Tumbler Company is an American manufacturer of double-walled, Thermal insulation, insulated Tumbler (glass), tumblers. The double-wall insulation is made by inserting a liner inside an outer shell, creating a layer of air between them. Th ...

, Pärnu Kalev,

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

Lelle Lelle is a small borough (') in Kehtna Parish, Rapla County, in central Estonia. It has a station on the Tallinn - Viljandi railway line operated by Elron, and until December 2018 was the junction with the former branch to Pärnu. As of 2011 C ...

Kuressaare Kuressaare () is a town on Saaremaa island in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Parish and the capital of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded population on 1 January 2018 was 13,276. Th ...

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

, AaB,

Landskrona BoIS Landskrona Boll och Idrottsällskap ( en, Landskrona Ball and Sports Society, locally referred to as BoIS) is a Swedish professional football club located in Landskrona, Scania, which currently plays in Superettan, the second league tier of fo ...

Frem Boldklubben Frem (also known as Frem, BK Frem or BK Frem Copenhagen) is a Danish sports club based in the Valby- Sydhavnen area of Copenhagen. It is best known for its semi-professional football team. Since its foundation in 1886, Frem has wo ...

and Levadia. Zelinski made his international debut for the Estonia national team in 1994. He made 103 appearances for the team, scoring 27 goals, before retiring in 2010. Zelinski was named

Estonian Footballer of the Year The Estonian Footballer of the Year ( et, Eesti aasta parim jalgpallur) is an annual award given to the best performing Estonian footballer of the respective year. The award has been presented since 1992. From 1992 to 1994, the winner was chosen ...

in 2001, and won the

Estonian Silverball The Estonian Silverball is an annual award by Estonian Football Journalists' Club, given to the footballer for the best goal scored for the Estonia national football team. The award was launched in 1995. Konstantin Vassiljev Konstantin Vassil ...

award three times, in 2000, 2003 and 2007.

Early life

Born in

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet o ...

, Zelinski started playing football in 1985 for his hometown club Pärnu Kalev's youth team under the coach Märt Siigur.

Club career

Flora

In 1993, Zelinski signed for

. He saw limited playing time during the 1993–94 season, but scored a hat-trick in the championship play-off match against

Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid *Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral arm in the Milky Way galaxy Geography *Norma, Lazi ...

, earning his first trophy. Zelinski spent his first seasons in Flora mostly playing for Flora affiliated teams

and

. He became a Flora's first team regular in the 1995–96 season. Zelinski won his second

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (, known as the A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football (soccer), football championship. The league was founded in 1992, and was initially semi-p ...

title with Flora in the 1997–98 season and a third one in the following 1998 season. On 29 July 1999, Flora reached an agreement with English side

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

for the transfer of Zelinski, but the move was foiled by work permit issues.

Lahti (loan)

On 2 December 1999, Zelinski joined Finnish

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkau ...

side

on loan. Zelinski returned to Flora after the one-year loan spell in October 2000.

AaB

On 17 July 2001, Zelinski joined

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

side AaB on loan until 9 December 2001 for a fee of EEK 1.3 million. The move was made permanent on 4 August 2001 for a fee of EEK 4 million. At Aab, Zelinski formed a strike partnership with fellow Estonian international

Andres Oper Andres Oper (born 7 November 1977) is an Estonian football coach and former professional player. He is currently an assistant manager of Estonia national team. Oper played as a forward for Lelle, Flora, Tervis Pärnu, AaB, Torpedo Moscow, Rod ...

. Zelinski scored 13 goals in the 2001–02 season and was the team's top goalscorer in the league. Despite that, we was dropped by the new manager

Poul Erik Andreasen Poul Erik Andreasen (born 17 December 1949) is a Danish ex-football (soccer) player and manager, who managed the Danish Superliga side Aalborg BK (AaB) during their 1994-95 Superliga victory. In 1996-1999 he coached Norwegian Viking FK Viking ...

, and subsequently loaned to

and

Levadia

In January 2005, Zelinski returned to Estonia as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

and signed a two-year contract with Levadia. He was Levadia's top goalscorer in the league for three consecutive seasons from

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, and won four consecutive Meistriliiga titles in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, 2007,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, and

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. In August 2009, Zelinski announced that he will almost certainly retire from professional football at the end of the season. He played his last match in the Meistriliiga on 10 November 2009 against

Paide Linnameeskond Paide Linnameeskond is a professional football club based in Paide, Estonia that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football. The club's home ground is Paide linnastaadion. Founded in 2004, the club has played in the Meistr ...

, where he was sent off in the end of the first half for a professional foul.

International career

Zelinski made his international debut for the Estonia national team on 7 May 1994 in a 0–4 away defeat against

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in a friendly. He scored his first goal for Estonia on 13 November 1996 in a 6–1 away win against

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

. Three days later, on 16 November 1996, Zelinski scored a hat-trick against

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

in a friendly. Zelinski was named

in 2001, and won the

award three times, in 2000, 2003 and 2007. He ended his international career with a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

on 21 May 2010, after a 2–0 home win against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, having made 103 appearances and scoring 27 goals.

Personal life

Zelinski has a daughter, Johanna-Lisa (born 2000), with his girlfriend Sigrit Järvamägi who is a two-time

Estonian Women's Cup The Estonian Women's Cup ( et, Eesti naiste karikavõistlused) is the national women's football cup competition in Estonia. It was first held in 2007. The record for the most wins is held by the current cup holders Flora with eight victories. ...

winner with Flora women's team.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Estonia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Zelinski goal.''

Honours

Club

;Flora *

: 1993–94, 1997–98,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Estonian Cup The Estonian Cup ( et, Eesti Karikas) is the national knockout competition in Estonian football. In 2012, the competition was unofficially rebranded as Evald Tipner's Cup. The winner will compete in UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifyi ...

: 1997–98 *

Estonian Supercup The Estonian Supercup ( et, Eesti Superkarikas) is Estonian football's annual super cup, contested between the champions of the previous Meistriliiga season and the holders of the Estonian Cup. If the Meistriliiga champions also won the Estoni ...

: 1998 ;Levadia *

: 2004–05, 2006–07

Individual

: 2001 *

: 2000, 2003, 2007 * UEFA awards 100 caps: 2011

References

External links

*
Levadia profile
*
Frem profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zelinski, Indrek 1974 births Living people Footballers from Pärnu Estonian men's footballers Estonia men's international footballers Estonia men's under-21 international footballers Esiliiga players FC Flora players Meistriliiga players FCI Levadia Tallinn players FIFA Men's Century Club Estonian expatriate men's footballers Veikkausliiga players FC Lahti players AaB Fodbold players Boldklubben Frem players Landskrona BoIS players Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Danish Superliga players Danish 1st Division players Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Allsvenskan players Estonian football managers Men's association football forwards FCI Levadia U21 players FCI Levadia U21 managers FC Kuressaare players Estonian expatriate football managers Pärnu JK Vaprus managers

Early life

Club career

Flora

Lahti (loan)

AaB

Levadia

International career

Personal life

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Honours

Club

Individual

See also

References

External links