Ivan Robert Vicelich ( hr, Vicelić, ; ; born 3 September 1976) is a former New Zealand professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who is currently assistant coach at

Auckland City FC Auckland City Football Club is a New Zealand professional football club based in the suburb of Sandringham in Auckland, New Zealand. They currently compete in the Northern League (New Zealand), Northern League. Auckland City have established the ...

in the

ASB Premiership The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...

. He is his country and Oceania's most-capped international of all time with 88 caps between 1995 and 2013, and featured at the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

Club career

Vicelich played for

Waitakere City FC Waitakere City F.C. was a New Zealand football club. They merged with Norwest United in 2021 to form West Coast Rangers. They last competed in the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Premier League. History It was formed in 1989 with the purpose of represe ...

and

Central United Central United Football Club is an amateur association football (soccer) club based in Sandringham, Auckland, New Zealand who complete in the NRF Championship. The team was officially called ''Central Soccer Club'' until 1996 when it changed ...

in the

Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Premier The Northern League is a semi-professional New Zealand association football competition. It is a top-tier competition during the winter season, and sits at step two overall. The Northern League includes football clubs located in the northern p ...

before establishing himself as one of the best players for the

Football Kingz 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 ca ...

, when the

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

-based club joined the Australian

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

in 1999. Thanks to the contacts he made through his

colleague, John Lammers, he was able to impress

Roda JC Kerkrade Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. ...

, with whom he signed in 2001. He was a regular player for the Dutch team until May 2006 when he signed a 2-year contract with fellow

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club side,

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional football club based in Waalwijk, that is currently competing in the Eredivisie. Its name is derived from 'Rooms Katholieke Combinatie' ('Roman Catholic Combination' in Dutch) and was established as a merger ...

. He returned to New Zealand and signed with

in the

New Zealand Football Championship The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...

before the start of the 2008–09 season and was a key member of the Auckland squad that contested the

2009 FIFA Club World Cup The 2009 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2009 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament played from 9 to 19 December 2009. It was the sixth FIFA Club World Cup and was played in A ...

in the United Arab Emirates in 2009. In July 2010, following the

in which Vicelich started every one of New Zealand's three games, he signed a short-term deal to play for Chinese Super League club

Shenzhen F.C. Shenzhen Football Club () is a Chinese professional association football, football club that competes in the Chinese Super League. The team is based in Shenzhen, Guangdong and their home stadium is the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre that has ...

for four months. He returned to former club Auckland City FC in December 2010, following a 30-day stand-down period. Aged 38, he received the adidas Bronze Ball as the third best player at the

2014 FIFA Club World Cup The 2014 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2014 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament between ...

in Morocco – at which Auckland finished in a surprise third place – bettered only by

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

duo

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

and

Sergio Ramos Sergio Ramos García (; born 30 March 1986) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint-Germain and the Spain national football team, Spain nationa ...

. He played his last game for

in the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

final which they won against Team Wellington on penalty kicks, qualifying for a record 6 consecutive times to the

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

. Vicelich is now the assistant coach at

International career

Vicelich made his full

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

debut with a substitute appearance in a 0–7 loss against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

on 25 June 1995. He was included in the New Zealand side for the

1999 FIFA Confederations Cup The 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fourth FIFA Confederations Cup, and the second organised by FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Mexico between 24 July and 4 August 1999. It was won by Mexico, who beat Brazil 4–3 in the final. Mexico be ...

finals tournament in Mexico where he featured in all three group games, and again for the

2003 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France retained the title they had won in 2001, but the tournament was overshadowed by the death of Cameroon player Marc-Vivie ...

finals tournament in France, playing in just 2 matches. On 16 August 2008 Vicelich announced his retirement from international football, however on 22 May 2009 he answered an SOS by All Whites head coach Ricki Herbert and was recalled to the national team for the

2009 Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Joh ...

tournament in South Africa, as a replacement for injured captain

Ryan Nelsen Ryan William Nelsen (born 18 October 1977) is a former New Zealand professional football player and former head coach of Major League Soccer side Toronto FC. Nelsen commonly played as a defender, and his professional career began in 1995. He ...

. Where New Zealand would go on to earn their first ever Senior Men's International point at a FIFA tournament after a 0–0 draw with Iraq.n. Vicelich continued to make himself available for selection for the crucial

qualifiers against

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

as New Zealand vied for the right to join football's most prestigious tournament for the second time in their history. Vicelich has played 96 times for the

All Whites The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Footbal ...

including a record 88 official full internationals in which he scored 7 goals, his appearance in the first leg against Bahrain equalling

Vaughan Coveny Vaughan Coveny (born 13 December 1971) is a retired football player who frequently represented New Zealand in international matches. Coveny's senior club career spanned 20 years, with his most notable stint being at South Melbourne during their ...

's then record of 64 official international caps. He went one better in the second leg in Wellington as he helped his country reach the

. On 10 May 2010, Vicelich was named in New Zealand's final 23-man squad to compete at the

. He went on to play in New Zealand's three games there. On 25 March 2011 Vicelich captained New Zealand in their 1–1 draw with China in Wuhan. He would retire from International Football in 2013 after the qualifying process for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

was unsuccessful, his official last game was against Mexico at the Azteca Stadium.

Broadcasting Career

From 2021, he became the analyst with fellow former New Zealand goalkeeper,

Jacob Spoonley Jacob Spoonley (born 3 March 1987) is a New Zealand goalkeeper currently playing for Forrest Hill Milford. Football career In 2005, Spoonley played for Auckland City for two seasons. He left to the Wellington Phoenix in 2007 after a successful ...

, for Sky Sports as New Zealand build up to 2022 World Cup Qualification.

Personal life

Vicelich is of Croatian descent. He is a former student at

Liston College Liston College is a school in Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand, for year seven to 13 boys and offers a Catholic education to its students. It was the second school opened by the Christian Brothers in Auckland. It was named after Archbishop List ...

and Rutherford College, having graduated in 1994.

Honours

Club

With

Waitakere City Waitākere City was a territorial authority in West Auckland, New Zealand; it was governed by the Waitākere City Council from 1989 to 2010. It was New Zealand's fifth-largest city, with an annual growth of about 2%. In 2010 the council was a ...

*Chatham Cup:

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

*New Zealand Football Championship:

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

With

*Chatham Cup:

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

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 ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

*New Zealand Football Championship:

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

With

*OFC Champions League:

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 ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. *FIFA Club World Cup:

(Bronze medal) *New Zealand Football Championship: 2008–09, 2013–14, 2014–15

International

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the OFC member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name ...

*Winners:

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

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; ...

*Runners-up:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

*Third Place:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Individual

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

for services to football,

2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

Oceania Footballer of the Year The Oceania Footballer of the Year award is presented each year to the best football (soccer) player from the Oceania region, as chosen by a panel of football journalists. The award was dominated by Australian players until that nation became part ...

: 2009 *New Zealand Young Player of the Year: 1994 *New Zealand International Player of the Year: 2002 *Oceania All Stars XI 2008 *Auckland Sportsman of the Year 2010 *Auckland Overall Sporting Excellence Award 2010 *Friends of Football Medal of Excellence 2014 *

Bronze Ball:

* Ivan Vicelich has the record number of consecutive participations in the FIFA Club World Cup, taking part in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 *

2014–15 OFC Champions League The 2014–15 OFC Champions League (officially the 2015 Fiji Airways OFC Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Footba ...

Golden Ball *Jack Batty Memorial Trophy (2):

* IFFHS OFC Men's Team of the Decade 2011–2020

Halberg Awards The Halberg Awards are a set of awards, given annually since 1949, recognising New Zealand's top sporting achievements. They are named for New Zealand former middle-distance runner and Olympic gold medalist Sir Murray Halberg. The initial award ...

*Team of the Year

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

*Supreme Award

*NZs Favourite Sporting Moment

Career statistics

Club

International goals and caps

New Zealand's goal tally first.

International career statistics

International goals

References

External links

Ivan Vicelich Interview

*
NZ Football Profile
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vicelich, Ivan 1976 births Living people New Zealand people of Croatian descent New Zealand association footballers New Zealand international footballers Football Kingz F.C. players Roda JC Kerkrade players RKC Waalwijk players Auckland City FC players Eredivisie players Central United F.C. players Shenzhen F.C. players Waitakere City FC players Expatriate footballers in China New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in China Chinese Super League players New Zealand Football Championship players Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands 1998 OFC Nations Cup players 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2000 OFC Nations Cup players 2002 OFC Nations Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2004 OFC Nations Cup players 2008 OFC Nations Cup players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2012 OFC Nations Cup players Association footballers from Auckland Association football defenders People educated at Rutherford College, Auckland People educated at Liston College Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit

Club career

International career

Broadcasting Career

Personal life

Honours

Club

International

Individual

Career statistics

Club

International goals and caps

International career statistics

International goals

See also

References

External links