Vid Belec (; born 6 June 1990) is a Slovenian 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 ...

who plays as a

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 ...

for

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

club

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

and the Slovenia national team.

Club career

Internazionale

Signed by

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...

along with

Rene Krhin Rene Krhin (born 21 May 1990) is a Slovenian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Central midfielder, central midfielder. Club career Internazionale Born in Maribor, SFR Yugoslavia (present-day Slovenia), ...

at the age of 16, Belec spent three-and-a-half seasons with Inter Primavera team. In the first season he was a backup for Paolo Tornaghi and won the Primavera Scudetto that season. He also played for Campionato Nazionale Allievi under-17 youth team in the 2006–07 season. In the 2007–08 season, at first he had to compete with Enrico Alfonso for the starting place in Primavera team until Alfonso left the club in January 2008. He then became the fourth keeper of Inter's first team and the first choice in Primavera, which won the 2008

Torneo di Viareggio The Torneo di Viareggio ( en, Viareggio Tournament), officially named the Viareggio Cup World Football Tournament Coppa Carnevale, is a youth association football tournament held annually in the commune of Viareggio, Italy and its surrounding are ...

and finished as the league runners-up. Under José Mourinho, Belec was promoted to the senior team and made his first team debut on 17 July 2009, in a pre-season friendly. He also played at the

World Football Challenge The World Football Challenge was an international club association football exhibition competition featuring club teams from Europe and North America, that was held from 2009 until 2012, when it was replaced by the International Champions Cup. H ...

. In November 2009, he signed a reported five-year contract with the club.

Crotone

On 6 July 2010, Belec completed a loan to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

club Crotone. He made his debut on 4 September 2010 after the first-choice keeper Emanuele Concetti was not available. He then became the starting goalkeeper ahead of Concetti since round 18. However, in the

2011–12 Serie B The 2011–12 Serie B (known as the Serie bwin for sponsorship reasons) was the eightieth season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams will contest the league: 15 of which returning from the 2010–11 season, four of which promot ...

season, his former Inter teammate

Giacomo Bindi Giacomo Bindi (born 2 January 1987) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Early career Born in Siena, Tuscany, Bindi started his career at Arezzo the nearby province. In summer 2003, he joined Internazionale's ...

took the starting place from round 2 to 4, and again since round 10. However, after a 3–0 defeat to

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

, Belec re-took the starting place in January 2012.

Return to Internazionale

Belec returned to Inter during the summer 2012 window after his loan deal to Crotone expired. He was kept as a third choice keeper behind

Samir Handanović Samir Handanović (born 14 July 1984) is a Slovenian professional footballer who serves as captain and plays as a goalkeeper for club Inter Milan. Before moving to Italy, Handanović played in his home country of Slovenia. In 2004, he was acqui ...

and Luca Castellazzi. He made his first team debut on 30 August as a substitute in a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

game against

FC Vaslui CS Sporting Juniorul Vaslui (), commonly known as Sporting Vaslui, Juniorul Vaslui or simply as Vaslui, is a Romanian professional football club based in Vaslui, Vaslui County, founded in 2002 and re-founded in 2014. The club is currently pla ...

to replace

Antonio Cassano Antonio Cassano (; born 12 July 1982) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. A talented and technically gifted player, he was usually deployed as a supporting forward, but could also play as an attacking midfield ...

after starting goalkeeper Castellazzi was sent off.

Olhanense

On 15 July 2013, Belec completed a loan to Olhanense, from the Portuguese Primeira Liga.

Konyaspor

On 1 September 2014, Belec was signed by

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club) is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya. They are better known as Konyaspor. In 1922 Konyaspor were founded with the name Konya Gençlerbirliği and have played at their current home stadium ...

in a temporary deal. On 2 February 2015 the loan was terminated.

Carpi

In summer 2015, Belec terminated his contract with Internazionale. On 31 August 2015, he signed with Carpi F.C. 1909 for one season. He made his debut in Serie A in a win against

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

on 10 October 2015. After debut he became a regular starter in first eleven for Carpi. On 30 May 2016, he signed a new two-year deal with Carpi.

Benevento

In July 2017, Belec signed a three-year contract with Serie A side Benevento.

APOEL

On 23 June 2019, Belec joined

on loan with an obligation to buy after two seasons.

Salernitana

On 25 September 2020, he moved to

club

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recentl ...

Return to APOEL

On 27 June 2022, Belec returned to APOEL on a three-year deal.

International career

Belec received a call-up to 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship elite qualification. He was the first choice in

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 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship qualification 2009 UEFA U-19 Championship (Qualifying Round) was the first round of qualifications for the Final Tournament of 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. The final tournament of the 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship is preceded by two qualif ...

. Belec received a call-up to

Slovenia national under-21 football team The Slovenia national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Slovenia and is controlled by the Football Association of Slovenia. Players Current squad The following players were called up for the friendly matches again ...

in September 2010, he was the backup of Jan Koprivec. On 1 October, he received another call-up against

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, which the team was composed with players that eligible to

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

(born 1990 or after). However he did not play that match. He received a call-up from the senior team in February 2011, after the injury of

, for a friendly match against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

References

External links

Football.it profile

NZS profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belec, Vid 1990 births Living people Footballers from Maribor Slovenian footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Slovenian expatriate footballers Slovenia men's youth international footballers Slovenia men's international footballers Inter Milan players F.C. Crotone players S.C. Olhanense players Konyaspor footballers A.C. Carpi players Benevento Calcio players UC Sampdoria players APOEL FC players US Salernitana 1919 players Serie B players Primeira Liga players Süper Lig players Serie A players Cypriot First Division players Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Portugal Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Cyprus