Ognjen Vukojević (born 20 December 1983) is a Croatian

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 ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

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 ...

. He is currently the manager of the Croatia national under-20 team, an assistant manager of

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( uk, "Українська Прем'єр-ліга", ''Ukrayinska Premier Liha'') or UPL is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Vyshcha Liha ( uk, Вища ліга, ''Top League' ...

club Dynamo Kyiv, and a scout of the Croatia national team.

Club career

Early career

Vukojević started to play football at Mladost Ždralovi and moved to

NK Bjelovar NK Bjelovar is a Croatian football club based in the town of Bjelovar. Honours Treća HNL – North: *Winners (1): 2003–04 Recent seasons Key *P = Played *W = Games won *D = Games drawn *L = Games lost *F = Goals for *A = Goals ...

before joining NK Varteks Varaždin in 1996, where he would play until 2002, when, after finishing his youth years, he was released by the club. After a season back at

, Vukojević started his professional career at

Slaven Belupo Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo ( en, Slaven Belupo Football Club), often referred to as NK Slaven Belupo, Slaven Belupo or simply Slaven, and known internationally as NK Slaven Koprivnica, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city ...

in 2003. He moved to

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side Lierse S.K. in 2005, but was not given a chance to prove his talent at the club and decided to return to Croatia in December 2005, signing with

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. Dinam ...

Dinamo Zagreb

Vukojević made his debut for Dinamo Zagreb in their 3–0 win at home to Međimurje on 4 March 2006. During the 2006–07 season, he established himself as a regular at the club and was often nicknamed "Dinamo's Gattuso" because of his style of play. In the autumn of 2006, Vukojević also made six European appearances for Dinamo Zagreb, appearing in all of their four

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

qualifiers against Ekranas and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

as well as both of their matches against

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

in the first round of the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. He scored one goal in Dinamo's 5–2 win at home to Ekranas. In the first part of the 2007–08 season, Vukojević appeared in all of Dinamo Zagreb's 12 European matches that season, making six appearances in the UEFA Champions League qualifying and further six in the UEFA Cup. He scored one goal apiece in Dinamo's home matches against

Domžale Domžale (; german: Domschale)''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 24. is a town and the seat of Municipality of Domžale. The town lies ...

and

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

in the UEFA Champions League qualifying as well as both of their goals in the UEFA Cup group stage, netting the equaliser in a 2–1 away defeat at Brann and the opening goal in a 1–1 away draw at

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departme ...

. In 2007–08, he also had a successful season for Dinamo Zagreb in the

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, it was called Prva ...

, scoring 11 goals in 29 league appearances as the club won their third consecutive league title. During his time at Dinamo Zagreb, the club also won two consecutive

Croatian Football Cup The Hrvatski nogometni kup ( eng, Croatian football cup), also colloquially known as Rabuzinovo sunce (), is an annually held football tournament for Croatian football clubs and is the second most important competition in Croatian football after t ...

titles.

Dynamo Kyiv

On 26 May 2008, Vukojević signed a five-year contract with Dynamo Kyiv. He made his

debut on 19 July 2008 in Dynamo Kyiv's 2–0 win at home to

Illichivets Football Club Mariupol ( uk, Футбольний клуб "Маріуполь" ) was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Mariupol, that competed in the Ukrainian Premier League. The club ceased to exist as a result of the Siege o ...

and quickly established himself as a regular at the club. Vukojević also helped Dynamo Kyiv reaching the UEFA Champions League group stage, appearing in all of their four qualifiers against

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...

and Spartak Moscow. In his first match in the UEFA Champions League group stage, a 1–1 draw at home to Arsenal, he won a penalty after being fouled by

Bacary Sagna Bacary Sagna (born 14 February 1983) is a French former professional footballer who played as a right back and is mostly known for his time at Arsenal. He also played for the France national football team. Sagna's former manager at Arsenal, A ...

, with

Ismaël Bangoura Ismaël Bangoura (born 2 January 1985) is a Guinean former footballer who played as a forward. Although his primary position is striker, Bangoura has also played as a winger and attacking midfielder. Club career Early career Bangoura bega ...

scoring the opening goal of the match from the penalty. On 4 October 2008, Vukojević scored his first goal for Dynamo Kyiv, netting the opening goal in their 4–0 away win at

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

in the Ukrainian Premier League. He went on to appear in all of Dynamo Kyiv's six UEFA Champions League group matches, helping the club to finish third in their group and continue their European campaign in the UEFA Cup. He continued to appear regularly in the competition and scored his first European goal for Dynamo Kyiv on 12 March 2009 in the first leg of their round of 16 tie against

Metalist Kharkiv Football Club Metalist Kharkiv ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб Металі́ст Ха́рків ) is a Ukrainian football club based in Kharkiv that plays in the Ukrainian First League during the 2021–22 season. It was revived 5 years ...

, netting the only goal in his team's 1–0 victory. He missed the second leg due to a yellow-card suspension as Dynamo won the tie on away goals and secured their place in the quarter-finals. During the quarter final second leg against Paris Saint Germain, he scored the final goal in a 3–0 win, helping the side to a 3–0 aggregate win.

Spartak Moscow

After losing his position in the starting line-up of Dynamo Kyiv, Vukojević was sent on a loan to Russian side Spartak Moscow until the end of the season 2012–13.

Dinamo Zagreb

On 11 August 2014, Vukojević joined

on a season-long loan.

International career

Vukojević was first called up to the Croatia national team in August 2007. He made his international debut on 16 October 2007 in Croatia's 3–0 win in a friendly match against

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

, coming on as a half-time substitute and scoring his first international goal only two minutes into the second half to give Croatia a 2–0 lead. His competitive debut for Croatia came in their 2–0 away defeat at Macedonia in the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of Europea ...

qualifiers, where he came off the bench to replace

Niko Kranjčar Niko Kranjčar (; born 13 August 1984) is a Croatian former professional footballer. He primarily played as an attacking midfielder, but could also operate as a winger or second striker. As of 5 May 2021, he works as an assistant to Josip Šimu ...

in the final 15 minutes of the game. Vukojević was also part of Croatia's squad at the UEFA Euro 2008 finals in

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 ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, where he appeared in two of the team's four matches. He came on as a late substitute for

Ivica Olić Ivica Olić (; born 14 September 1979) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is an assistant coach of the Croatia national team. During his career, he played for German Bundesliga clubs such as Hamburger SV, VfL Wolf ...

in Croatia's opening match against

and played all 90 minutes in their final group match against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Croatia won both of these matches 1–0. He made his first appearance in 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 ...

qualifiers in Croatia's goalless draw at

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

on 11 October 2008 and also appeared in their 4–0 win at home to

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 ...

four days later, being in the starting line-up for both of these matches. On 27 June 2014, Vukojević announced his retirement from the Croatia national team. He earned a total of 55 caps, scoring 4 goals, and his final international was a May 2014

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...

International goals

Managerial career

On 10 May 2019, Vukojević was named the manager of the Croatia national under-20 team.

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb *

: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2014–15 *

: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2014–15 * Croatian Football Super Cup:

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 votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

Dynamo Kyiv *

: 2008–09 * Ukrainian Cup: 2013–14 *

Ukrainian Super Cup The Ukrainian Super Cup ( uk , Суперкубок України) is an association football game of the Ukrainian Premier League in traditional super cup format that acts as the grand-opening for every new football competition season in Ukr ...

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; Protests ...

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 celebrates ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vukojevic, Ognjen 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Bjelovar Association football midfielders Croatian footballers Croatia under-21 international footballers Croatia international footballers UEFA Euro 2008 players UEFA Euro 2012 players 2014 FIFA World Cup players NK Bjelovar players NK Slaven Belupo players Lierse S.K. players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players FC Dynamo Kyiv players FC Spartak Moscow players FK Austria Wien players Second Football League (Croatia) players Croatian Football League players Belgian Pro League players Ukrainian Premier League players Russian Premier League players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Croatian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Austria Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Russia FC Dynamo Kyiv non-playing staff