Tim Matavž (born 13 January 1989) is a Slovenian professional

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 ...

er who plays 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 Croatian club Gorica.

Club career

Matavž began his football career at the age of 6 playing for Bilje. In 2004, he moved to Gorica youth squads. He was promoted to their senior squad in the 2006–07 season and played a total of 30 matches in the Slovenian first division, scoring 11 goals in the process. On 30 August 2007, at the age of 18, he signed a five-year contract for

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

. On 26 September 2007 he scored four goals in

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

in a match against

IJsselmeervogels IJsselmeervogels () is a Dutch amateur football club. With seven national amateur titles IJsselmeervogels is the most successful amateur club in the Netherlands. The Reds come from Bunschoten – Spakenburg, in the Dutch province Utrecht, on th ...

, but later moved to Emmen on loan and remained there until January 2009. On 13 March 2009 Matavž scored his first goal in the

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 ...

in a 2–0 victory over

Roda Roda may refer to: Places *Stadtroda (called Roda until 1925), a town in Thuringia, Germany *Roda, Greece, a village in Corfu, Greece * Roda, Punjab, a town and Union Council of Punjab, Pakistan *Roda, Portugal, a village in Viseu district, Portu ...

. Soon he began scoring for Groningen on regular basis in all competitions. On 24 February 2010 Matavž extended his contract with club until 2013. On 6 February 2011, in a match against Willem II, Matavž scored his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in the Eredivisie. On 2 February 2011, Groningen sporting director Hans Nijland said that Matavž had already agreed terms with

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and that he was looking forward to joining them.
Tim Matavz agrees move to Napoli, 2 February 2011 However, Eredivisie side

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

were also in talks with Groningen to buy him before the transfer window closed. On 31 August 2011, Matavž eventually signed a five-year contract with PSV. On 29 June 2017, Matavž returned to the Netherlands, to join Vitesse on a three-year deal. On 19 July 2020, Matavž joined Al Wahda on a two-year deal.

International career

On 9 October 2010, Matavž scored a

for

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

in the

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012, held in Poland and Ukraine. The draw for the qualifying rounds was hel ...

match against

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

. At the age of 21, he became the youngest player ever to score three goals for Slovenia.

Personal life

Matavž was born in

Šempeter pri Gorici Šempeter pri Gorici ( or ; it, San Pietro di Gorizia) is a town and the administrative centre of the Municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba in the Slovene Littoral region of Slovenia. There is a border crossing into the Italian town of Gorizia. The cr ...

(then part of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

). He is the cousin of fellow footballer

Etien Velikonja Etien Velikonja (born 26 December 1988) is a retired Slovenian professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Gorica Velikonja started to play football at Gorica. Coming through their youth system, he was promoted to the senior ...

. In June 2014, Matavž married his long-term partner Polona. He has two daughters, Tia (born 2012) and Ela (born 2015), and one son, Val (born 2017). Beside Slovene, Matavž is also fluent in Dutch.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Matavž goal.''

Honours

PSV *

: 2011–12 *

Johan Cruijff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

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 ...

Omonia *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...

: 2021–22

References

External links

* * * *
NZS profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matavz, Tim 1989 births Living people People from Šempeter pri Gorici Slovenian footballers Association football forwards ND Gorica players FC Groningen players FC Emmen players PSV Eindhoven players Jong PSV players FC Augsburg players Genoa C.F.C. players 1. FC Nürnberg players SBV Vitesse players Al Wahda FC players Bursaspor footballers AC Omonia players HNK Gorica players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Bundesliga players Serie A players 2. Bundesliga players UAE Pro League players TFF First League players Cypriot First Division players Croatian Football League players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Slovenian expatriate footballers Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate footballers in Croatia Slovenia youth international footballers Slovenia under-21 international footballers Slovenia international footballers