Matjaž Kek (born 9 September 1961) is a Slovenian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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and former

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who is the manager of the Slovenia national team. In his managerial career, he has won the Slovenian league twice with

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

. As coach of the Slovenia national team, he led the team to two major tournaments, qualifying for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

and

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Playing career

Kek started his career at his home club

NK Maribor Nogometni klub Maribor () is a Slovenian professional Association football, football club based in Maribor, Slovenia. It competes in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top tier of the Football in Slovenia#League system, Slovenian football league system ...

, before moving to another Maribor-based team, Železničar Maribor. In 1980, he returned to Maribor. In 1985 he joined the Austrian club Spittal/Drau, where he stayed for three seasons. Kek then transferred to another Austrian club, GAK of the

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

where he played for seven years. After that, he returned to Maribor, where between 1995 and 1999 he won three Slovenian league titles, before retiring. Overall, Kek made 280 appearances for Maribor in all competitions over the span of eleven seasons. He spent most of his career playing in defense, mostly in the

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position and was known for his leadership abilities. He was capped once by

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, in a 1992

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against

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Managerial career

Maribor

After finishing his career as a player, Kek stayed at

, serving as an assistant manager for one season, before being appointed as manager in March 2000 after Bojan Prašnikar left the club. He immediately won the league title in the 1999–2000 season. He resigned in September 2000 after a 3–1 defeat against Korotan Prevalje. In October 2001, Kek returned to Maribor as an interim manager after Ivo Šušak resigned. A couple weeks later, he was moved to the assistant manager position after Prašnikar took over the managerial role. In September 2002, he once again became a manager of the team, and won the league title in the 2002–03 season. Kek was sacked by the team on 20 September 2004 after a string of poor results.

Slovenia national team

Between 2006 and 2007, Kek was the head coach of Slovenia's under-15 and under-16 youth teams. On 5 January 2007, Kek was appointed manager of the Slovenia national team, which he led to the

after beating

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in the play-off. On 24 October 2011, after the unsuccessful

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qualifications, Kek and the

Football Association of Slovenia The Football Association of Slovenia ( or NZS) is the governing body of football in Slovenia. It organizes the Slovenian PrvaLiga, first division (1. SNL), Slovenian Second League, second division (2. SNL), Slovenian Third League, third division ...

came to a mutual agreement on the early termination of his contract. He was succeeded by Slaviša Stojanović.

Al-Ittihad

On 20 December 2011, Kek became the head coach of Saudi Arabian club

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad may refer to: Sports Football Men Teams * Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia * Al Ittihad SCSC (Tripoli), Tripoli, Libya * Al Ittihad Gheryan, Gharyan, Libya * Al Ittihad Misurata SC, Misurata, Libya * Al Ittihad SC ...

, however, his brief encounter with the Arabian football finished abruptly when he was sacked less than two months later, on 8 February 2012.

Rijeka

On 27 February 2013, after more than a year without contract, Kek took over Croatian top division club

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka (), commonly referred to as HNK Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka competes in Croatia's top division, Croatian First Football League, Supersport HNL, o ...

. He led Rijeka to the group stage of the

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in both the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons. In the 2016–17 season, Kek led Rijeka to their first-ever championship title and the historic

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. He also won the 2013–14 and 2016–17 editions of the Croatian Cup, as well as the 2014 Croatian Super Cup. In the 2013–14, 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons of the Croatian First League, Rijeka finished as runners-up. With over five years at the club, Kek holds numerous club records, including for most wins and appearances for a manager. On 24 October 2016, he became Rijeka's longest-serving manager by single appointment. In June 2017, Kek signed a new three-year contract with Rijeka, which ties him with the club until June 2020. On 7 September 2017, Kek became the longest-serving manager by single appointment in the history of the Croatian First Football League. He resigned on 6 October 2018 after a 2–1 defeat against

HNK Gorica Hrvatski nogometni klub Gorica (), commonly referred to as HNK Gorica, is a Croatian football club based in the town of Velika Gorica, located just south of the Croatian capital Zagreb. They play their home matches at the Gradski stadion Velik ...

Return to the Slovenia national team

On 27 November 2018, Kek was appointed as the manager of Slovenia for the second time in his career, replacing caretaker manager Igor Benedejčič. He managed the team in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers, where Slovenia finished in fourth place with four wins out of ten games. In 2020, Slovenia went undefeated for a record eight consecutive games, and also finished first in Group 3 of the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League C and was thus promoted to League B. In the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers, Kek guided Slovenia to second place in the group after defeating

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2–1 on the final matchday, securing the country's first European Championship appearance in 24 years.

Personal life

Matjaž's father, Franc, played for

during the early 1960s, earning 51 appearances for the club and scoring one goal. His son, also named Matjaž, is a former footballer.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Maribor *

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

: 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99 * Slovenian Cup: 1996–97, 1998–99

Manager

Maribor *Slovenian PrvaLiga: 1999–2000, 2002–03 *Slovenian Cup: 2003–04 Rijeka *

Croatian First League The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

: 2016–17 * Croatian Cup: 2013–14, 2016–17 * Croatian Super Cup:

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References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kek, Matjaz 1961 births Living people Footballers from Maribor Men's association football defenders Yugoslav men's footballers Slovenian men's footballers Slovenia men's international footballers NK Železničar Maribor players NK Maribor players SV Spittal/Drau players Grazer AK players Yugoslav Second League players 2. Liga (Austria) players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Slovenian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Slovenian football managers NK Maribor managers Slovenia national football team managers 2010 FIFA World Cup managers UEFA Euro 2024 managers Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah) managers HNK Rijeka managers Slovenian PrvaLiga managers Croatian Football League managers Slovenian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Croatia Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia