Ardian Kozniku (born 27 October 1967) is a Kosovan-Croatian professional football coach and former player who is the assistant manager of Al-Arabi.
Personal information | ||||||||||
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Date of birth | (1967-10-27) 27 October 1967 (age 55) | |||||||||
Place of birth | Đakovica, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia | |||||||||
Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||
Position(s) | Forward | |||||||||
Club information | ||||||||||
Current team | Al-Arabi (assistant) | |||||||||
Youth career | ||||||||||
0000–1988 | Vëllaznimi | |||||||||
Senior career* | ||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||
1988–1990 | Prishtina | 58 | (17) | |||||||
1990–1994 | Hajduk Split | 98 | (44) | |||||||
1994–1996 | Cannes | 55 | (20) | |||||||
1996–1997 | Le Havre | 30 | (6) | |||||||
1997–1998 | APOEL | 11 | (12) | |||||||
1998 | Bastia | 12 | (5) | |||||||
1998–2000 | Croatia Zagreb | 28 | (5) | |||||||
2000–2001 | Kärnten | 7 | (0) | |||||||
2001–2002 | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 11 | (2) | |||||||
Total | 310 | (111) | ||||||||
National team | ||||||||||
1993–2002 | Kosovo | 2 | (0) | |||||||
1994–1998 | Croatia | 7 | (2) | |||||||
Teams managed | ||||||||||
2014–2015 | Shkëndija | |||||||||
2016–2017 | Vrapče (youth coach) | |||||||||
2017–2018 | Rudeš U19 | |||||||||
2018–2019 | Croatia U19 (assistant) | |||||||||
2018–2021 | Lokomotiva (youth coach) | |||||||||
2021– | Al-Arabi (assistant) | |||||||||
Honours
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
He started his career at Vëllaznimi from Gjakova and was later picked up by Prishtina. He later moved to Croatian side Hajduk Split in 1990 and played there until 1994. He then went on to play for French clubs Cannes, Le Havre and Bastia, as well as Cypriot side APOEL, before making his comeback to Croatia in the summer of 1998, signing with Croatia Zagreb. After two and a half seasons at the club, he made a move to Austrian side Kärnten in the winter break of the 2000–01 season and left the club after only six months for Croatian side Hrvatski Dragovoljac, where he finished his career in 2002.
With Hajduk Split, he was the top goalscorer of the opening season of the Prva HNL in 1992, scoring 12 goals. He scored a total of 45 goals in the league.
He was an occasional member of the Croatian national team in the 1990s, making seven international caps and scoring two goals. He made his international debut in a friendly match against Slovakia in April 1994 and also made three appearances in Croatia's qualifying campaign for the UEFA Euro 1996, scoring one goal. He was a member of Croatia's bronze medal-winning squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, but was left an unused substitute in all of the team's seven matches at the tournament. His last match for Croatia was a friendly against Australia in early June 1998, during the team's preparations for the upcoming World Cup, where he also netted one goal in his team's 7–0 victory.[1]
He also played for Kosovo in unofficial friendly matches against Albania on 14 February 1993 and again on 7 September 2002 against Albania.[2][3]
In September 2014 Kozniku became a coach of Shkëndija.[4]
Kozniku has served two years as the president of the Croatian Diving Federation.[5] His daughter Diana (born 1995[6]), a diver, placed 11th in 1 m springboard at the 2010 European Aquatics Championships.[5]
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
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1 | 9 October 1994 | Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia | ![]() |
2–0 | 2–0 | Euro 1996 Qualifying |
2 | 6 June 1998 | Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia | ![]() |
6–0 | 7–0 | Friendly |
a. | ^ Albanian spelling: Ardian Kozniku, Serbian spelling: Ardijan Kozniku, Ардијан Кознику. |
b. | ^ The political status of Kosovo is disputed. Having unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, Kosovo is formally recognised as an independent state by 101 UN member states (with another 13 states recognising it at some point but then withdrawing their recognition) and 92 states not recognizing it, while Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. |
![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (November 2011) |
Croatian First Football League top scorers | |
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Croatia squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup third place | ||
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Ardian Kozniku – Managerial positions | |||||
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