Željko Balen

Željko Balen
Personnel
birthday	October 11, 1990
place of birth	Koprivnica ,  SFR Yugoslavia
size	188 cm
position	Central defender
Juniors
Years	station
	NK Granicar Djurdjevic
0000-2009	NK Slaven Belupo Koprivnica
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
2009-2010	NK Slaven Belupo Koprivnica	0 (0)
2010	TSV Hartberg	5 (0)
2010	SC Weiz	9 (0)
2011	NK Krajišnik Velika Kladuša
2012	SV Kirchberg / Raab	10 (2)
2012	SV Gleinstätten	12 (3)
2013	SK Sturm Graz II	11 (2)
2013	SK Sturm Graz	1 (0)
1 Only league games are given. Status: end of season 2012/13

Željko Balen (born October 11, 1990 in Koprivnica , SFR Yugoslavia ) is a former Croatian football player .

Athletic career

Balen began his career in the youth team of NK Graničar Đurđevac before moving to NK Slaven Belupo Koprivnica . In 2009 he was brought to the first team there before he went to the second highest Austrian division at TSV Hartberg . The Croatian made his debut in the First League on April 6, 2010 against SKN St. Pölten , when he was substituted on by coach Bruno Friesenbichler for Marco Schober in the 78th minute. Then he moved a step down and played an autumn season at SC Weiz .

In early 2011 he turned his back on Austria and played one season in the second-highest division of Bosnia and Herzegovina with NK Krajišnik Velika Kladuša . In January 2012, Balen came back to Austria and played a spring season in the Styrian regional league south (seventh highest division) at SV Kirchberg / Raab, where he was able to make it to the lower league. Then he went to the Styrian national league for SV Gleinstätten , from where he moved on to the Austrian Bundesliga club SK Sturm Graz .

There he was initially active with the amateurs, before he made his Bundesliga debut on May 26, 2013, when he was brought on and played through by coach Markus Schopp on the last match day . The home game in the UPC Arena against SC Wiener Neustadt was lost 3-0.

Web links

• Željko Balen in the database of weltfussball.de
• [1]