Andrei Kotnik

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Andrei Kotnik
Personnel
birthday 4th August 1995
place of birth Nova Gorica ,  Slovenia
size 189 cm
position midfield player
Juniors
Years station
2008-2015 FC Koper
2017-2018 →  FC Crotone  (loan)
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
2013-2015 →  MNK Izola  (loan) 32 (8)
2015-2019 ND Gorica 55 (6)
2017-2018 →  FC Crotone  (loan) 2 (0)
2018 →  SD Formentera  (loan) 4 (0)
2019– NK Maribor 13 (0)
1 Only league games are given.
As of December 12, 2019

Andrej Kotnik (born August 4, 1995 in Nova Gorica ) is a Slovenian football player on the position of midfielder . Since April 2019 he has been under contract with NK Maribor with games in the highest Slovenian football league .

Career

Time in Koper and Izola

Andrej Kotnik was born on August 4, 1995 in the town of Nova Gorica, not far from the border with Italy. Little is known about his early career as a soccer player; In summer 2008 at the latest, he moved to the youth department of FC Koper further south . There he went through all youth divisions and came in the 2010/11 season to first appearances in the 2nd Slovenska Mladinska League , the second Slovenian junior league. After further appearances in the 2nd Slovenska Kadetska Liga and the 2nd Slovenska Mladinska Liga , Kotnik came from the 2013/14 season on loan to MNK Izola from the neighboring town of Izola . There he was used in twelve of the 26 possible league games in 2013/14, scored three goals and ranked with the team in fifth place of the western season in the sometimes quite tightly staggered final table. In the following season 2014/15 Kotnik remained on loan with the Slovenian third division club and developed into a core force in the midfield. In 20 completed championship games and five goals, he ranked in the final classification with the MNK Izola in second place of the western season and were only three points behind DNŠ Ajdovščina , who made the way to the promotion play-offs, but one Promotion to the Slovenian second class failed.

Change back home

In the summer break before the 2015/16 season , Kotnik moved back to his hometown and there in the professional area of ​​the local ND Gorica . On July 18, 2015, a few days before his 20th birthday, Kotnik made his debut in the highest Slovenian football league when coach Miran Srebrnič sent him onto the pitch for Jaka Kolenc in the 82nd minute . Then he sat alternately on the bench or came on short assignments until mid-March of the following year. In November 2015 Srebrnič used it for the first time over the full playing time. However, Kotnik's breakthrough only came in mid-March 2016, when he, mostly playing in left midfield, was used in all remaining championship games until the end of the season. Here he also scored three goals and contributed one assist. In total, he was on the field in 18 league games this year. In the attacking midfield, Kotnik was also used in the first and second leg of the first qualifying round for the Europa League 2016/17 . ND Gorica lost both games against Maccabi Tel Aviv . The midfielder made regular appearances until the winter break of the 2016/17 season , but only rarely played for the full 90 minutes. He scored two goals in 17 championship appearances and was on loan to the Italian first division club FC Crotone during the winter break .

On loan in Italy and Spain

With the Serie A promoted team he signed a loan contract with a term of 18 months, with the Italians having the option to buy the midfielder six months before the end of the loan period. Shortly after his engagement, the Slovenian made his Serie A debut under coach Davide Nicola and came on February 5, 2017 in the 0-1 away defeat against US Palermo in the 61st minute for Marcello Trotta on the pitch. After that, Kotnik mainly served as a substitute player and sat on the substitute bench of the Calabrian club until the last game of the season 2016/17 , when relegation was not yet completely guaranteed. In the last game of the season, a 3-1 win over Lazio Rome , which also meant relegation, Nicola put him in the fifth minute of stoppage time due to time play for the Bulgarian international Aleksandar Tonew . This was also Kotnik's only stakes in the highest football league in Italy.

Still active in the Campionato Primavera Girone C in 2016/17 , the highest junior team of FC Crotone appeared in the Primavera 2B in the 2017/18 season . In autumn 2017, Kotnik was used in two games of the Primavera team; Nothing is known about further missions. After FC Crotone had not drawn the purchase option, the Slovenian midfielder returned to ND Gorica after a year, but was immediately loaned to the Spanish third division club SD Formentera . At the club from the island of Formentera , which only recently rose from fourth division , the 22-year-old could not really make friends and played in only four championship games between January and February 2018. In some games he was on the bench without being used and was no longer part of the squad from the beginning of March. At the beginning of April he finally returned to Slovenia early, where he still has an ongoing contract until May 30, 2020. Until the end of the 2017/18 season , however, he was no longer included in the ND Gorica. In the 2018/19 season , however, Kotnik started as a regular player, who was mostly used in central midfield or as left winger. By the beginning of October he had only lost a single league game with the team, but then slipped with the team further and further in the table and had to accept nine defeats and one draw from the following ten league games.

Change to NK Maribor

Only a short time later, when the ND Gorica brought back victories, Kotnik moved within the league to competitor NK Maribor , who signed him until June 30, 2022. The contract with Gorica was canceled by mutual agreement, but Kotnik was no longer allowed to appear for NK Maribor in the current season. Up until then, he had played 20 league games for Gorica this season, scoring one goal and preparing two more goals for his teammates. He also played two games in the 2018/19 Slovenian Cup . At NK Maribor, which was Slovenian football champion for the 15th time in its club history, Kotnik only trained with the team and - as was contractually agreed - was not used in a single competitive game.

After that, Kotnik was used in all six qualifying games for the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League between July and August 2019 , where he was mainly used as a regular and made a goal in addition to an assist . Kotnik, who was mainly used as left winger or left midfield, was eliminated in the third qualifying round with a total score of 2: 6 against Rosenborg Trondheim and then had to go to the fourth qualifying round (play-off round) of UEFA with the team via the champions path Contest Europa League 2019/20 . In the second leg against PFK Ludogorez Rasgrad , who then managed to get promoted to the Europa League due to the away goals rule , he came to a brief assignment. Kotnik also started as a regular in the 2019/20 championship , but had to be content with the role of a substitute player after just a few appearances. Between September and October 2019 in particular, he missed a number of Maribor league games and was only considered as a substitute player with a few minutes played from the end of October. To date (as of December 12, 2019), the 1.89 m tall offensive player was in 13 league games in action, in which he remained goalless. In the Pokal Slovenije 2019/20 he was used in the round of 16 in the 2: 3 defeat against FC Koper and contributed the goal to the early 1: 1 equalization.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b ANDREJ KOTNIK SE SELI V SERIES A! (Slovenian), accessed April 30, 2018
  2. ↑ a b ANDREJ KOTNIK V ŠPANIJO (Slovenian), accessed on April 30, 2018
  3. ↑ a b ANDREJ KOTNIK V VIJOLIČASTEM DO 2022 (Slovenian), accessed on July 7, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Kotnik, Andrei
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Slovenian soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH 4th August 1995
PLACE OF BIRTH Nova Gorica , Slovenia