Boštjan Cesar

Boštjan Cesar (born 9 July 1982) is a Slovenian retired professional footballer who played as a centre-back.

Boštjan Cesar
Cesar with Chievo in 2013
Personal information
Full name Boštjan Cesar[1]
Date of birth (1982-07-09) 9 July 1982
Place of birth Ljubljana, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Youth career
Olimpija
Dinamo Zagreb
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2005 Dinamo Zagreb 58 (3)
2001 → Croatia Sesvete (loan) 7 (0)
2005 → Olimpija (loan) 9 (0)
2005–2009 Marseille 24 (0)
2007–2008 → West Bromwich Albion (loan) 20 (1)
2009–2010 Grenoble 40 (1)
2010–2020 Chievo 236 (7)
Total 394 (12)
International career
1997 Slovenia U15 2 (0)
1998 Slovenia U16 4 (0)
2000–2001 Slovenia U20 3 (0)
2001–2003 Slovenia U21 15 (1)
2003 Slovenia B 1 (0)
2003–2018 Slovenia 101 (10)
Managerial career
2021 Slovenia U18
2021 Slovenia U19
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Cesar played in Slovenia, Croatia, France, England and Italy.[2] With 101 international appearances, he is Slovenia's most capped player of all time,[3] and represented them at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Cesar signed a three year-deal with Olympique de Marseille in 2005. He joined West Bromwich Albion on a season-long loan in August 2007, with a view to a permanent move.[4] He made his debut for Albion in a 1–0 League Cup victory over Bournemouth on 14 August 2007.[5] His league debut came more than two months later when West Bromwich defeated Blackpool 2–1 on 23 October 2007.[6] He scored his only West Bromwich goal on 2 February 2008 in a 2–1 win against Burnley.[7] Cesar made 24 appearances for West Bromwich in all competitions, but returned to Marseille at the end of the season after the manager Tony Mowbray decided against pursuing a permanent deal for the player.[8]

He signed a two-year deal with Grenoble Foot 38 in January 2009 and scored his first goal for the club in his second appearance; a 1–1 draw against Girondins de Bordeaux. In May 2010, Chievo announced the capture of his signature on free transfer, and he officially joined them on 1 July.[9] On 31 May 2011, he signed a new two-year contract.[10]

International career

Cesar made his international debut on 12 February 2003, playing the entirety of a 5–1 friendly defeat to Switzerland in Nova Gorica.[11] On 9 October 2004, he scored his first international goal to defeat Italy in a World Cup qualifier; it was Italy's only defeat as they went on to win the World Cup.

On 15 November 2014, he made his 81st appearance for the national team, surpassing Zlatko Zahovič as their most capped player of all time.

On 8 October 2017, Cesar became the first Slovenian player to earn 100 national team caps, in a 2–2 home draw with Scotland in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. He was sent off at the end of the match.[12] Cesar retired from the national team on 27 March 2018 in a home match against Belarus.[13]

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[14][15][16][17]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Dinamo Zagreb 2000–01 1. HNL 20000020
2001–02 1800040220
2002–03 1100020130
2003–04 1100050160
2004–05 1110000111
2005–06 52000052
Total 58300110693
Croatia Sesvete (loan) 2000–01 Druga HNL 7000—70
Olimpija (loan) 2004–05 1. SNL 9010—100
Marseille 2005–06 Ligue 1 1701[lower-alpha 1]061241
2006–07 703[lower-alpha 2]050150
Total 24040111391
West Bromwich (loan) 2007–08 Championship 2014[lower-alpha 3]0—241
Grenoble 2008–09 Ligue 1 1512[lower-alpha 1]0—171
2009–10 25000—250
Total 4012000421
Chievo 2010–11 Serie A 32300—323
2011–12 29021—311
2012–13 22010—230
2013–14 32120—341
2014–15 28010—290
2015–16 31110—321
2016–17 17131—202
2017–18 10000—100
2018–19 14110—151
2019–20 Serie B 21000—210
Total 2367112002479
Career total 3941222222143815
  1. Appearance(s) in Coupe de France
  2. One appearance in Coupe de France and two appearances in Coupe de la Ligue
  3. Two appearances in FA Cup and two appearances in EFL Cup

International
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Slovenia 200330
200461
200570
200641
200760
200860
200990
2010112
201180
201261
201381
201470
201583
201661
201750
201810
Total10110
Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cesar goal.
List of international goals scored by Boštjan Cesar
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
19 October 2004Arena Petrol, Celje, Slovenia Italy1–01–02006 FIFA World Cup qualification
211 October 2006Dinamo Stadium, Minsk, Belarus Belarus1–12–4UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
33 March 2010Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia Qatar2–04–1Friendly
417 November 2010Bonifika, Koper, Slovenia Georgia1–01–2Friendly
515 August 2012Stožice, Ljubljana, Slovenia Romania1–04–3Friendly
67 June 2013Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Iceland3–24–22014 FIFA World Cup qualification
75 September 2015St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland  Switzerland2–02–3UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
812 October 2015San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino San Marino1–02–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
917 November 2015Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia Ukraine1–01–1UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
104 September 2016LFF Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania Lithuania2–22–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb

Marseille

West Bromwich Albion

See also

Notes
  1. "FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 4 June 2010. p. 27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  2. Plestenjak, Rok (26 September 2020). "Poglejmo Hrvate! Slovenci bi morali biti bolj prepotentni." (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  3. "Appearances for Slovenia National Team". RSSSF. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  4. "Baggies sign Marseille defender". BBC Sport. 2 August 2007. Retrieved 7 August 2007.
  5. "WBA vs Bournemouth". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 14 August 2007. Archived from the original on 6 January 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2007.
  6. "WBA vs Blackpool". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 23 October 2007. Archived from the original on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2007.
  7. "WBA vs Burnley". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 2 February 2008. Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
  8. "Boss won't pursue Cesar deal". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
  9. "CESAR BOSTJAN: UN ALTRO NAZIONALE SLOVENO PER IL CHIEVO" (in Italian). AC ChievoVerona. 21 May 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  10. "Cesar e Chievo insieme fino al 2013". AC ChievoVerona (in Italian). 31 May 2011. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  11. "Slovenia 1–5 Switzerland". eu-football.info. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  12. Plestenjak, Rok (8 October 2017). "Kaj car ... Kaj kralj ... Cesar!" (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  13. M. L.; A. V. (27 March 2018). "Ob slovesu Cesarja trpek poraz Slovenije z Belorusijo" (in Slovenian). Ljubljana: RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  14. "Slovenia – B. Cesar – Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  15. "Boštjan Cesar". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  16. "Boštjan Cesar". hrnogomet.com (in Croatian). Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  17. "Boštjan Cesar – Nogometna zveza Slovenije". nzs.si (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  18. "Bostjan Cesar – footballdatabase.eu". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
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