Ivan Kelava

Ivan Kelava (born 20 February 1988) is a Croatian professional footballer who most recently played as a goalkeeper for Australian A-League club Melbourne Victory.[1]

Ivan Kelava
Ivan Kelava with Melbourne Victory in 2021
Personal information
Date of birth (1988-02-20) 20 February 1988
Place of birth Zagreb, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1997–2006 Dinamo Zagreb
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2013 Dinamo Zagreb 101 (0)
2009–2010 → Lokomotiva (loan) 33 (0)
2013–2015 Udinese 10 (0)
2014 → Carpi (loan) 1 (0)
2015 → Spartak Trnava (loan) 14 (0)
2015–2016 Granada 0 (0)
2017 Debrecen 0 (0)
2017–2018 Politehnica Iași 14 (0)
2018–2019 Inter Zaprešić 14 (0)
2020 Alki Oroklini 11 (0)
2021 Xanthi 0 (0)
2021–2022 Melbourne Victory 27 (0)
International career
2004 Croatia U16 1 (0)
2004–2005 Croatia U17 15 (0)
2006–2007 Croatia U19 12 (0)
2009 Croatia U20 4 (0)
2008–2010 Croatia U21 15 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:54, 22 May 2022 (UTC)

Club career
Kelava in 2008

Kelava played for Dinamo Zagreb's youth teams from 1997, being promoted to the club's senior squad in the summer of 2006.

Dinamo Zagreb

He started his first–team career as the club's fourth–choice goalkeeper and did not appear in any competitive matches during the 2006–07 season.[2] Kelava debuted for Dinamo in the Croatian Cup in September 2007, before eventually making his Croatian First League debut in a 2–1 away victory against NK Zadar on 27 October 2007. By the end of the season he managed to establish himself as the club's second–choice goalkeeper, making a total of 7 league appearances.[3] On 2 October 2008, he made his European debut, replacing the injured Tomislav Butina in the opening minutes of the second leg of their UEFA Cup first round fixture against Sparta Prague.

In August 2009, Kelava was loaned to Lokomotiva, where he established himself as their first–choice goalkeeper and made a total of 33 league appearances.

On 16 September 2010, Kelava kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 home win against Villarreal in the club's opening UEFA Europa League group match of the season. He was the first choice goalkeeper in the 2011–12 season as well, becoming a hero among Dinamo fans after making a number of crucial saves in the return leg of the Champions League play-off against Malmö FF which saw Dinamo through.[4]

Udinese / Granada

On 4 July 2013, Kelava joined Udinese for €1 million.[5] He made his Serie A debut on 25 August 2013, starting in a 1–2 away loss against Lazio. After being a backup to Željko Brkić, he subsequently had loan stints at Carpi and Spartak Trnava.[6]

On 25 August 2015, Kelava moved to Udinese's feeder club Granada CF, mainly as a replacement to Real Sociedad-bound Oier Olazábal.[7] On 29 December 2016, he terminated his contract, after being rarely used.[8]

Later years

On 1 February 2017, Kelava signed for Hungarian club Debrecen on a two and a half year contract.[9] On 15 June of the same year, he joined Romanian club Politehnica Iași.[10] After having spent five years abroad, Kelava returned to his native country on 19 June 2018, and signed for Inter Zaprešić.[11]

International career

Between 2004 and 2010, Kelava was capped over 50 times for Croatia at various youth levels. He won a total of 15 international caps for the Croatian national under-21 football team since making his debut against Chile U20 in a friendly played in Kuala Lumpur on 20 May 2008.[12]

Kelava was called up by Slaven Bilić in the Croatia squad for Euro 2012, but failed to make an appearance in the tournament. Bilić was succeeded by Igor Štimac, who also called up Kelava as an unused third choice goalkeeper behind Stipe Pletikosa and Danijel Subašić for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Career statistics
Kelava with Lokomotiva in 2010

Club
As of match played on 30 April 2018
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Dinamo Zagreb 2007–08[13] Prva HNL 7020—90
2008–09[13] Prva HNL 100206[lower-alpha 1]0180
2010–11[13] Prva HNL 240706[lower-alpha 2]0370
2011–12[13] Prva HNL 2707012[lower-alpha 3]0460
2012–13[13] Prva HNL 3301012[lower-alpha 3]0460
Total 10101903601560
Lokomotiva (loan) 2009–10[13] Prva HNL 27000—270
2010–11[13] Prva HNL 6010—70
Total 33010—340
Udinese 2013–14[14] Serie A 100104[lower-alpha 2]0150
Carpi (loan) 2014–15[14] Serie B 1000—10
Spartak Trnava (loan) 2014–15[14] Fortuna Liga 14010—150
Granada 2015–16[14] La Liga 0040—40
Debreceni 2016–17[14] Nemzeti Bajnokság I 0000—00
Politehnica Iași 2017–18[14] Liga I 14010—150
Inter Zaprešić 2018–19[14] Prva HNL 0000—00
Career total 17302704002400
  1. Appearances in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
  2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

Honours
Dinamo Zagreb
Melbourne Victory

References
  1. "Police cars revolving light FVS EXCLUSIVE Police cars revolving light We can confirm that goalkeeper Ivan Kevala has signed for @gomvfc!". For Vuck's Sake. 30 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  2. "Dinamo Zagreb » Squad 2006/2007". worldfootball.net. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  3. "Dinamo Zagreb » Squad 2007/2008". worldfootball.net. 30 December 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  4. "Malmö je bio na milimetar od čuda, ali Kelava je spasio Dinamo".
  5. "CSM Politehnica Iași, in porta ecco l'ex Udinese Kelava" (in Italian). Tuttomercatoweb.com. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  6. "Kelava, ex portiere dell'Udinese, si svincola dagli spagnoli del Granada". Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). 31 December 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  7. "El Granada incorpora al meta croata Ivan Kelava" [Granada signs Croatian goalkeeper Ivan Kelava] (in Spanish). Marca. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  8. "Goalkeeper Ivan Kelava leaves Granada CF". Granada CF. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  9. "Ivan Kelava pronašao novi klub: Jedva čekam da upoznam nove suigrače [Ivan Kelava has found a new club: I can not wait to meet new teammates ]" (in Croatian). Gol. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  10. "Încă un transfer bifat de CSM Poli Iași » Un portar trecut prin Italia și Spania vine în "Copou" [Another transfer checked by CSM Poli Iasi »A goalkeeper past Italy and Spain comes to" Copou "]" (in Romanian). GSP. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  11. ""Sveti Ivan Kelava" se nakon 5 godina vratio u HNL" ["Sveti Ivan Kelava" returns to HNL after 5 years] (in Croatian). Germanijak. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  12. "Ivan Kelava" (in Croatian). Croatian Football Federation. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  13. "Ivan Kelava". HRNogomet. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  14. "I. Kelava". Soccerway. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
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