Boštjan Cesar

Boštjan Cesar
Cesar with Chievo in 2013
Personal information
Full name Boštjan Cesar[1]
Date of birth (1982-07-09) 9 July 1982 (age 42)
Place of birth Ljubljana, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Maribor (head coach)
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
2022–2024 Slovenia (assistant)
2024– Maribor
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Boštjan Cesar (born 9 July 1982) is a Slovenian professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. Since October 2024, he is the manager of Slovenian PrvaLiga club Maribor.

Besides Slovenia, Cesar played in 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

[edit]

Cesar joined Marseille from Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb in 2005 for a reported transfer fee of 2.5€ million.[4] He then joined West Bromwich Albion on a season-long loan in August 2007, with an option for a permanent move.[5] Cesar made his debut for West Bromwich in a 1–0 League Cup victory over Bournemouth on 14 August 2007.[6] His league debut came more than two months later when West Bromwich defeated Blackpool 2–1 on 23 October 2007.[7] He scored his only West Bromwich goal on 2 February 2008 in a 2–1 win against Burnley.[8] Overall, he 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.[9]

Cesar left Marseille in January 2009 and joined fellow French club Grenoble.[10] He scored his first goal for the club in his second appearance in a 1–1 draw against Bordeaux. In May 2010, Chievo announced the capture of his signature on a free transfer; he officially joined the club on 1 July.[11] On 31 May 2011, he signed a new two-year contract.[12]

International career

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Cesar made his international debut on 12 February 2003, playing the entirety of a 5–1 friendly defeat to Switzerland in Nova Gorica.[13] 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.[14] Cesar retired from the national team on 27 March 2018 in a home match against Belarus.[15]

Career statistics

[edit]

Club

[edit]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[16][17][18][19]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Dinamo Zagreb 2000–01 1. HNL 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
2001–02 18 0 0 0 4 0 22 0
2002–03 11 0 0 0 2 0 13 0
2003–04 11 0 0 0 5 0 16 0
2004–05 11 1 0 0 0 0 11 1
2005–06 5 2 0 0 0 0 5 2
Total 58 3 0 0 11 0 69 3
Croatia Sesvete (loan) 2000–01 Druga HNL 7 0 0 0 — 7 0
Olimpija (loan) 2004–05 1. SNL 9 0 1 0 — 10 0
Marseille 2005–06 Ligue 1 17 0 1[a] 0 6 1 24 1
2006–07 7 0 3[b] 0 5 0 15 0
Total 24 0 4 0 11 1 39 1
West Bromwich (loan) 2007–08 Championship 20 1 4[c] 0 — 24 1
Grenoble 2008–09 Ligue 1 15 1 2[a] 0 — 17 1
2009–10 25 0 0 0 — 25 0
Total 40 1 2 0 0 0 42 1
Chievo 2010–11 Serie A 32 3 0 0 — 32 3
2011–12 29 0 2 1 — 31 1
2012–13 22 0 1 0 — 23 0
2013–14 32 1 2 0 — 34 1
2014–15 28 0 1 0 — 29 0
2015–16 31 1 1 0 — 32 1
2016–17 17 1 3 1 — 20 2
2017–18 10 0 0 0 — 10 0
2018–19 14 1 1 0 — 15 1
2019–20 Serie B 21 0 0 0 — 21 0
Total 236 7 11 2 0 0 247 9
Career total 394 12 22 2 22 1 438 15
  1. ^ a b 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

[edit]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Slovenia 2003 3 0
2004 6 1
2005 7 0
2006 4 1
2007 6 0
2008 6 0
2009 9 0
2010 11 2
2011 8 0
2012 6 1
2013 8 1
2014 7 0
2015 8 3
2016 6 1
2017 5 0
2018 1 0
Total 101 10
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
1 9 October 2004 Arena Petrol, Celje, Slovenia  Italy 1–0 1–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 11 October 2006 Dinamo Stadium, Minsk, Belarus  Belarus 1–1 2–4 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
3 3 March 2010 Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia  Qatar 2–0 4–1 Friendly
4 17 November 2010 Bonifika, Koper, Slovenia  Georgia 1–0 1–2 Friendly
5 15 August 2012 Stožice, Ljubljana, Slovenia  Romania 1–0 4–3 Friendly
6 7 June 2013 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Iceland 3–2 4–2 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
7 5 September 2015 St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland   Switzerland 2–0 2–3 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
8 12 October 2015 San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino  San Marino 1–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
9 17 November 2015 Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia  Ukraine 1–0 1–1 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
10 4 September 2016 LFF Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania  Lithuania 2–2 2–2 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

[edit]

Dinamo Zagreb

Marseille

West Bromwich Albion

See also

[edit]

Notes

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  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. ^ "Ime koga ali česa je Boštjan Cesar". maribor24.si (in Slovenian). 14 October 2024. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Baggies sign Marseille defender". BBC Sport. 2 August 2007. Retrieved 7 August 2007.
  6. ^ "WBA vs Bournemouth". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 14 August 2007. Archived from the original on 6 January 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2007.
  7. ^ "WBA vs Blackpool". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 23 October 2007. Archived from the original on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2007.
  8. ^ "WBA vs Burnley". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 2 February 2008. Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
  9. ^ "Boss won't pursue Cesar deal". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2008.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ "Cesar iz Marseilla v Grenoble". 24ur.com (in Slovenian). 12 January 2009. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  11. ^ "CESAR BOSTJAN: UN ALTRO NAZIONALE SLOVENO PER IL CHIEVO". AC ChievoVerona (in Italian). 21 May 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2010. [dead link]
  12. ^ "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.
  13. ^ "Slovenia 1–5 Switzerland". eu-football.info. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  14. ^ Plestenjak, Rok (8 October 2017). "Kaj car ... Kaj kralj ... Cesar!" (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  15. ^ M. L.; A. V. (27 March 2018). "Ob slovesu Cesarja trpek poraz Slovenije z Belorusijo" (in Slovenian). Ljubljana: RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  16. ^ a b c d e f "Slovenia – B. Cesar – Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  17. ^ "Boštjan Cesar". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  18. ^ "Boštjan Cesar". hrnogomet.com (in Croatian). Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  19. ^ "Boštjan Cesar – Nogometna zveza Slovenije". nzs.si (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  20. ^ "Bostjan Cesar – footballdatabase.eu". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
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