Stefan Cebara (pronounced [stěfaːn tsěbara]; born 12 April 1991) is a Croatian professional soccer player.
 Cebara with Canada in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 12 April 1991 | ||
| Place of birth | Zadar, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Right-back, center back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Windsor FC Nationals | |||
| 2009 | Riverside Rebels | ||
| 2009–2010 | Rad Belgrade | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2010–2012 | Zalaegerszeg | 2 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | Celje | 17 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | ViOn Zlaté Moravce | 31 | (2) |
| 2017 | Utenis Utena | 8 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Vojvodina | 5 | (1) |
| 2020–2022 | Valour FC | 54 | (3) |
| 2023–2024 | Europa | 4 | (0) |
| 2024 | El Ejido | 5 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2011 | Canada U20 | 15 | (8) |
| 2013 | Canada | 5 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12 May 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 June 2017 | |||
Early life
editCebara was born in the city of Zadar to a Serb father and a croatian mother and spent his early years in the town of Benkovac. He first moved to Belgrade with his family when he was four,[1] and then to Canada at the age of six.[2] At the age of nine, he started playing with Windsor FC Nationals. He grew up competing in soccer, basketball, hockey, volleyball, and track & field.[1]
Club career
editEarly career
editCebara played for the Windsor FC Nationals before moving to Serbia to join Rad Belgrade.[3] He played with their youth team, although he also had the chance to play a few exhibition matches with the main team alongside future Canada national team goalkeeper Milan Borjan.[2]
Zalaegerszeg
editAfter a year in Belgrade, he moved to Hungary and signed with Zalaegerszeg. He scored in his first-team debut on 2 March 2011, in a Hungarian Cup match against Vasas,[4] however as the youngest player on the team, he divided his time between the first team and the reserve team. Cebara made two appearances in the Hungarian Championship before leaving to join the Canadian U20 team in their World Cup qualifiers. After his return the club, he began experiencing financial difficulties and problems cancelling his contract, so he spent the following 6 months inactive.[2]
Celje
editIn August 2012, he went on a ten-day trial period at Italian club Udinese, however a month later, on 11 September, he signed a two-year contract with Slovenian side NK Celje.[5] He made his debut for Celje on 16 September 2012, in a Slovenian First League game against Koper.[4][6]
Zlaté Moravce
editIn February 2015, Cebara was reported to have signed with ViOn Zlaté Moravce of the Fortuna Liga.
Vojvodina
editAfter spending six months with Lithuanian A Lyga club Utenis Utena, on 10 July 2017, Cebara signed a two-year deal with Serbian club Vojvodina Novi Sad.[7]
Valour FC
editOn 3 April 2020, Cebara signed with Canadian Premier League side Valour FC.[8] He made his debut for Valour on August 16 against Cavalry FC.[9] In December 2022, Valour announced Cebara would be departing the club.[10]
International career
editCebara was 19 when he made his debut in the Canadian youth program in 2011 with coach Valerio Gazzola. He represented the Canada national under-20 team at the 2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship.[1]
On 14 March 2013, Cebara received his first call up by the Canada national team for friendlies against Japan and Belarus.[11] He made his first appearance on 22 March as a second half sub for Kyle Bekker during a 2–1 defeat to Japan.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b c Canada Soccer. "Stefan Cebara". Retrieved 27 September 2012.
- ^ a b c Vujcic, Djuradj (10 August 2012). "Stefan Cebara signs for NK Celje". RedNation Online. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
- ^ Canada.com (17 April 2009). "Cebara scores two goals for Rebels". Retrieved 27 September 2012.
- ^ a b Stefan Cebara at Soccerway
- ^ Sportmania.si (11 September 2012). "Preko Celja v Udinese" (in Slovenian). Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
- ^ Stats from Slovenia at PrvaLiga.si
- ^ STEFAN CEBARA POTPISAO ZA VOJVODINU at FK Vojvodina official website, 10-7-2017 (in Serbian)
- ^ "Valour FC sign Stefan Cebara and Masta Kacher". Valour FC. 3 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
- ^ "Canadian Premier League". 16 August 2020.
- ^ Jacques, John (13 December 2022). "Valour Confirms Exits Of Pena, Cebara, And Riggi". Northern Tribune.
- ^ Canada announces roster, additional match for camp in Qatar at Canada Soccer, 14-3-2013 (in English)
- ^ "Canadian men's soccer team drops hard-fought friendly to Japan". CBC Sports. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
External links
edit
- Stefan Cebara at the Canadian Soccer Association
- Stefan Cebara at Soccerway