Mitja Viler (born 1 September 1986) is a retired Slovenian footballer who played as a left-back. He spent his entire career in his homeland Slovenia, making over 400 appearances in the Slovenian top division with Koper and Maribor.
_(cropped).jpg) Viler with Maribor in November 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 1 September 1986[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Koper, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Left-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2005 | Koper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2010 | Koper | 142 | (5) |
| 2005 | → Izola (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2006 | → Jadran Dekani (loan) | 4 | (3) |
| 2010–2020 | Maribor | 256 | (7) |
| 2021 | Koper | 13 | (0) |
| Total | 419 | (15) | |
| International career | |||
| 2001 | Slovenia U15 | 8 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | Slovenia U20 | 5 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | Slovenia U21 | 5 | (0) |
| 2017 | Slovenia | 2 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
At international level, he earned two caps for the Slovenia national team in 2017.[2]
Club career
editViler started playing football when his father, who was also a football player and later a coach, introduced him to the game.[1] Earlier in career, he was a utility player and played on several different positions.[1] Before moving to Maribor in 2010, he played for Koper and made a total of 142 appearances for the club in the Slovenian first division, 1. SNL, scoring five goals in the process.[3] He was part of the squad that won the first-ever national championship for Koper during the 2009–10 season.[3] With Maribor, he won the league championship during the 2010–11 season, his second consecutive championship. Between 2011–12 and 2014–15, Viler won another four consecutive championships with Maribor.
On 21 October 2014, Viler scored an own goal in a 6–0 UEFA Champions League loss to Chelsea, and was substituted minutes later.[4] On 22 August 2017, Viler scored the only goal for Maribor against Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the second leg of the play-off round of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, helping his team to qualify for the group stage of the competition for the third time in history.[5]
On 29 December 2020, Maribor retired his squad number 28 until 2030.[6] The next day, Viler returned to Koper after ten years.[6]
After a brief spell with Koper, Viler retired from professional football in November 2021.[7]
Honours
editKoper
Maribor
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Osebni karton: Mitja Viler" (in Slovenian). NK Maribor. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
- ^ "Mitja Viler, international football player". eu-football.info. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
- ^ a b "Mitja Viler" (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
- ^ Rose, Gary (21 October 2014). "Chelsea 6–0 NK Maribor". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
- ^ Vozel, Aleš; Subotić, Dolores (22 August 2017). "Čaroben večer v Ljudskem vrtu: Maribor šampion v Ligi prvakov!" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
- ^ a b R. P. (30 December 2020). "Predsednik Kopra obdaril navijače, Maribor upokojil št. 28" (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
- ^ "Končana je kariera: Mitja Viler je potegnil zavoro, v Kopru ga zdaj čaka povsem nov izziv" (in Slovenian). Nogomania. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ a b c d Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Mitja Viler". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
External links
edit- Mitja Viler at NZS (in Slovene)
- Mitja Viler at Soccerway.com
- Mitja Viler at National-Football-Teams.com
- Mitja Viler at kicker (in German)
- Mitja Viler at FBref.com
- Mitja Viler at EU-Football.info
