Josip Knežević

Josip Knežević

Personal information
Date of birth	(1988-10-03) 3 October 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Osijek, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia[1]
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	BSK Bijelo Brdo
Number	30
Youth career
1999–2006	Osijek
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2009	Osijek[2]	69	(12)
2010–2013	Amkar Perm	20	(1)
2012	→ Kairat (loan)	16	(6)
2013–2014	Kairat	47	(16)
2015	Kaisar	11	(1)
2016–2017	Osijek	43	(6)
2017–2021	Puskás Akadémia	110	(40)
2021–2022	Al-Arabi	12	(4)
2023	Šibenik	12	(0)
2023–	BSK Bijelo Brdo	27	(2)
International career
2006	Croatia U18	2	(0)
2006–2007	Croatia U19	8	(0)
2008–2009	Croatia U20	4	(1)
2009	Croatia U21	3	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 May 2024

Josip Knežević (born 3 October 1988) is a Croatian international footballer who plays for Croatian club BSK Bijelo Brdo.

Playing career

Club

Knežević has started his career in senior professional team of NK Osijek on 2005/2006 at the age of 17. He has regularly played for Croatia national team U-18, U-19, U-20 and U-21, has total 13 caps in the Croatia national team for young players. Now, Josip Knežević is an active member of the Croatia national under-21 team. This season 2008/2009 he is actually second on the list of assists of Croatian Championship Prva HNL with 7 assists.

On 12 February 2010 Knežević moved to Russian side Amkar Perm in a deal initially worth €500,000.^[3] Two years later, in January 2012, Knežević signed a season-long loan deal with Kazakhstan Premier League outfit FC Kairat.^[4] After an impressive start, in which he scored 3 goals in 5 appearances, Knežević suffered a mid-season injury, but still ended up as the teams topscorer with 6 goals (3 – pen.). At the end of Kneževićs loan deal he returned to Amkar Perm, before signing a permanent three-year contract with FC Kairat in February 2013.^[5]

After six-months without a team, Knežević signed a six-month contract with FC Kaisar.^[6]

International

Knežević is former youth international player for the Croatian U21,^[7] U19 and U17 sides.^[8]

Career statistics

Club statistics

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Osijek
	2006–07	7	1	0	0	0	0	7	1
	2007–08	13	0	0	0	–	–	13	0
	2008–09	25	5	0	0	–	–	25	5
	2009–10	15	5	2	0	–	–	17	5
	2015–16	12	2	0	0	–	–	12	2
	2016–17	31	4	1	0	–	–	32	4
	2017–18	0	0	0	0	1	0	32	4
	Total	103	17	3	0	1	0	107	13
Amkar Perm
	2010	13	0	1	0	–	–	14	0
	2011–12	7	1	1	1	–	–	8	2
	Total	20	1	2	1	0	0	22	2
Kairat
	2012	16	6	0	0	–	–	16	6
	2013	30	10	1	0	–	–	31	10
	2014	17	6	1	1	4	1	22	8
	Total	63	22	2	1	4	1	69	24
Kaisar
	2015	11	1	0	0	–	–	11	1
	Total	11	1	0	0	0	0	11	1
Puskás Akadémia
	2017–18	27	11	9	4	–	–	36	15
	2018–19	24	12	3	0	–	–	27	12
	2019–20	30	8	3	0	–	–	33	8
	2020–21	29	9	3	1	–	–	32	10
	Total	110	40	18	5	0	0	128	45
Career Total		307	81	25	7	5	1	338	89

Updated to games played as of 15 May 2021.

References

1. Playerhistory Profile
2. Statistics of Croatian Championship into English, page about Knezevic's statistics with his photo
3. "The first signing(RUS)". 12 February 2010. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
4. «Амкар» отдал Кнежевича в аренду «Кайрату» (in Russian). sports.ru. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
5. Кнежевич переехал в "Кайрат" (in Russian). prosportkz. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
6. "Кайсар подписал Кнежеввича". fckaysar.kz (in Russian). FC Kaisar. 16 June 2015. Archived from the original on 17 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
7. Official site of Croatian Football Federation on the news that Josip Knezevic was called in Croatia national team U-21 for match against Macedonia on 11 February 2009
8. Official site of Croatian Football Federation on Knezevic's statistics in Croatia national teams U-18, U-19, U-20 and U-21 years (13 caps)

External links

• Josip Knežević at Soccerway.com
• Josip Knežević at WorldFootball.net
• Josip Knežević at kicker (in German)
• Josip Knežević at FBref.com