Boštjan Cesar

Boštjan Cesar (born 9 July 1982) is a Slovenian international footballer who plays as a defender.

Boštjan Cesar

Cesar with Chievo in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Boštjan Cesar[1]
Date of birth	(1982-07-09) 9 July 1982
Place of birth	Ljubljana, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position(s)	Defender
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 Foot	40	(1)
2010–2020	Chievo	236	(7)
National team
1997	Slovenia U15	2	(0)
1998	Slovenia U16	4	(0)
2000–2001	Slovenia U20	3	(0)
2001–2003	Slovenia U21	15	(1)
2003–2018	Slovenia	101	(10)
2003	Slovenia B	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 July 2020

Cesar has played professionally in Slovenia, Croatia, France, England and Italy. With 101 international appearances, he is Slovenia's most capped player of all time, and represented them at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Cesar signed a three year-deal with Olympique de Marseille in 2005. He joined West Bromwich Albion on a season-long loan in August 2007, with a view to a permanent move.[2] He made his debut for Albion in a 1–0 League Cup victory over Bournemouth on 14 August 2007.[3] His league debut came more than two months later when West Bromwich defeated Blackpool 2–1 on 23 October 2007.[4] He scored his only West Bromwich goal on 2 February 2008 in a 2–1 win against Burnley.[5] Cesar 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.[6]

He signed a two-year deal with Grenoble Foot 38 in January 2009 and scored his first goal for the club in his second appearance; a 1–1 draw against Girondins de Bordeaux. In May 2010, Chievo announced the capture of his signature on free transfer, and he officially joined them on 1 July.[7] On 31 May 2011 he signed a new two-year contract.[8]

International career

Cesar made his international debut on 12 February 2003, playing the entirety of a 5–1 friendly defeat to Switzerland in Nova Gorica.[9] 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.[10] Cesar retired from the national team on 27 March 2018 in a home match against Belarus.[11]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 9 March 2020[12][13][14][15]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

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
Croatia Sesvete (loan)	2000–01	Druga HNL	7	0	0	0	—		7	0
Dinamo Zagreb	2001–02	1. HNL	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
	Total		40	0	0	0	11	0	51	0
Olimpija (loan)	2004–05	1. SNL	9	0	1	0	—		10	0
Dinamo Zagreb	2004–05	1. HNL	11	1	0	0	0	0	11	1
	2005–06		5	2	0	0	0	0	5	2
	Total		16	3	0	0	0	0	16	3
Marseille	2005–06	Ligue 1	17	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	6	1	24	1
	2006–07		7	0	3[lower-alpha 2]	0	5	0	15	0
	Total		24	0	4	0	11	1	39	1
West Bromwich (loan)	2007–08	Championship	20	1	4[lower-alpha 3]	0	—		24	1
Grenoble	2008–09	Ligue 1	15	1	2[lower-alpha 1]	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. 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

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

International goals

Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first.

#	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

Dinamo Zagreb

• Prva HNL: 2002–03[12]
  • Runner-up: 2000–01, 2003–04[12]
• Croatian Cup: 2001–02, 2003–04[12]
• Croatian Supercup: 2002, 2003

Olympique de Marseille

• Ligue 1:
  • Runner-up: 2006–07[16]
• Coupe de France:
  • Runner-up: 2006, 2007[12]

West Bromwich Albion

• Football League Championship: 2007–08[12]

See also

• List of footballers with 100 or more caps

Notes

1. "FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 4 June 2010. p. 27. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
2. "Baggies sign Marseille defender". BBC Sport. 2 August 2007. Retrieved 7 August 2007.
3. "WBA vs Bournemouth". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 14 August 2007. Archived from the original on 6 January 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2007.
4. "WBA vs Blackpool". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 23 October 2007. Archived from the original on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2007.
5. "WBA vs Burnley". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 2 February 2008. Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
6. "Boss won't pursue Cesar deal". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
7. "CESAR BOSTJAN: UN ALTRO NAZIONALE SLOVENO PER IL CHIEVO" (in Italian). AC ChievoVerona. 21 May 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
8. "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.
9. "Slovenia 1–5 Switzerland". eu-football.info. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
10. Plestenjak, Rok (8 October 2017). "Kaj car ... Kaj kralj ... Cesar!" (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
11. M. L.; A. V. (27 March 2018). "Ob slovesu Cesarja trpek poraz Slovenije z Belorusijo" (in Slovenian). Ljubljana: RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
12. "Slovenia – B. Cesar – Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
13. "Boštjan Cesar". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
14. "Boštjan Cesar". hrnogomet.com (in Croatian). Retrieved 9 July 2020.
15. "Boštjan Cesar – Nogometna zveza Slovenije". nzs.si (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
16. "Bostjan Cesar – footballdatabase.eu". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 9 July 2020.

External links

• Player profile at Olympique de Marseille
• Player profile at NZS (in Slovene)
• Player profile at LFP
• Boštjan Cesar at National-Football-Teams.com