Matej Rapnik

Matej Rapnik (born 24 February 1990) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays for Dravograd. Playing as a defender, he has captained Slovenia from under-15 level up to under-19 level[1] and played for the under-21s.

Matej Rapnik
Personal information
Date of birth (1990-02-24) 24 February 1990
Place of birth Slovenj Gradec, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Dravograd
Youth career
2000 MNK Fužinar
2000–2003 Korotan
2003–2007 Dravograd
2007 Bravo
2007–2009 Heart of Midlothian
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2012 Interblock 60 (7)
2012 Celje 5 (0)
2013–2015 Muangthong United 0 (0)
2013 → Nakhon Nayok (loan) 26 (3)
2013–2014 → Police United (loan) 9 (0)
2015– Dravograd
National team
2006–2007 Slovenia U17 6 (0)
2007–2008 Slovenia U18 11 (4)
2008–2009 Slovenia U19 6 (0)
2008–2009 Slovenia U20 2 (0)
2010–2012 Slovenia U21 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 December 2012

Club career

Rapnik began his career with Bravo in the Ljubljana League in the Slovenian Regional League, the fourth tier of the Slovenian league system. In July 2007 he signed for Scottish Premier League side Heart of Midlothian where he impressed for the reserve side and made the bench on several occasions but never made a first team appearance. Perhaps his most famous moment with the Edinburgh club came when he defeated teammate Gary Glen on Soccer AM's Skill Skool. On 30 January 2009 it was revealed that he had left the Jambos to return to Slovenia.[2]

On 9 February 2009 Rapnik joined Interblock in his home town of Ljubljana on a three-year contract.[3] He made his debut against Koper on 21 February 2009 and scored his first goal a week later against Rudar Velenje in a 2–1 defeat. However, he could not help his new team to better than a ninth-place finish in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, which meant they had to face a relegation play-off. They were beaten 4–0 on aggregate by Triglav Kranj and were consigned to the Slovenian Second League for the 2010–11 season. He was named team captain following the departure of Ermin Rakovič. After the 2011–12 season Interblock merged with Rapnik's former club NK Bravo to become Bravo1 Interblock and began to field only youth teams and therefore no longer had a senior squad, leading to Rapnik's departure after 67 appearances and seven goals in all competitions.

On 24 August 2012, Slovenian PrvaLiga club Celje announced that they had signed Rapnik. He made his competitive debut on 16 September 2012 in a 1–0 away defeat to Koper.

International career

Rapnik has represented and captained his country at several youth levels, including under-19s. He featured in all three of their games as they finished bottom of their group at the 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship in Ukraine, which included a 7–1 defeat against England. He was a member of the under-21 team, having made his debut in a 2–1 defeat to Croatia on 16 November 2010.

Honours

Interblock
gollark: *easily*
gollark: You can natively send tables.
gollark: No.
gollark: It's not *hard*.
gollark: Just. Send. A. Table.

References
  1. Matej Rapnik Archived 28 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Heartsfc.co.uk
  2. Rapnik return to Slovenia Archived 28 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Heartsfc.co.uk 30 January 2009
  3. Interblock signed new defender NK Interblock.eu 9 February 2009
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