Milenko Ačimovič
Ačimovič playing for Austria Wien in 2009
Personal information
Date of birth (1977-02-15) 15 February 1977
Place of birth Ljubljana, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, winger
Team information
Current team
 Slovenia U21 (manager)
Youth career
Olimpija[2]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1996 Železničar Ljubljana
1996–1998 Olimpija 36 (7)
1998–2002 Red Star Belgrade 102 (34)
2002–2004 Tottenham Hotspur 17 (0)
2004 → Lille (loan) 16 (6)
2004–2006 Lille 31 (6)
2006–2007 Al-Ittihad (3)
2007–2010 Austria Wien 101 (30)
International career
1997 Slovenia U20 1 (1)
1995–1997 Slovenia U21 9 (0)
1998–2007 Slovenia 74 (13)
2003 Slovenia B 2 (0)
Managerial career
2020– Slovenia U21
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Milenko "Mile" Ačimovič (pronounced [miˈleːŋkɔ aˈtʃiːmɔʋitʃ]; Serbian: Aćimović [atɕǐːmoʋitɕ]; born 15 February 1977) is a Slovenian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Besides Slovenia, he has played in FR Yugoslavia, England, France, Saudi Arabia, and Austria.

Club career

Born to Serbian parents in Ljubljana, Ačimovič started his career in the youth ranks of Železničar Ljubljana. He made four first division appearances for Železničar when he was 18 years old.[3] From 1996 until 1998 he scored seven league goals in 36 matches for Olimpija.[4] He then joined Red Star Belgrade, where he played for four and a half years. After successful appearances for the Slovenian national team in Euro 2000 and World Cup 2002, several bigger European clubs expressed interest in him. In the summer of 2002, he joined Tottenham Hotspur.[5] In his first season in London, he made a few appearances, but never established himself as a first team player. In his second season, he became a fringe player.

In January 2004 he joined the French club Lille on loan until the end of the season.[6] When he arrived, the club was in 14th place in the Ligue 1, but Ačimovič contributed to an eventual second-place finish, enough to qualify for the Champions League. Also, in his first year at Lille, he was part of the team's UEFA Cup campaign, when Lille reached the last sixteen before being eliminated. The following year, he played in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, when Lille reached the group stages. Ačimovič scored Lille's only goal of the campaign against Manchester United in Lille's 1-0 victory in Paris.[7]

After two-and one-half seasons in Lille, he fell out of favour and joined Al-Ittihad for the 2006–07 season. After failing to adapt to life in Saudi Arabia, he agreed on a mutual termination of the contract, subsequently moving back to Europe to join Austria Wien. On 15 September 2010, his ended his football career following a persistent right knee injury.

Ačimovič returned to Slovenia and was appointed the Director of football at Olimpija Ljubljana, in January 2011, where he stayed until September 2012 when he resigned his position, due to poor results of the team in the Slovenian PrvaLiga.

International career

He debuted for the Slovenia national team on 22 April 1998 in Murska Sobota against the Czech Republic.[8] During the first leg of the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifiers against Ukraine, he scored a winning goal from near the halfway line, helping his team to qualify for their first ever major tournament.[9] At the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Ačimovič scored in Slovenia's 3–1 defeat to Paraguay in Seogwipo.[10] His final appearance for the national side came on 28 March 2007 in Celje, during a 1–0 home defeat to the Netherlands in a Euro 2008 qualification match.[11] He announced his retirement from international football that August.[12] He earned a total of 74 caps, scoring 13 goals.[13]

Honours

Lille

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Milenko Ačimovič – Euro 2000 profile". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Archived from the original on 3 August 2001. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  2. ↑ Zupan, Miha (21 November 2019). "Dvajset let po Bežigradu: Kako in kje je rasel Mile Ačimović?" (in Slovenian). Nogomania. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  3. ↑ "Milenko Ačimovič – 1994/95 season" (in Slovenian). Slovenian PrvaLiga. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  4. ↑ "Milenko Ačimovič – all seasons" (in Slovenian). Slovenian PrvaLiga. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  5. ↑ "Hoddle hails new signing". BBC. 1 May 2002. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  6. ↑ "Acimovic joins Lille". BBC. 28 January 2004. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  7. ↑ "Lille 1–0 Man Utd". BBC. 2 November 2005. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  8. ↑ "Milenko Ačimovič – Nogometna zveza Slovenije" (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  9. ↑ "Slovenia face Ukraine with Milenko Acimovic's great goal fresh in the mind". ESPN. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  10. ↑ "Domov brez točke". 24ur.com (in Slovenian). 12 June 2002. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  11. ↑ "Milenko Ačimovič, international football player". eu-football.info. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  12. ↑ "Ačimovič bids Slovenia adieu". UEFA. 20 August 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  13. ↑ "Milenko Acimovic – International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  14. ↑ "Leiria 0–2 Lille (Aggregate: 0–2)". UEFA. Archived from the original on 11 October 2004. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
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