Ardian Kozniku

Ardian Kozniku (born 27 October 1967) is a Kosovan-Croatian former professional footballer who played as a striker and recently coached Shkëndija. He is an ethnic Kosovo Albanian.

Ardian Kozniku
Personal information
Date of birth (1967-10-27) 27 October 1967
Place of birth Đakovica, SR Serbia,
SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Vëllaznimi
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1990 Prishtina 58 (17)
1990–1994 Hajduk Split 98 (44)
1994–1996 Cannes 55 (20)
1996–1997 Le Havre 30 (6)
1997 APOEL 11 (12)
1998 Bastia 12 (5)
1998–2000 Croatia Zagreb 28 (5)
2000–2001 Kärnten 7 (0)
2001–2002 Hrvatski Dragovoljac 11 (2)
Total 310 (111)
National team
1993–2002 Kosovo 2 (0)
1994–1998 Croatia 7 (2)
Teams managed
2014–2015 Shkëndija
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He started his career at Vëllaznimi from Gjakova and was later picked up by Prishtina. He later moved to Croatian side Hajduk Split in 1990 and played there until 1994. He then went on to play for French clubs Cannes, Le Havre and Bastia, as well as Cypriot side APOEL, before making his comeback to Croatia in the summer of 1998, signing with Croatia Zagreb. After two and a half seasons at the club, he made a move to Austrian side Kärnten in the winter break of the 2000–01 season and left the club after only six months for Croatian side Hrvatski Dragovoljac, where he finished his career in 2002.

With Hajduk Split, he was the top goalscorer of the opening season of the Prva HNL in 1992, scoring 12 goals. He scored a total of 45 goals in the league.

He was an occasional member of the Croatian national team in the 1990s, making seven international caps and scoring two goals. He made his international debut in a friendly match against Slovakia in April 1994 and also made three appearances in Croatia's qualifying campaign for the UEFA Euro 1996, scoring one goal. He was a member of Croatia's bronze medal-winning squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, but was left an unused substitute in all of the team's seven matches at the tournament. His last match for Croatia was a friendly against Australia in early June 1998, during the team's preparations for the upcoming World Cup, where he also netted one goal in his team's 7–0 victory. He also played for Kosovo in friendly matches against Albania on 14 February 1993 and again on 7 September 2002 against Albania.[1][2]

Kozniku has served two years as the president of the Croatian Diving Federation.[3] His daughter Diana (born 1995[4]), a diver, placed 11th in 1 m springboard at the 2010 European Aquatics Championships.[3]

In September 2014 Kozniku became a coach of Shkëndija.[5]

International goals
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 9 October 1994 Maksimir, Zagreb  Lithuania
2 – 0
2 – 0
 Euro 1996 Qualifying
2 6 June 1998 Maksimir, Zagreb  Australia
6 – 0
7 – 0
 Friendly

Honours
Hajduk Split
Cannes
Croatia Zagreb
Kärnten
Orders

Notes
a.   ^ Albanian spelling: Ardian Kozniku, Serbian spelling: Ardijan Kozniku, Ардијан Кознику.
b.   ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008. Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the 2013 Brussels Agreement. Kosovo is currently recognized as an independent state by 98 out of the 193 United Nations member states. In total, 113 UN member states recognized Kosovo at some point, of which 15 later withdrew their recognition.

References
  1. 1993 MATCHES at RSSSF
  2. Kosovo v Albania (2002) at National football teams
  3. "Diana Kozniku: Skakačko čudo s nogometnim genima (VIDEO)". Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  4. Zadnja, Branko (25 May 2011). "Za juniorsko prvenstvo u skokovima u vodu trenira pet sati dnevno" (in Croatian). tportal.hr. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  5. "Ардијан Кознику – нов тренер на Шкендија". Ekipa.mk. 4 September 2014. Archived from the original on 5 September 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  6. "PREDSJEDNIK TUDJMAN ODLIKOVAO HRVATSKU NOGOMETNU REPREZENTACIJU" (in Croatian). hrt.hr.
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