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

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)
2012Kairat (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

Playing career

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Club

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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

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

Career statistics

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Club statistics

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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

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  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)
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