Ján Kozák (footballer, born 1980)

Ján Kozák (born 22 April 1980) is a Slovak football coach and former player. Recently, he was the manager of Slovak 1st tier team FC Košice.

Ján Kozák
Personal information
Date of birth (1980-04-22) 22 April 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth Košice, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1988–1996 Lokomotíva Košice
1996–1997 1. FC Košice
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2000 1. FC Košice 18 (6)
1998–1999Lokeren (loan) 5 (0)
2000–2002 Slavia Prague 13 (0)
2002–2003 1.FC Košice 34 (6)
2003–2009 Artmedia Petržalka 160 (40)
2006West Bromwich Albion (loan) 6 (0)
2009–2010 Slovan Bratislava 30 (3)
2010–2011 Politehnica Timişoara 10 (1)
2011–2012 Larissa 3 (0)
2012–2013 Bunyodkor 21 (5)
2013–2014 DSG Union Perg 4 (1)
2014–2015 SV Stripfing 10 (3)
Total 300 (61)
International career
2004–2010 Slovakia 25 (2)
Managerial career
2015–2019 Slovan Bratislava B
2019–2020 Slovan Bratislava
2023–2024 FC Košice
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

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A midfielder, Kozák joined Bratislava in the year 2003, winning the Corgoň Liga with the club the very next season, 2004–05. He scored 7 goals in 34 appearances in the season.

In 2005–06, he played in 11 matches for the club, scoring three goals, before moving to West Bromwich Albion in January 2006. He made his debut for Albion on 4 February 2006, coming on as a substitute for Geoff Horsfield in a Premier League match against Blackburn Rovers. He was not considered good enough for the then manager Bryan Robson to sign, so left at the end of his loan spell.

He made his debut for Poli Timișoara in an away match at Gloria Bistriţa. On 21 July 2010, he was released.

Ján Kozák ended his career playing in the Austrian 2. Landesliga for DSG Union Perg.[1] and SV Stripfing.

International career

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He made his first appearance for Slovakia on 30 November 2004, a 1–0 win against Hungary.[2]

Kozák has played in Euro 2008 qualifying and 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification. He was selected to take the captain's armband. He also made the squad for Slovakia's World Cup debut in 2010.

Managerial career

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On 1 August 2015, he became the head coach of Slovan Bratislava B. He was named the interim manager of the first team in July 2019. After a successful spell as interim coach, Kozák was given the role on a permanent basis in August 2019.[3] He subsequently progressed with Slovan into the group stage of Europa League and won the Slovak double. He was sacked by the club in September 2020.[4]

Personal life

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Kozak' father, Ján, was also former national player. He has 55 caps for Czechoslovakia and was also head coach of Slovakia. His nephew Filip Lesniak is also a professional footballer.

Footgolf

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As a footgolfer, he won the bronze medal in the 2016 FootGolf World Cup held in Argentina.[5][6]

Career statistics

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Scores and results list Slovakia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kozák goal.
List of international goals scored by Ján Kozák[7]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 11 October 2008 Serravalle, San Marino   San Marino 2–0 3–1 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 6 June 2009 Bratislava, Slovakia   San Marino 5–0 7–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

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Player

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MFK Kosiče

Artmedia Petržalka

Slovan Bratislava

FC Bunyodkor

Manager

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Slovan Bratislava

Individual

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References

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  1. ^ "Bývalý reprezentant Kozák sa upísal rakúskemu regionálnemu klubu Perg". Pravda (in Slovak). 31 March 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  2. ^ Footballdatabase.eu: Hungary – Slovakia 0:1
  3. ^ "Ján Kozák ml. oficiálne hlavným trénerom ŠK Slovan Bratislava" (in Slovak). Slovan Bratislava. 30 August 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Ján Kozák ml. skončil na lavičke ŠK Slovan Bratislava!" (in Slovak). Šport.sk. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  5. ^ Argentina 2016 WorldCup – Torneo Individual (archive) (in Spanish)
  6. ^ Neuveriteľné sa stalo skutočným: Ján Kozák na MS vo FootGolfe bronzový! (video) (in Slovak)
  7. ^ Football PLAYER: Ján Kozák
  8. ^ "Futbalista roka 2019: Výsledky sú známe! Kto je najlepší hráč či tréner? | ProFutbal.sk". Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
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