Ivan Robert Vicelich (, ; ; born 3 September 1976) is a New Zealand former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He is his country's and Oceania's most-capped international of all time with 88 caps between 1995 and 2013, and featured at the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

Club career

Vicelich played for

Waitakere City Waitakere City was a Territorial Authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority in West Auckland, New Zealand, West Auckland, New Zealand; it was governed by the Waitakere City Council from 1989 to 2010. It was New Zealand's fifth-largest ...

and

Central United Central United Football Club is an amateur association football club based in Sandringham, Auckland, New Zealand who complete in the NRFL Northern Conference. The team was officially called ''Central Soccer Club'' until 1996 when it changed ...

in the

Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Premier The Northern League, known as the Dettol Northern League for sponsorship reasons, is an amateur New Zealand association football competition. It is a top-tier competition during the winter season, and sits at step two after then. The Northern ...

before establishing himself as one of the best players for the

Football Kingz The Football Kingz were New Zealand's first professional football club. They played in the Australian National Soccer League from 1999 until their disestablishment in 2004, when they were replaced by the New Zealand Knights as an inaugural parti ...

, when the

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

-based club joined the Australian

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

in 1999. Thanks to the contacts he made through his Football Kingz colleague, John Lammers, he was able to impress

Roda JC Kerkrade Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the ...

, with whom he signed in 2001. He was a regular player for the Dutch team until May 2006 when he signed a two-year contract with fellow

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club side,

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Waalwijk. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie i ...

. He returned to New Zealand and signed with

Auckland City Auckland City () was a territorial authority area with city status covering the central isthmus of the urban area of Auckland, New Zealand. It was governed by the Auckland City Council from 1989 to 2010, and as a territory within the wider Au ...

in the

New Zealand Football Championship The New Zealand Football Championship () was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a myriad of short-lived football leagues in ...

before the start of the 2008–09 season and was a key member of the Auckland squad that contested the

2009 FIFA Club World Cup The 2009 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2009 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament played from 9 to 19 December 2009. It was the sixth FIFA Club World Cup and was played in Ab ...

in the United Arab Emirates in 2009. In July 2010, following the

in which Vicelich started every one of New Zealand's three games, he signed a short-term deal to play for Chinese Super League club Shenzhen Ruby for four months. He returned to former club Auckland City in December 2010, following a 30-day stand-down period. Aged 38, he received the adidas Bronze Ball as the third best player at the

2014 FIFA Club World Cup The 2014 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2014 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club association football, football ...

in Morocco – at which Auckland finished in a surprise third place – bettered only by

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

duo

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

and

Sergio Ramos Sergio Ramos García (; born 30 March 1986) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captain (association football), captains Liga MX club C.F. Monterrey, Monterrey. Regarded as one of the gr ...

. He played his last game for Auckland City in the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

final which they won against Team Wellington on penalty kicks, qualifying for a record six consecutive times to the

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

International career

Vicelich made his full

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

debut with a substitute appearance in a 7–0 loss against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

on 25 June 1995. He was included in the New Zealand side for the

1999 FIFA Confederations Cup The 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fourth FIFA Confederations Cup, and the second organised by FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Mexico between 24 July and 4 August 1999. The tournament was won by Mexico, who beat Brazil 4–3 in the fina ...

finals in Mexico where he featured in all three group games, and again for the

2003 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France retained the title they had won in 2001, but the tournament was overshadowed by the death of Cameroon player Marc-Vivi ...

finals tournament in France, playing in just two matches. On 16 August 2008, Vicelich announced his retirement from international football, however on 22 May 2009 he answered an SOS by ''All Whites'' head coach Ricki Herbert and was recalled to the national team for the 2009 Confederations Cup tournament in South Africa as a replacement for injured captain

Ryan Nelsen Ryan William Nelsen (born 18 October 1977) is a former New Zealand professional football player and former head coach of Major League Soccer side Toronto FC. Nelsen commonly played as a defender, and his professional career began in 1995. He ...

. Where New Zealand would go on to earn their first ever Senior Men's International point at a FIFA tournament after a 0–0 draw with Iraq. Vicelich continued to make himself available for selection for the crucial

qualifiers against

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

as New Zealand vied for the right to join football's most prestigious tournament for the second time in their history. Vicelich has played 96 times for the ''All Whites'' including a record 88 official full internationals in which he scored 7 goals, his appearance in the first leg against Bahrain equalling

Vaughan Coveny Vaughan Coveny (born 13 December 1971) is a retired professional football player from New Zealand. Coveny's senior club career spanned 20 years, mostly in Australia, with his most notable stint being at South Melbourne during their National Soc ...

's then record of 64 official international caps. He went one better in the second leg in Wellington as he helped his country reach the 2010 FIFA World Cup. On 10 May 2010, Vicelich was named in New Zealand's final 23-man squad to compete at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He went on to play in New Zealand's three games there. On 25 March 2011, Vicelich captained New Zealand in their 1–1 draw with China in Wuhan. He retired from international football in 2013 after the qualifying process for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

was unsuccessful, his official last game was against Mexico at the Azteca Stadium.

Coaching career

In 2016 Vicelich became assistant coach at

Broadcasting career

From 2021, he became the analyst with fellow former New Zealand goalkeeper, Jacob Spoonley, for Sky Sports as New Zealand build up to 2022 World Cup Qualification.

Personal life

Vicelich is of Croatian descent. He is a former student at

Liston College Liston College is a school in Henderson, New Zealand, Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand, for year seven to 13 boys and offers a Roman Catholic, Catholic education to its students. It was the second List of Christian Brothers schools, school open ...

and Rutherford College, having graduated in 1994.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list New Zealand's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vicelich goal.''

Honours

Waitakere City *Chatham Cup:

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

*New Zealand Football Championship:

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Central United *Chatham Cup:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

*New Zealand Football Championship:

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Auckland City *OFC Champions League:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. *FIFA Club World Cup:

(Bronze medal) *New Zealand Football Championship: 2008–09, 2013–14, 2014–15 New Zealand *

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Men's Nations Cup, known as the OFC Nations Cup before the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup, 2024 edition, is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's natio ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

; runner-up:

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

; third place:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Individual *

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

for services to football,

2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

Oceania Footballer of the Year The Oceania Footballer of the Year award was presented each year to the best football (soccer) player from the Oceania region, as chosen by a panel of football journalists. The award was dominated by Australian players until that nation became part ...

: 2009 *New Zealand Young Player of the Year: 1994 *New Zealand International Player of the Year: 2002 *Oceania All Stars XI 2008 *Auckland Sportsman of the Year 2010 *Auckland Overall Sporting Excellence Award 2010 *Friends of Football Medal of Excellence 2014 *

Bronze Ball:

* Ivan Vicelich has the record number of consecutive participations in the FIFA Club World Cup, taking part in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 *

2014–15 OFC Champions League The 2014–15 OFC Champions League (officially the 2015 Fiji Airways OFC Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club association football, football tournament organized b ...

Golden Ball *Jack Batty Memorial Trophy:

* IFFHS OFC Men's Team of the Decade 2011–2020

Halberg Awards The Halberg Awards are a set of awards, given annually since 1949, recognising New Zealand's top sporting achievements. They are named for New Zealand middle-distance runner and Olympic gold medalist Sir Murray Halberg. The initial award was han ...

*Team of the Year

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

*Supreme Award

*NZs Favourite Sporting Moment

References

External links

Ivan Vicelich Interview

*
NZ Football Profile
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vicelich, Ivan 1976 births Living people New Zealand people of Croatian descent New Zealand men's association footballers New Zealand men's international footballers Football Kingz FC players Roda JC Kerkrade players RKC Waalwijk players Auckland City FC players Eredivisie players Central United F.C. players Shenzhen F.C. players Waitakere City FC players New Zealand expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's footballers in China New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in China Chinese Super League players New Zealand Football Championship players Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands 1998 OFC Nations Cup players 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2000 OFC Nations Cup players 2002 OFC Nations Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2004 OFC Nations Cup players 2008 OFC Nations Cup players OFC Nations Cup–winning players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2012 OFC Nations Cup players Association footballers from Auckland Men's association football defenders People educated at Rutherford College, Auckland People educated at Liston College Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit