Indrek Zelinski (born 13 November 1974) is an Estonian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and former professional

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

. Zelinski played as a forward for Sindi Kalju, Tervis Pärnu, Pärnu Kalev,

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

, Lelle,

Kuressaare Kuressaare () is a populated places in Estonia, town on the island of Saaremaa in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Municipality and the seat of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded popul ...

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

, AaB,

Landskrona BoIS Landskrona Boll och Idrottsällskap (, locally referred to as BoIS) is a Swedish professional football club located in Landskrona, Scania, which currently plays in Superettan, the second league tier of football in Sweden. The club was formed ...

, Frem and Levadia. Zelinski made his international debut for the Estonia national team in 1994. He made 103 appearances for the team, scoring 27 goals, before retiring in 2010. Zelinski was named Estonian Footballer of the Year in 2001, and won the

Estonian Silverball The Estonian Silverball is an annual award by Estonian Football Journalists' Club, given to the footballer for the best goal scored for the Estonia national football team The Estonia men's national football team () represents Estonia in inte ...

award three times, in 2000, 2003 and 2007.

Early life

Born in

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth-largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second-largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of ...

, Zelinski started playing football in 1985 for his hometown club Pärnu Kalev's youth team under the coach Märt Siigur.

Club career

Flora

In 1993, Zelinski signed for

. He saw limited playing time during the 1993–94 season, but scored a hat-trick in the championship play-off match against

Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) ** Norma Lizbeth Ramos, a Mexican bullying victim Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid * Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral ...

, earning his first trophy. Zelinski spent his first seasons in Flora mostly playing for Flora affiliated teams Lelle, Tervis Pärnu and

. He became a Flora's first team regular in the 1995–96 season. Zelinski won his second

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (), officially known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons, and commonly known as the Premium Liiga, is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football championship. The league was founded i ...

title with Flora in the 1997–98 season and a third one in the following 1998 season. On 29 July 1999, Flora reached an agreement with English side

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

for the transfer of Zelinski, but the move was foiled by work permit issues.

Lahti (loan)

On 2 December 1999, Zelinski joined Finnish

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...

side

on loan. Zelinski returned to Flora after the one-year loan spell in October 2000.

AaB

On 17 July 2001, Zelinski joined

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

side AaB on loan until 9 December 2001 for a fee of EEK 1.3 million. The move was made permanent on 4 August 2001 for a fee of EEK 4 million. At Aab, Zelinski formed a strike partnership with fellow Estonian international

Andres Oper Andres Oper (born 7 November 1977) is an Estonian Association football, football Coach (sport), coach and former professional football player, player. With 38 goals in 134 appearances, Oper is Estonia national football team, Estonia's all-time re ...

. Zelinski scored 13 goals in the 2001–02 season and was the team's top goalscorer in the league. Despite that, we was dropped by the new manager Poul Erik Andreasen, and subsequently loaned to

and Frem.

Levadia

In January 2005, Zelinski returned to Estonia as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

and signed a two-year contract with Levadia. He was Levadia's top goalscorer in the league for three consecutive seasons from

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, and won four consecutive Meistriliiga titles in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, 2007,

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. In August 2009, Zelinski announced that he will almost certainly retire from professional football at the end of the season. He played his last match in the Meistriliiga on 10 November 2009 against

Paide Linnameeskond Paide Linnameeskond, or simply Paide, is an Estonian professional football club based in Paide that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football. The club's home ground is Paide linnastaadion. Founded in 2004, the club has ...

, where he was sent off in the end of the first half for a professional foul.

International career

Zelinski made his international debut for the Estonia national team on 7 May 1994 in a 0–4 away defeat against

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in a friendly. He scored his first goal for Estonia on 13 November 1996 in a 6–1 away win against

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

. Three days later, on 16 November 1996, Zelinski scored a hat-trick against

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

in a friendly. Zelinski was named Estonian Footballer of the Year in 2001, and won the

award three times, in 2000, 2003 and 2007. He ended his international career with a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

on 21 May 2010, after a 2–0 home win against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, having made 103 appearances and scoring 27 goals.

Personal life

Zelinski has a daughter, Johanna-Lisa (born 2000), with his girlfriend Sigrit Järvamägi who is a two-time

Estonian Women's Cup The Estonian Women's Cup () is the national women's football cup competition in Estonia. It was first held in 2007. The record for the most wins is held by the current cup holders Flora with eight victories. Format Teams from the first two ti ...

winner with Flora women's team.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Estonia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Zelinski goal.''

Honours

Club

;Flora *

: 1993–94, 1997–98,

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 ...

Estonian Cup The Estonian Cup () is the national knockout competition in Estonian football. In 2012, the competition was unofficially rebranded as Evald Tipner's Cup. The winner will compete in UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round. Finals ...

: 1997–98 *

Estonian Supercup The Estonian Supercup () is Estonian football's annual super cup, contested between the champions of the previous Meistriliiga season and the holders of the Estonian Cup. If the Meistriliiga champions also won the Estonian Cup, then the league ...

: 1998 ;Levadia *

: 2004–05, 2006–07

Individual

* Estonian Footballer of the Year: 2001 *

: 2000, 2003, 2007 * UEFA awards 100 caps: 2011

References

External links

*
Levadia profile
*
Frem profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zelinski, Indrek 1974 births Living people Footballers from Pärnu Estonian men's footballers Estonia men's international footballers Estonia men's under-21 international footballers Esiliiga players FC Flora players Meistriliiga players FCI Levadia Tallinn players FIFA Men's Century Club Estonian expatriate men's footballers Veikkausliiga players FC Lahti players AaB Fodbold players Boldklubben Frem players Landskrona BoIS players Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Danish Superliga players Danish 1st Division players Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Allsvenskan players Estonian football managers Men's association football forwards FCI Levadia U21 players FCI Levadia U21 managers FC Kuressaare players Estonian expatriate football managers Pärnu JK Vaprus managers

Early life

Club career

Flora

Lahti (loan)

AaB

Levadia

International career

Personal life

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Honours

Club

Individual

See also

References

External links