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Jerko Leko (born 9 April 1980) is a Croatian professional football manager and former
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 ...
, who is the current manager of the second-tier Druga HNL club Jarun. He primarily played as a
central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
, but could also operate as a
right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...
one, or more defensively, as a right-back. Leko represented the
Croatia national football team The Croatia national football team () represents Croatia in men's international Association football, football matches. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS), the governing body for football in Croatia. It is a member of UEF ...
at two UEFA European Championships and the
2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...
. His professional club career spans 17 years across the top-flight leagues of Croatia, Ukraine, France and Turkey.


Club career

Leko's career began with Dinamo Zagreb in 2000 in his native Croatia, although he was not an immediate success. After spending some time on loan at Croatia Sesvete, he became a regular starter in 2001–02 season, helping Dinamo win the Croatian Cup, scoring in the final against Varteks Varaždin and being named Man of the Match. Leko eventually moved to Dynamo Kyiv in 2002 for €5.5 million (then a club record). In his first season in Ukraine, Dynamo won the double, with Leko playing 18 times. In February 2006, it was announced that Leko would be leaving Dynamo Kyiv, having turned down a new contract offer. He subsequently signed for French side AS Monaco on a free transfer on 4 June 2006. In July 2009, ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' reported that he had turned down a move to English
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
club Wolverhampton Wanderers as they would not meet his wage demands of £30,000 per week (approx. $49,000) net. On 18 June 2010, Bucaspor signed Leko to a two-year deal on a free transfer from Monaco. On 25 May, it was confirmed that Leko signed a two-year deal with Dinamo Zagreb. In August 2014 he moved to NK Lokomotiva on loan. In 2015, he permanently joined Lokomotiva for the last season of his professional career.


International career

Leko made his Croatia national team debut in 2002 against
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, but was not included in the 2002 World Cup squad. He scored a goal in a 4–0 victory against
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
in a Euro 2004 qualifier, and was included in the squad for the tournament, where he played only 22 minutes. Selected to represent the nation in the 2006 World Cup, Leko made two substitute appearances, against
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
and
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. He was also part of the final squad for Euro 2008. At the tournament quarter-final clash between Croatia and
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, Leko was supposed to make his first appearance in the competition as a late substitute as Slaven Bilić wanted to put him on to hold on for a Croatian victory. However, officiating referee Roberto Rosetti disallowed the substitution from occurring as he also allowed Turkey an extra two minutes to find a late equalizer to send the game to a penalty shootout which Turkey eventually won. Leko's last international appearance came a year after Euro 2008 in a
friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...
in 2009 against
Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
.


International goals


Managerial career

Leko started his managerial career by succeeding Besnik Prenga on the bench of Lokomotiva's U19s in the summer of 2017, leading them through 2017–18 UEFA Youth League. They were, however, eliminated by Željezničar in the second round. On 5 January 2021, he succeeded Boris Perković on the bench of Hrvatski Dragovoljac, who held first place on the Druga HNL table at the time of his hiring. However, on 9 January 2021, just four days after the appointment at Hrvatski Dragovoljac, Leko left the club and succeeded Goran Tomić as the head coach of Lokomotiva in the Prva HNL. He had his managerial debut on 22 January in a home 3–0 defeat to Osijek. He achieved his first career victory on 30 January, beating Hajduk Split 1–0 away. He was sacked on 13 March, after a 1–0 defeat to Istra 1961. In July, 2021, Leko was named the manager of Jarun in their debut season in the second-tier Druga HNL.


Managerial statistics


Honours


Player

Dinamo Zagreb * Croatian First League: 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14 * Croatian Cup: 2000–01, 2001–02, 2011–12 * Croatian Super Cup: 2002,
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 ...
Dynamo Kyiv * Ukrainian Premier League: 2002–03, 2003–04 * Ukrainian Cup: 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leko, Jerko 1980 births Living people Footballers from Zagreb Men's association football midfielders Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatia men's under-21 international footballers Croatia men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2004 players 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players NK Croatia Sesvete players FC Dynamo Kyiv players FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv players AS Monaco FC players Bucaspor footballers NK Lokomotiva Zagreb players Croatian Football League players Ukrainian Premier League players Ukrainian First League players Ligue 1 players Süper Lig players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Monaco Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Croatian expatriate sportspeople in France Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Croatian football managers NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac managers NK Lokomotiva Zagreb managers 21st-century Croatian sportsmen