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