Ilicic
Josip Iličić (Croatian pronunciation: [jǒsip ǐlitʃitɕ]; born 29 January 1988) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a Forward for Serie A club Atalanta and the Slovenia national team.
He began his professional career with Slovenian club Bonifika, later also playing for Interblock and Maribor in his home country, before moving to Italy in 2010 to join Palermo. In 2013, he signed for Fiorentina, and subsequently for Atalanta in 2017. He enjoyed his best time as a professional footballer with Atalanta scoring 11 or more goals in each of his first 3 years at the club and was awarded a spot in the 2018–19 Serie A Team of the Year. He is also the first player to ever score 4 away goals in a Champions League knockout match and is also the oldest player to score 4 goals in a Champions League match.
At international level, Iličić made his senior debut for Slovenia in 2010.
Born in Prijedor, Iličić started his career playing in the youth teams of Triglav Kranj and later Britof from Kranj. At the age of 19, he moved to SC Bonifika, where he played for a season in Slovenian second division, 2. SNL. It was there when his talent was spotted by Interblock, where he stayed for two seasons playing in Slovenian top league, 1. SNL. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Interblock was relegated into 2. SNL after two qualifications matches against Triglav. Despite being one of the best players of his club and one of the top prospects of Slovenian football Iličić finished the season as a reserve.
Aged 21, Iličić contemplated an idea of finishing his playing career altogether, however, a few weeks later he received a phone call from Zlatko Zahovič, Director of Football at Maribor, who proposed he should sign for the club. In a life changing decision, Iličić took the offer immediately and moved to Slovenia's second largest city where he made a big impact from the start as he scored twice in the UEFA Europa League match against the Scottish Premier League club Hibernian in July 2010. He then scored again, in the return leg of the UEFA Europa League playoff round against Sicilian Palermo, which ended in a 3–2 win for the Slovenian side. On the very next day, it was confirmed that Palermo had acquired Iličić and teammate Armin Bačinović from Maribor for a permanent move. The transfer fee paid by Palermo was undisclosed, but it was reported to be around €2.3 million.
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