Soccer
A few days after Sebastian Prödl, Zlatko Junuzovic, another long-standing fixture in Austrian football, ended his active career on Friday. After four championship titles and cup victories with Red Bull Salzburg, the 35-year-old drew a line “not with a light heart”. However, Junuzovic will remain with the “Bulls” family. The midfield engine changes to the Lieferinger coaching bench.
“Together with my family, I thought long and hard about what would be best for our future. Not with a light heart, but full of anticipation, I have now made the decision to end my career as a professional footballer,” Junuzovic said on Friday via the Salzburg website.
In the same breath, the “Bulls” also announced that the player, who was born in former Yugoslavia and fled to Carinthia at the age of five, would move to the Liefering coaching bench. Junuzovic will support the new head coach Fabio Ingolitsch as an assistant in the coming season of the 2nd division.
“I have had so many good experiences here in Salzburg, both sportingly and personally, that I would like to take advantage of the professional opportunity in this great environment. I’m looking forward to this new chapter in my life,” said Junuzovic, who, alongside Thomas Sageder, is to be Ingolitsch’s second assistant, gaining initial experience on the sidelines.
Formative figure in the team
Junuzovic helped shape Austrian football for years. The 35-year-old was part of the successful U20 squad that reached the semi-finals at the 2007 World Cup in Canada. The midfielder made his senior debut in 2006 against Canada of all places and wore the red-white-red team jersey 55 times.
Junuzovic, who scored a total of seven goals for the national team, was also instrumental in qualifying for Euro 2016. In the finals in France, however, he was eliminated from the first game against Hungary due to injury and could no longer be used.
From the GAK via Bremen to Salzburg
At club level, Junuzovic left his mark first with GAK and later with FC Kärnten. From 2009 to 2012 he was the linchpin in the game of Austria Vienna and in 2010 he was also named player of the year by the Bundesliga coaches. Then he moved abroad. From 2012 to 2018, Junuzovic was one of the defining figures at Werder Bremen in the German Bundesliga before moving to Salzburg and back to Austria four years ago.
In the autumn of his career, the veteran experienced his most successful time with the “Bulls”, which came to a worthy end this year with the fourth double. However, after a heel injury, Junuzovic had to pause for months in the past season and – calculated in full games – only played a little more than 6 games. In total, Junuzovic made 570 competitive appearances at club level, scoring 74 goals and providing 146 assists.
