Nastja Čeh
Slovenian footballer (born 1978)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nastja Čeh (born 26 January 1978) is a Slovenian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in Ptuj, he began his career at hometown club Drava before moving to Maribor, where he won two consecutive Slovenian First League titles. He is best known internationally for his time at Club Brugge (2001–2005), with whom he won two Belgian First Division titles and three Belgian Cups. He subsequently played for Austria Wien, FC Khimki, and clubs in Greece, Croatia, Israel, Indonesia, and Vietnam before retiring in 2018.
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Čeh in 2008 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 26 January 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Ptuj, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Drava Ptuj | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–1996 | Drava Ptuj | ||
| 1996–1998 | Maribor | 65 | (5) |
| 1999 | Olimpija | 27 | (6) |
| 1999–2001 | Maribor | 48 | (12) |
| 2001–2005 | Club Brugge | 101 | (24) |
| 2005–2007 | Austria Wien | 36 | (3) |
| 2007–2008 | Khimki | 46 | (6) |
| 2008–2009 | Panserraikos | 6 | (1) |
| 2009–2010 | Rijeka | 7 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Bnei Sakhnin | 43 | (4) |
| 2011–2012 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 4 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | PSMS Medan | 14 | (3) |
| 2013–2014 | Thanh Hoá | 41 | (15) |
| 2014–2018 | Drava Ptuj | 105 | (48) |
| Total | 543 | (127) | |
| International career | |||
| 1995–1997 | Slovenia U18 | 3 | (0) |
| 1997–1998 | Slovenia U20 | 3 | (1) |
| 1997–1999 | Slovenia U21 | 13 | (1) |
| 2001–2007 | Slovenia | 46 | (6) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Čeh earned 46 caps for the Slovenia national team, scoring 6 goals, and represented the country at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Club career
Čeh started his career with his hometown club Drava Ptuj. By the age of 17 he was playing in the first team in the 2. SNL. In the 1996–97 season he moved from Drava to Maribor, later spending one season at Olimpija before returning to Maribor.
Čeh then moved on to Club Brugge. His first season at the club brought success in the Belgian Cup, and the following season he helped the club win their twelfth league title. In August 2002 he scored a late equalising goal in the second-leg of Brugge's Champions League third round qualifying tie against Shakhtar Donetsk. Brugge then went on to qualify through a penalty shoot-out.
In 2005, Čeh was sold to Austria Wien. In 2007 he signed for the Russian Premier League side FC Khimki, where he was given the number 10 shirt.
On 5 January 2009, he left Khimki and moved to Greek club Panserraikos.[1] After a short spell in Greece, he signed for Rijeka,[2] spending a season there before moving on yet again to play in Israel.
In April 2012 Čeh signed for PSMS Medan (ISL) of the Indonesia Super League. His debut match was on 9 April, where he came on in the 53rd minute replacing Muhammad Antoni; he also received his first yellow card on that match.[3]
International career
Čeh made his debut for Slovenia in an October 2001 World Cup qualification match against the Faroe Islands with him immediately scoring a brace, and earned a total of 46 caps, scoring 6 goals.[4] He made two appearances for the national team during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, both times coming on as a substitute. His final international was a June 2007 European Championship qualification match away against Romania.[5]
Controversies
In April 2011, it was revealed by the Slovenian media that Maribor police department was, for the past six months, investigating an illegal betting organization and six individuals, four of which were from the Maribor area and had already been taken into custody.[6] The Police also revealed that two other collaborators were still at large and that one of those was Goran Šukalo.[6] Šukalo categorically denied his involvement in the matter[7][8] and revealed that another football player, Nastja Čeh, was still owing him €73,000 and was avoiding payment.[9] Allegedly this was the reason why Čeh pawned his property near Ptuj to Kosta Turner, which was visible from the official real estate papers.[9] In January 2012, the general prosecutor on the District Court in Maribor proposed an indictment of six individuals, ring leaders of the illegal betting organization, in light of new evidence against them.[10] The organization allegedly accepted a total of €43 million of bets, with €2.53 million being placed by Čeh.[10]
Career statistics
- Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Čeh goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 October 2001 | Stadion Bežigrad, Ljubljana |  Faroe Islands | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 2–0 | |||||
| 3 | 2 April 2003 | Stadion Bežigrad, Ljubljana |  Cyprus | 4–1 | 4–1 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualification |
| 4 | 6 September 2003 | Stadion Bežigrad, Ljubljana |  Israel | 3–1 | 3–1 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualification |
| 5 | 18 August 2004 | Stadion Bežigrad, Ljubljana |  Serbia and Montenegro | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 6 | 4 June 2005 | Dinamo Stadium, Minsk |  Belarus | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Honours
Maribor
Club Brugge
- Belgian First Division: 2002–03, 2004–05
- Belgian Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04
- Belgian Supercup: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
Austria Wien
