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Mitja Viler

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Mitja Viler
Viler with Maribor in November 2017
Personal information
Date of birth (1986-09-01) 1 September 1986 (age 38)[1]
Place of birth Koper, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Left-back
Youth career
–2005 Koper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2010 Koper 142 (5)
2005Izola (loan) 4 (0)
2006Jadran Dekani (loan) 4 (3)
2010–2020 Maribor 256 (7)
2021 Koper 13 (0)
Total 419 (15)
International career
2001 Slovenia U15 8 (0)
2006–2007 Slovenia U20 5 (0)
2007–2008 Slovenia U21 5 (0)
2017 Slovenia 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mitja Viler (born 1 September 1986) is a retired Slovenian footballer who played as a left-back. He spent his entire career in his homeland Slovenia, making over 400 appearances in the Slovenian top division with Koper and Maribor.

At international level, he earned two caps for the Slovenia national team in 2017.[2]

Club career

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Viler started playing football when his father, who was also a football player and later a coach, introduced him to the game.[1] Earlier in career, he was a utility player and played on several different positions.[1] Before moving to Maribor in 2010, he played for Koper and made a total of 142 appearances for the club in the Slovenian first division, 1. SNL, scoring five goals in the process.[3] He was part of the squad that won the first-ever national championship for Koper during the 2009–10 season.[3] With Maribor, he won the league championship during the 2010–11 season, his second consecutive championship. Between 2011–12 and 2014–15, Viler won another four consecutive championships with Maribor.

On 21 October 2014, Viler scored an own goal in a 6–0 UEFA Champions League loss to Chelsea, and was substituted minutes later.[4] On 22 August 2017, Viler scored the only goal for Maribor against Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the second leg of the play-off round of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, helping his team to qualify for the group stage of the competition for the third time in history.[5]

On 29 December 2020, Maribor retired his squad number 28 until 2030.[6] The next day, Viler returned to Koper after ten years.[6]

After a brief spell with Koper, Viler retired from professional football in November 2021.[7]

Honours

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Koper

Maribor

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Osebni karton: Mitja Viler" (in Slovenian). NK Maribor. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
  2. ^ "Mitja Viler, international football player". eu-football.info. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Mitja Viler" (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
  4. ^ Rose, Gary (21 October 2014). "Chelsea 6–0 NK Maribor". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  5. ^ Vozel, Aleš; Subotić, Dolores (22 August 2017). "Čaroben večer v Ljudskem vrtu: Maribor šampion v Ligi prvakov!" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  6. ^ a b R. P. (30 December 2020). "Predsednik Kopra obdaril navijače, Maribor upokojil št. 28" (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  7. ^ "Končana je kariera: Mitja Viler je potegnil zavoro, v Kopru ga zdaj čaka povsem nov izziv" (in Slovenian). Nogomania. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Mitja Viler". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
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