Place of birth Gjakova, Kosovo 1990–1994 Hajduk Split Position Forward 1988–1990 Pristina Height 1.82 m | Years Team Role Footballer Playing position Name Ardian Kozniku | |
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Date of birth (1967-10-27) 27 October 1967 (age 48) | ||
Ardian kozniku 7 cannes 5 goals
Ardian Kozniku (born 27 October 1967) is a former Croatian footballer who played as a striker and was a recently coached FK Shkëndija. He is from Kosovo and is of Albanian descent.
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He started his career at KF Vllaznimi from Gjakova and was later picked up by FC Prishtina. He later moved to Croatian side Hajduk Split in 1990 and played there until 1994. He then went on to play for French clubs AS Cannes, Le Havre AC and SC Bastia, as well as Cypriot side APOEL, before making his comeback to Croatia in the summer of 1998, signing with Dinamo Zagreb. After two seasons and a half with Dinamo Zagreb, he made a move to Austrian side FC Kärnten in the winter break of the 2000-2001 season and left the club after only six months for Croatian side NK Hrvatski dragovoljac, where he finished his career in 2002.
With Hajduk Split, he was the top goalscorer of the opening season of the Croatian First League in 1992, scoring 12 goals. He scored a total of 45 goals in the league.
He was an occasional member of the Croatian national team in the 1990s, winning 7 international caps and scoring 2 goals. He made his international debut in a friendly match against Slovakia in April 1994 and also made three appearances in Croatia's qualifying campaign for the UEFA Euro 1996, scoring one goal. He was a member of Croatia's bronze medal-winning squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, but was left an unused substitute in all of the team's seven matches at the tournament. His last match for Croatia was a friendly against Australia in early June 1998, during the team's preparations for the upcoming World Cup, where he also netted one goal in his team's 7-0 victory. He also played for Kosovo in friendly matches against Albania on February 14, 1993 and again on September 7, 2002 against Albania.
Kozniku has served two years as the president of the Croatian Diving Federation. His daughter Diana (born 1995), a diver, placed 11th in 1 m springboard at the 2010 European Aquatics Championships.
In September 2014 Kozniku became a coach of FK Shkëndija.