Nedjeljko Zelić, short form Ned Zelić ˈzɛːlitɕ (born on 4 July 1971 in Sydney), is a Croatian Australian football (soccer) player who plays for FC Dinamo Tbilisi.
Club career
Zelic started his career in the old Australian National Soccer League where he played with clubs Sydney Croatia and Sydney Olympic.
Zelic spent most of the 1990s playing in Europe, most notably for Borussia Dortmund of Germany. He had a small stint at QPR, moving for £1.3 million, which was beset by injury. He did little to endear himself to QPR fans, blaming the hard English ground for his ailments. The London club soon cut their losses and he returned to Germany after playing just four Premier League games in 1995-96. QPR were relegated that season and have yet to return to the top flight.
Newcastle Jets
In 2005, Ned Zelic agreed terms to a two year deal to captain the Newcastle Jets in the Hyundai A-League where he played out the whole season from central defence. The Jets finished fourth on the league table and lost to the Central Coast Mariners 2-1 on aggregate over two legs in the Minor Semi-Final.
In June 2006 he was released from his contract with the Newcastle Jets due to his wife being pregnant in germany. He was almost immediately replaced by Paul Okon, who will likely also take his direct spot in central defence in the team.
Back Overseas
After being granted a work permit, he signed a one-year deal with the Dutch second division side Helmond Sport in August 2006. In Helmond he worked again with his former 1860 Munich team mate Gerald Vanenburg, who was trainer there. He left Helmond however after only 3 months due to physical problems.
On the 15th of March 2007, Zelic joined Georgian club FC Dinamo Tbilisi on a free transfer.
He announced his retirement from football on 12 August 2008, following the outbreak of war between Georgia and Russia. http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=106611
International career
He has played for the Australian team but made himself unavailable after disagreements with coach Frank Farina. Zelic was a member of the Australian team that competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
With discussion in The Age newspaper that Zelic was up for a recall to the Australian national side around October 2005, Zelic did not make a return to the side and took up a career in the media. He first appeared as a football analyst on Australian television channel SBS during the World Cup Qualifier against Uruguay, and continued this role (alongside Andrew Orsatti) during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Trivia
Before getting into football Zelic used to be a truck driver.He still drives a truck in the off season with his pet ferret chuck.citation needed
Honours
With Borussia Dortmund:
With Australia:
With Urawa Reds:
External links
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