Marko Elsner

Marko Elsner
Personal information
Date of birth (1960-04-11)11 April 1960
Place of birth Ljubljana, PR Slovenia, FPR Yugoslavia
Date of death 18 May 2020(2020-05-18) (aged 60)
Place of death Ljubljana, Slovenia
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Wacker Innsbruck
Slovan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1977–1983 Olimpija 109 (12)
1983–1987 Red Star Belgrade 128 (3)
1987–1990 Nice 105 (6)
1990–1991 Admira Wacker 17 (0)
1991–1993 Nice 24 (0)
Total 383 (21)
International career
Yugoslavia U21
1984–1988 Yugoslavia 14 (0)
1992–1993 Slovenia 2 (0)
Medal record
Men's Football
Representing  Yugoslavia
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1984 Los Angeles Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Marko Elsner (11 April 1960 – 18 May 2020) was a Slovenian professional footballer who played as a defender.[2]

Club career

Born in Ljubljana, capital of SR Slovenia (then part of Yugoslavia), Elsner played for Wacker Innsbruck's youth team before returning to Ljubljana where he played with Slovan before joining Olimpija in 1977. In 1983 he was signed by Red Star Belgrade, where he stayed for four seasons. In this period he became a national team player as he was part of the Yugoslav team at the 1984 Olympics, and has won one Yugoslav championship and one Yugoslav Cup during his spell with Red Star.[3]

In 1987, he left Belgrade and moved abroad by signing with French Ligue 1 side OGC Nice. He played with Nice until 1993, except in 1990–91, when he played for the Austrian Bundesliga side Admira Wacker.[4]

International career

Elsner made his debut for Yugoslavia in a March 1984 friendly match against Hungary, and played a total of 14 games for the team between 1984 and 1988.[5] After Slovenia's independence in 1991, he switched his national team allegiance and made his debut for the Slovenia national team against Cyprus in November 1992. His last match was against Estonia on 7 April 1993, and the two games were his only two appearances for Slovenia.[1][6]

Personal life

Elsner's father, Branko Elsner, was also a footballer and later a coach. His sons Luka and Rok are also former professional footballers.[7]

Elsner died on 18 May 2020 at the age of 60 due to illness.[7][8]

Honours

Red Star Belgrade

Yugoslavia national team

References

  1. ^ a b c d Marko Elsner at National-Football-Teams.com
  2. ^ Viškovič, Rok (11 April 2020). "Marko Elsner: V Beograd sem prišel kot smučar, odšel sem kot kralj" (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b Marko Elsner at Reprezentacija.rs (in Serbian)
  4. ^ Marko Elsner at WorldFootball.net
  5. ^ "Marko Elsner, international player". eu-football.info. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Marko Elsner – NZS" (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Umrl je Marko Elsner" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Marko Elsner, Slovenian Olympic Footballer, Dies at 60". total-slovenia-news.com. Total Slovenia News. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.