Rene Mihelič

Rene Mihelič

Mihelič with Hapoel Ra'anana in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth	(1988-07-05) 5 July 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Maribor, Socialist Republic of Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia[1]
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	USV Hengsberg
Number	14
Youth career
0000–2007	Maribor
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2010	Maribor	134	(19)
2010–2013	Nacional	35	(1)
2013	→ Levski Sofia (loan)	9	(1)
2013–2014	Zavrč	6	(1)
2014–2015	Debrecen	31	(4)
2015–2017	Hapoel Ra'anana	48	(4)
2017	Riga	5	(2)
2017–2018	Chennaiyin	14	(2)
2018–2019	Delhi Dynamos	16	(1)
2019	Persib Bandung	10	(0)
2020	Maribor	8	(0)
2021	Sutjeska Nikšić	13	(2)
2021–2023	SC Kalsdorf	53	(5)
2023–	USV Hengsberg	13	(3)
International career
2006	Slovenia U18	1	(0)
2006	Slovenia U19	3	(0)
2008–2010	Slovenia U20	8	(3)
2006–2010	Slovenia U21	20	(7)
2007	Slovenia	3	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 December 2023

Rene Mihelič (born 5 July 1988) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for USV Hengsberg.

Club career

Mihelič came through NK Maribor's youth academy, before making his senior team debut in September 2005.[2] In 2010 he was signed by the Portuguese team Nacional.[3]

On 8 February 2013, Bulgarian side Levski Sofia confirmed Mihelič had joined on loan until the end of the season, with the option of making the move permanent. He made his official A PFG debut for Levski Sofia on 17 March 2013, after coming on as a substitute in the 0–0 home draw with Montana. Mihelič scored his first goal in his first appearance as a starter for Levski Sofia, netting the equalizer in the 1–1 away draw with PFC Cherno More Varna on 30 March 2013.[4]

Mihelič returned to Slovenia in October 2013, when he joined Zavrč.[5]

On 25 January 2014, Mihelič was signed by Hungarian League club Debrecen.[6] On 22 July 2014, Mihelič scored his first goal in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League qualifying round against Cliftonville at the Nagyerdei Stadion.[7]

On 27 July 2017, Mihelič joined Indian Super League franchise Chennaiyin FC on a free transfer after his contract with Latvian club Riga expired.[8] He scored two goals in fourteen appearances and won the league title with his team. On 11 August 2018, he joined fellow league club Delhi Dynamos FC on a one-year deal.[9]

International career

Between 2006 and 2010, Mihelič represented Slovenia in all youth categories from under-18 to under-21.[10] In August 2007, he made his debut for the senior team when he was 19 years, 1 month and 17 days old, which was a record for the youngest player ever to play for the national team at the time, before the record was broken by Petar Stojanović in 2014.[11]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 2 June 2023

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Maribor	2005–06	PrvaLiga	16	1	4	0	—		—		—		20	1
	2006–07	PrvaLiga	29	6	4	1	—		7[a]	4	—		40	11
	2007–08	PrvaLiga	28	5	5	0	—		4[b]	0	—		37	5
	2008–09	PrvaLiga	28	2	4	0	—		—		—		32	2
	2009–10	PrvaLiga	33	5	3	0	—		6[c]	1	1[d]	0	43	6
	Total		134	19	20	1	0	0	17	5	1	0	172	25
Nacional	2010–11	Primeira Liga	14	1	2	0	2	0	—		—		18	1
	2011–12	Primeira Liga	15	0	2	0	2	0	6[e]	0	—		25	0
	2012–13	Primeira Liga	6	0	1	0	1	0	—		—		8	0
	Total		35	1	5	0	5	0	6	0	0	0	51	1
Levski Sofia	2012–13	A Group	9	1	3	0	—		—		—		12	1
Zavrč	2013–14	PrvaLiga	6	1	—		—		—		—		6	1
Debrecen	2013–14	Nemzeti Bajnokság I	13	3	3	0	—		0	0	—		16	3
	2014–15	Nemzeti Bajnokság I	15	1	1	0	—		3[f]	1	1[g]	0	20	2
	2015–16	Nemzeti Bajnokság I	3	0	0	0	—		3[e]	1	—		6	1
	Total		31	4	4	0	0	0	6	2	1	0	42	6
Hapoel Ra'anana	2015–16	Israeli Premier League	30	3	2	0	—		—		—		32	3
	2016–17	Israeli Premier League	18	1	1	1	3	0	—		—		22	2
	Total		48	4	3	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	54	5
Riga	2016	Virsliga	0	0	3	1	—		—		—		3	1
	2017	Virsliga	5	2	0	0	—		—		—		5	2
	Total		5	2	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	3
Chennaiyin FC	2017–18	Indian Super League	14	2	0	0	—		—		0	0	14	2
Delhi Dynamos	2018–19	Indian Super League	16	1	0	0	—		—		1[h]	0	17	1
Persib Bandung	2019	Liga 1	10	0	0	0	—		—		—		10	0
Maribor	2019–20	PrvaLiga	3	0	0	0	—		—		—		3	0
	2020–21	PrvaLiga	5	0	0	0	—		—		—		5	0
	Total		8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
Sutjeska	2020–21	Montenegrin First League	13	2	—		—		—		—		13	2
SC Kalsdorf	2021–22	Regionalliga Central	28	3	2	1	—		—		—		30	4
	2022–23	Regionalliga Central	25	2	0	0	—		—		—		25	2
	Total		53	5	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	55	6
Career total			382	42	40	4	8	0	29	7	3	0	462	53

1. Five appearances and three goals in UEFA Intertoto Cup, two appearances and one goal in UEFA Cup
2. Appearance(s) in UEFA Intertoto Cup
3. Four appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearance in Slovenian Supercup
5. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
7. Appearance in Szuperkupa
8. Appearance in Hero Super Cup

Honours

Maribor

• Slovenian PrvaLiga: 2008–09[1]
• Slovenian Cup: 2009–10[1]
• Slovenian Supercup: 2009[12]

Debrecen

• Hungarian League: 2013–14[1]

Chennaiyin FC

• Indian Super League: 2017–18[1]

References

1. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Rene Mihelič". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
2. "Mihelič Rene – nastopi" (in Slovenian). NK Maribor. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
3. "Mihelič poleti k Nacionalu". Delo (in Slovenian). 5 February 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
4. "Cherno More vs. Levski Sofia Matchcast". topsport.bg (in Bulgarian). 30 March 2013. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
5. "Mihelič pristal v Zavrču" (in Slovenian). Nogomania. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
6. "DVSC: négy évre szerződtették a szlovén válogatott játékost". Nemzeti Sport. 25 January 2014.
7. "Debrecen come good against Cliftonville". UEFA. 22 July 2014.
8. "ISL: Chennaiyin FC sign Slovenian player Rene Mihelic". The Indian Express. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
9. "Slovenian midfielder Rene Mihelic joins Delhi Dynamos for ISL 2018–19 from Chennaiyin FC". First Post. 11 August 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
10. "Rene Mihelič". nzs.si (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
11. Jerič, Slavko (19 November 2014). "Stojanović postal najmlajši debitant v dresu Slovenije" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
12. "Rene Mihelic – Stats and titles won". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 21 December 2021.

External links

• Rene Mihelič at NZS (in Slovene)
• Rene Mihelič at Soccerway.com
• Rene Mihelič at WorldFootball.net
• Rene Mihelič at National-Football-Teams.com
• Rene Mihelič at kicker (in German)
• Rene Mihelič at FBref.com
• Rene Mihelič at ÖFB (in German)