| Capital: | € 50 million |
| Age: | 33 |
| Born: | 14/01/1987 |
| Country of origin: | Germany |
| Source of wealth: | Soccer player |
| Last updated: | 2020 |
Short introduction
Niko Kovac is a former Croatian soccer player who was born in Germany and the current soccer coach. In his active career, he played among other clubs for Hertha BSC, Bayer Leverkusen and FC Bayern Munich and for the Croatian national team. He became his coach after his active career before training Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich.
Early life
His parents came from Croatia, from where they emigrated to Berlin. There they moved to the wedding area. At the local football club, a quick wedding, Niko Kovac took his first step as a club soccer player after he previously kicked the football field in the area. He played for a rather small club until 1989 before moving to Hertha Zehlendorf, where he was used as a defender by a parent. From there, Hertha hired him for the second Bundesliga in 1991, began his actual career as a professional in football.
Career
Niko Kovac made his professional football debut on November 2, 1991. A year later, he also scored his first professional football goal as a defender. Hertha BSC rose again to the Bundesliga, which also made Niko Kovac first division player. He showed high quality that Bayer 04 Leverkusen signed it in 1996. After 148 league matches for Hertha BSC with 16 goals, he moved to Bayer 04 in Rhineland.
Here he stayed three seasons where he used 77 times in the Bundesliga, which of course made him ordinary. During this time he scored 8 times in the opposite goal and runner-up in 1999. He also participated in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup with Bayer Leverkusen for the first time, so he also made an international appearance at the club level.
At the same time by moving to Bayer Leverkusen, debuted for the national team of his parents took place. From 1996 to 2009, Niko Kovac played a total of 83 times for Croatia. He took part in four major tournaments with the 2002 and 2006 World Cup and the 2004 European Championship 2004 and 2008. He announced his resignation in 2009, only to become a national coach of the same team.
However, for now, his career as an active player continues. After two seasons at Hamburger SV, he also moved to Bayern Munich for two seasons. Here he also won his first title as a player in club football. In 2001 he won the World Cup with Bayern, in 2003 he won two times the DFB championship and Cup.
He then played for three years in his hometown for Hertha BSC and ended his active career at FC Salzburg in Austria, where he was twice the national champion.
It was there, in Salzburg, that his next career as coach began. First as a youth coach, then as an assistant coach. He then took over U21 from Croatia and was the Croatian national coach from 2013 to 2015 as mentioned. Over the next two years he was a coach at Eintracht Frankfurt, which he saved from relegation and then caused the DFB Cup victory in 2018.
This in turn motivated FC Bayern Munich to sign a former player as a coach. Although Niko Kovac won the DFB Cup and a double multiplied championship in his first year, he was released earlier a few months later.
Career highlights
Pure in terms of sports value, winning the 2001 World Cup must be placed above. However, other national titles as players are worth all awards. As a coach, his career spotlight maybe when he surprisingly won the 2018 DFB Cup final against FC FC Bayern Munich with Eintracht Frankfurt.
His participation in two world championships and two European championships can also be counted as highlights of his work.
Amazing facts
In 2016, he received a gift to play German sports exhibitions for his behavior towards the opponents of inferior relegation 1. FC Nürnberg.
His brother Robert Kovac is also a Bundesliga player and has become an assistant coach at Robert Kovac’s Coaching Station in recent years.
After graduating from junior high school in Berlin, Niko Kovac studied business administration for eight semesters without solving it.
He is considered a very obedient Catholic without, like many other players, gives special attention to this.
Interestingly, he lost his job as Bayern Munich coach after 1-5 losses from the previous club, Eintracht Frankfurt.
