Branislav Niňaj

Branislav Niňaj (born 17 May 1994) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a defender for Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe and the Slovakia national team.

Branislav Niňaj
Personal information
Full name Branislav Niňaj
Date of birth (1994-05-17) 17 May 1994[1]
Place of birth Bratislava, Slovakia
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Sepsi OSK
Number 82
Youth career
2002–2010 Jozef Vengloš Academy
2010–2011 Petržalka 1898
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Petržalka 1898 10 (0)
2012–2015 Slovan Bratislava 58 (6)
2015–2018 Lokeren 39 (0)
2017 → Osmanlıspor (loan) 1 (0)
2018 → Žilina B (loan) 2 (0)
2018–2021 Fortuna Sittard 53 (3)
2021– Sepsi OSK 1 (0)
National team‡
Slovakia U17
Slovakia U18
2013 Slovakia U19 4 (0)
2013–2017 Slovakia U21 15 (1)
2013– Slovakia 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 February 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2020

Early career

In summer 2012, he moved from Petržalka 1898 to the fellow Bratislava team Slovan Bratislava.[2] He made his Corgoň Liga debut for Slovan 2013 against ViOn Zlaté Moravce on 1 March 2013, Slovan won this match 4–1.

International career

Niňaj made an unexpected international debut under Ján Kozák on 19 November 2013 in a memorable first UEFA-recognised match against Gibraltar (0–0), when he tactically replaced Jakub Sylvestr in the 85th minute.[3] However, he failed to make another appearance under Kozák until his resignation in October 2018.

After Niňaj joined Fortuna Sittard, where he experienced an incomparably more successful season to the previous ones, he was again nominated to the national team, initially as an alternate.[4] Niňaj's first nomination to the national team nomination after over 5 years happened on 28 May 2019 when coach Pavel Hapal called him up for a double fixture in June - a home friendly against Jordan, to which, unusually, 29 players were called-up and a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying fixture against Azerbaijan, played away on 11 June 2019. The squad was to be reduced to 23 players for the latter fixture.[5]

References
  1. Branislav Niňaj Archived 2012-05-02 at the Wayback Machine 02.03.2013, talenty-info.sk
  2. Slovan získal talentovaného Branislava Niňaja z Petržalky 02.03.2013, sport.aktuality.sk
  3. a.s, Petit Press. "Slováci Gibraltáru gól nedali, pred 350 divákmi remizovali 0:0". sport.sme.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  4. a.s, Petit Press. "Stoch sa vracia do reprezentácie. Hapal oznámil nomináciu". sport.sme.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  5. "SR A – V Hapalovej nominácii 29 hráčov, po Jordánsku sa zúži na 23 | Slovenský futbalový zväz". www.futbalsfz.sk. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
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