Roman Bezjak

Roman Bezjak (born 21 February 1989) is a Slovenian footballer who plays as a forward for Balıkesirspor. Bezjak made his debut for the Slovenian national team in 2013.

Roman Bezjak
Personal information
Full name Roman Bezjak
Date of birth (1989-02-21) 21 February 1989
Place of birth Slovenj Gradec, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Balıkesirspor
Number 29
Youth career
Korotan Prevalje[1]
0000–2005 Dravograd
2005–2008 Celje
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2012 Celje 108 (34)
2008 → Zagorje (loan) 5 (3)
2009–2010 → Mladi upi Šentjur (loan) 8 (4)
2012–2015 Ludogorets Razgrad 60 (20)
2015–2016 Rijeka 39 (20)
2016–2018 Darmstadt 98 14 (0)
2017 → Rijeka (loan) 16 (4)
2018–2019 Jagiellonia Białystok 30 (7)
2019–2020 APOEL 18 (4)
2020 Olimpija Ljubljana 16 (2)
2020 Celje 10 (0)
2021– Balıkesirspor 0 (0)
National team‡
2007 Slovenia U18 8 (3)
2007 Slovenia U19 6 (3)
2009–2010 Slovenia U20 2 (0)
2008–2010 Slovenia U21 2 (0)
2013– Slovenia 33 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 January 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 October 2020

Club career

Celje

Bezjak made his debut for Celje on 9 April 2008 against Maribor, coming on as a substitute for the last six minutes.[2] The following season he made his first start for Celje, on 2 August 2008, in a 0–0 home draw against Domžale before being substituted by Saša Bakarić.[3] Two weeks later, Bezjak scored his first goal in a 2–2 away draw against Primorje. He began to establish himself in the Celje first team from the 2009–10 season, making 24 league appearances and scoring 6 goals.[4]

Ludogorets Razgrad

On 22 August 2012, Bezjak signed a four-year contract with Bulgarian A Group side Ludogorets Razgrad.[5] He made his debut for Ludogorets against CSKA Sofia on 22 September where he came on as a substitute in a 1–0 home win. His first goals for Ludogorets came on 3 May 2013 when he scored twice in a 3–0 home win over Chernomorets Burgas. He made 14 appearances during the 2012–13 season, finishing with 5 goals.

In the following season Bezjak became a first team regular.[6] He scored his first goal of the season in the second league game, a 1–0 win at home to Chernomorets Burgas on 27 July 2013. On 27 October 2013, he scored his first-ever career hat-trick, netting four goals in a 5–1 league win over Lyubimets 2007. He also scored three goals in two matches against PSV Eindhoven in the group stage of the Europa League. In February 2014, he netted in both legs of the 4–3 aggregate victory over Lazio in the round of 32 of the Europa League.[7] On 13 March 2014, he earned а penalty kick in the 3–0 home loss against Valencia, but missed from the spot.[8] On 15 May 2014, Bezjak scored the winning goal in the 1–0 victory over Botev Plovdiv in the 2014 Bulgarian Cup Final to help his team achieve a double.[9] He ended the season as the club's top scorer, scoring 20 goals in all competitions.

Rijeka

On 14 May 2015, HNK Rijeka announced that Bezjak had signed a three-year contract, tying him with the club until June 2018.[10] He made his official début for the club on 10 July 2015, in a goalless away draw against Inter Zaprešić in Round 1 of the Croatian First Football League.[11] On 19 July 2015, Bezjak scored a brace in a 3–3 home draw against Slaven Belupo.[12] With 13 goals to his account, he was the club's top scorer during the 2015–16 season.

Jagiellonia Białystok

On 1 February 2018, Bezjak signed a two and a half year contract with Jagiellonia Białystok.[13] His debut for Jagiellonia was against Piast Gliwice in a 2–0 victory being subbed in the 73rd minute.[14] Bezjak's first goal for the club was on 23 February 2018 against Lechia Gdańsk in a 4–2 win at home.[15]

International career

Bezjak earned his first cap for his country on 14 August 2013, after coming on as a substitute in the 2–0 loss against Finland in a friendly match.[16] On 23 March 2016, Bezjak scored his first goal for Slovenia in the 1–0 win against Macedonia.[17] On 8 October 2017, Bezjak scored twice for the 2–2 draw between Slovenia and Scotland.[18]

Career statistics
As of match played 2 December 2019[16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Celje 2007–08 1. SNL 1000—10
2008–09 1. SNL 11100—111
2009–10 1. SNL 24643—289
2010–11 1. SNL 32721—348
2011–12 1. SNL 341671—4117
2012–13 1. SNL 64002[lower-alpha 1]084
Total 108341352012339
Ludogorets 2012–13 A Group 14500—145
2013–14 A Group 31135115[lower-alpha 2]65120
2014–15 A Group 152709[lower-alpha 3]2314
Total 60201212489629
Rijeka 2015–16 1. HNL 3213542[lower-alpha 1]03917
2016–17 1. HNL 2311302[lower-alpha 1]22813
Total 552484426730
Darmstadt 98 2016–17 Bundesliga 11010—120
2017–18 2. Bundesliga 3010—40
Total 1402000160
Jagiellonia 2017–18 Ekstraklasa 1430000143
2018–19 Ekstraklasa 164102[lower-alpha 1]0194
Total 3071020337
APOEL 2018–19 Cypriot First Division 1445000194
2019–20 Cypriot First Division 40007[lower-alpha 4]0110
Total 1845070304
Career total 2858941103910365109
  1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. Six appearances in UEFA Champions League; nine appearances and six goals in UEFA Europa League
  3. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  4. Four appearances in UEFA Champions League and three appearances in UEFA Europa League

International statistics

Summary
As of match played 16 November 2019
National teamYearAppsGoals
Slovenia 201330
201420
201530
201671
201742
201891
201951
Total335

International goals
Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first.[19]
International goals
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1. 23 March 2016 Bonifika Stadium, Koper, Slovenia  North Macedonia 1–0 1–0 Friendly
2. 8 October 2017 Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia  Scotland 1–1 2–2 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3. 2–1
4. 2 June 2018 City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro  Montenegro 1–0 2–0 Friendly
5. 9 September 2019 Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia  Israel 2–2 3–2 UEFA Euro 2020 qualification

Honours

Club
Ludogorets
Rijeka
APOEL

References
  1. Ranc, Tomaž (19 October 2013). "Nogometni Korotan se je začel prebujati". Večer (in Slovenian). Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  2. "Maribor 5–2 Celje". prvaliga.si (in Slovenian). 9 April 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2020.}
  3. "Celje 0–0 Domžale". prvaliga.si (in Slovenian). 2 August 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2020.}
  4. "Roman Bezjak – statistika 2009/10". prvaliga.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  5. "Ludogorets bought a striker from Slovenia". ludogorets.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  6. Kichukov, Simeon (15 May 2015). "След като не му беше предложен нов договор, Роман Безяк напусна "Лудогорец". Словенецът отива в хърватския "Риека", ще взима между 300 и 350 хил. евро на година". 7sport.net. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  7. T. J (27 February 2014). "Bezjak začel popoln preobrat proti Laziu" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  8. "Валенсия събуди Лудогорец от "европейския" им сън, този път и късметът обърна гръб на разградчани". topsport.bg. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  9. "Лудогорец триумфира с Купата в мач, изпълнен с простотия, нерви и ексцесии, "oрлите" подчиниха "Ботев" на "Лазур". topsport.bg. 15 March 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  10. "Roman Bezjak novi igrač Rijeke". nk-rijeka.hr. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  11. "Inter Zaprešić-Rijeka 0:0". prvahnl.hr. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  12. "Rijeka-Slaven Belupo 3:3". prvahnl.hr. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  13. "Jagiellonia Białystok. Roman Bezjak podpisał kontrakt" (in Polish). eurosport.interia.pl. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  14. "Piast Gliwice – Jagiellonia Białystok 0:2" (in Polish). dziennikzachodni.pl. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  15. "Jagiellonia imponuje i wskakuje na pozycję lidera! Posada Owena wisi na włosku" (in Polish). przegladsportowy.pl. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  16. "R. Bezjak – Soccerway". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  17. Š. Ro. (23 March 2016). "Z Bezjakovim prvencem zmaga Slovenije na Bonifiki". Delo (in Slovenian). Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  18. Mitja Lisjak (8 October 2017). "Video: Rezervist Bezjak Škotsko zavil v črno" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  19. "Bezjak, Roman". National Football Teams. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
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