Roberto Punčec (Croatian: [pûːntʃeːts]; born 27 October 1991) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Varaždin.
 Punčec in Botev Plovdiv | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 27 October 1991 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Varaždin, Croatia | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defender | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Varaždin | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 14 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2002 | Trnje Trnovec | ||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2009 | Varteks | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2011 | Varteks / Varaždin | 53 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2013 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 18 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | → Union Berlin (loan) | 21 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2017 | Union Berlin | 100 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Rijeka | 58 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | Sporting Kansas City | 23 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Botev Plovdiv | 44 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Šibenik | 34 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Varaždin | 20 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Croatia U14 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Croatia U16 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Croatia U17 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2009 | Croatia U18 | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | Croatia U19 | 10 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Croatia U20 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Croatia U21 | 6 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 15 June 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 27 May 2015 | |||||||||||||||||
Club career
editA product of NK Varteks youth academy, Punčec joined the first team in the 2008–09 season and had his professional debut on 2 November 2008 in a league match against Hajduk Split.[1] He went on to appear in 27 matches for the club in his first two professional seasons, with the club changing its name to NK Varaždin in mid-2010.[1]
After filing for arbitration to Croatian Football Federation his contract with the financially troubled Varaždin was terminated due to unpaid wages, and on 31 August 2011, Punčec signed a two-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv.[2]
In July 2012, Punčec joined Union Berlin on a season-long loan with the option to buy.[3] Following five years with Union Berlin, in June 2017, Punčec joined Rijeka on a three-year deal as a free-agent.[4]
On 4 December 2019, it was announced Punčec would join Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City ahead of the 2020 season.[5] Following the 2021 season, Punčec's contract option was declined by Kansas City.[6] In February 2022, he signed a contract with Bulgarian club Botev Plovdiv.[7]
International career
editPunčec has been capped at the Croatia national team at every youth level, and was part of the Croatia squad at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia, playing in all three of their group stage matches.[8]
Career statistics
edit- As of 3 November 2019
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Varteks | 2008–09 | Prva HNL | 6 | 0 | – | – | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | 21 | 1 | 5 | 0 | – | 26 | 1 | |||
| Varaždin | 2010–11 | 25 | 0 | 6 | 2 | – | 31 | 2 | ||
| 2011–12 | 1 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Varteks / Varaždin total | 53 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 66 | 3 | ||
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 2011–12 | Premier League | 18 | 0 | – | 5 | 0 | 23 | 0 | |
| Union Berlin | 2012–13 | 2. Bundesliga | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 23 | 0 | |
| 2013–14 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 23 | 0 | |||
| 2014–15 | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 31 | 0 | |||
| 2015–16 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 23 | 1 | |||
| 2016–17 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 28 | 0 | |||
| Total | 121 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 128 | 1 | ||
| Rijeka | 2017–18 | Prva Liga | 27 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 33 | 1 |
| 2018–19 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 2 | ||
| Total | 58 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 77 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 250 | 3 | 28 | 4 | 16 | 0 | 294 | 7 | ||
Honours
editRijeka
editReferences
edit- 1 2 "Punčec, Roberto". Nogometni magazin (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 25 April 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
- ↑ Strahija, Ivana (31 August 2011). "Punčec u Maccabiju". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 31 August 2011.
- ↑ "1. FC Union Berlin e.V. leiht Roberto Puncec von Maccabi Tel Aviv" (in German). 1. FC Union Berlin. 16 July 2012. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ↑ Vujnović, Korado (16 June 2017). "Roberto Punčec novi igrač Rijeke". Radio Rijeka (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 20 June 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ↑ "Sporting Kansas City sign Croatian defender Roberto Puncec". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. 4 December 2019.
- ↑ "Roster decision deadline: Sporting KC, FC Dallas, Austin FC announce moves | MLSSoccer.com". mlssoccer.
- ↑ "Ботев Пловдив подписа с Роберто Пунчец" (in Bulgarian). 7dnisport.bg. 14 February 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
- ↑ Roberto Punčec – FIFA competition record (archived)
- ↑ "KRAJ U PULI: Rijeka na krilima Simona Sluge i Zorana Kvržića stigla do sedmog Kupa u povijesti!". Novilist.hr (in Croatian). 22 May 2019.
External links
edit- Roberto Punčec at Soccerway.com
- Roberto Punčec at WorldFootball.net
- Roberto Punčec at FBref.com
- Roberto Punčec at kicker (in German)
- Roberto Punčec at the Croatian Football Federation
- Roberto Punčec at Major League Soccer
- Roberto Punčec at Fussballdaten.de (in German)
- Roberto Punčec at Croatian Football Statistics (archived) (in Croatian)
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