Branislav_Niňaj
Branislav Niňaj
Slovak international footballer
Branislav Niňaj (born 17 May 1994) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a defender for Romanian Liga I club Sepsi OSK.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1994-05-17) 17 May 1994 (age 29)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Bratislava, Slovakia | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Sepsi OSK | ||
| Number | 82 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2002–2010 | Jozef Vengloš Academy | ||
| 2010–2011 | Petržalka 1898 | ||
| 2012 | Slovan Bratislava | ||
| 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 | 102 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| Slovakia U17 | |||
| 2012 | Slovakia U18 | 2 | (0) |
| 2013 | Slovakia U19 | 4 | (0) |
| 2013–2017 | Slovakia U21 | 27 | (1) |
| 2013–2020 | Slovakia | 3 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 April 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 October 2020 | |||
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.
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]
International stats
- As of match played on 11 November 2020.[6]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slovakia | 2013 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 3 | 0 | |
Slovan Bratislava
Sepsi OSK
- Branislav Niňaj at Soccerway
- Branislav Niňaj Archived 2012-05-02 at the Wayback Machine 02.03.2013, talenty-info.sk
- Slovan získal talentovaného Branislava Niňaja z Petržalky 02.03.2013, sport.aktuality.sk
- a.s, Petit Press. "Slováci Gibraltáru gól nedali, pred 350 divákmi remizovali 0:0". sport.sme.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- a.s, Petit Press. "Stoch sa vracia do reprezentácie. Hapal oznámil nomináciu". sport.sme.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- "SR A – V Hapalovej nominácii 29 hráčov, po Jordánsku sa zúži na 23 | Slovenský futbalový zväz". www.futbalsfz.sk. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- "Ninaj, Branislav". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  | This biographical article related to a defender from Slovakia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |