Andraž Šporar

Andraž Šporar (born 27 February 1994) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays for Middlesbrough, on loan from Sporting CP, and the Slovenia national team as a forward.

Andraž Šporar
Šporar with Slovenia in 2021
Personal information
Full name Andraž Šporar
Date of birth (1994-02-27) 27 February 1994
Place of birth Ljubljana, Slovenia
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Middlesbrough
(on loan from Sporting CP)
Number 11
Youth career
Olimpija
2005–2009 MNK Ljubljana
2009–2011 Interblock
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Interblock 21 (10)
2012–2015 Olimpija Ljubljana 95 (46)
2016–2018 Basel 19 (1)
2017–2018 → Arminia Bielefeld (loan) 9 (2)
2018–2020 Slovan Bratislava 53 (44)
2020– Sporting CP 29 (9)
2021 → Braga (loan) 16 (3)
2021– → Middlesbrough (loan) 34 (8)
National team‡
2012 Slovenia U19[lower-alpha 1] 6 (0)
2012 Slovenia U20 1 (1)
2013–2016 Slovenia U21 19 (7)
2016– Slovenia 35 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 May 2022
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 March 2022

Club career

In June 2012, Šporar transferred from Interblock to Olimpija Ljubljana.[1] In the 2015–16 Slovenian PrvaLiga season, Šporar was named a team captain.[2] During the first half of the club's season, he played 18 PrvaLiga games and scored 17 goals.[3]

On 8 December 2015, Basel announced that Šporar had signed a four-and-a-half-year contract up until the end of June 2020.[4] He made his league debut for Basel on 14 February 2016 in the 4–0 away win against Grasshoppers coming in as substitute in the 70th minute.[5] Šporar injured himself during warm-up before the away match against Saint-Étienne on 18 February 2016. He had to undergo a surgery which kept him out for the rest of the 2015–16 FC Basel season, in which his team won the 2015–16 Swiss Super League championship, their seventh national title in a row.[6][7]

Šporar joined the Slovak Super Liga side Slovan Bratislava in January 2018 for a reported fee of €600,000.[8] He helped the team win the 2017–18 Slovak Cup. In the 2018–19 season, he won the Slovak title and became the Slovak league's best goalscorer, scoring 29 goals and tying the record for most goals scored in a season.[9]

On 23 January 2020, Šporar transferred to Sporting CP on a five-year contract for a transfer fee of €6 million, making him the most expensive player in the history of the Slovak Super Liga.[10] With bonuses, the total transfer fee may eventually rise above €7 million.[11]

On 1 February 2021, Šporar joined Braga on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season.[12]

In August 2021 he joined English side Middlesbrough on loan.[13] He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 win against Nottingham Forest on 15 September 2021.[14]

International career

In November 2016, Šporar received his first call-up to the senior Slovenia squad for matches against Malta and Poland.[15] He debuted against Malta, replacing Milivoje Novaković late in the second half.[16]

Personal life

Andraž Šporar is a son of Olimpija's former captain Miha Šporar.[17] In the past, Šporar has revealed that it is his ambition to earn a move to Liverpool, which is his favourite club,[18] at some stage in his career. Liverpool followed the player in 2015, but in the end there was no transfer.[18][19]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 23 May 2021[20]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Interblock 2011–12 2. SNL 211031——2411
Olimpija Ljubljana 2012–13 1. SNL 2811204[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]03511
2013–14 1. SNL 175332[lower-alpha 2]11[lower-alpha 3]0239
2014–15 1. SNL 321320——3413
2015–16 1. SNL 181720——2017
Total 954693612011250
Basel 2015–16 Swiss Super League 100000—10
2016–17 Swiss Super League 181304[lower-alpha 4]0—251
Total 1913040—261
Arminia Bielefeld (loan) 2017–18 2. Bundesliga 9210——102
Slovan Bratislava 2017–18 Slovak Super Liga 1234300—166
2018–19 Slovak Super Liga 3029006[lower-alpha 2]5—3634
2019–20 Slovak Super Liga 11121114[lower-alpha 5]7—2620
Total 5344542012—7860
Sporting CP 2019–20 Primeira Liga 166—2[lower-alpha 2]1—187
2020–21 Primeira Liga 133302[lower-alpha 2]02[lower-alpha 6]1204
Total 2993041213811
Braga (loan) 2020–21 Primeira Liga 163302[lower-alpha 2]0—213
Career total 242115278361441309138
  1. Official competitive UEFA matches only
  2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. Appearances in Slovenian Supercup
  4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. Two appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, and twelve appearances and six goals in UEFA Europa League
  6. Appearances in Taça da Liga

    International
    Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Šporar goal.[21]
    List of international goals scored by Andraž Šporar
    No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
    121 March 2019Sammy Ofer Stadium, Haifa, Israel Israel1–01–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
    26 September 2019Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia Poland2–02–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
    34 June 2021Bonifika Stadium, Koper, Slovenia Gibraltar1–06–0Friendly
    43–0
    58 October 2021National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta Malta2–04–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification

    Honours

    Basel

    Slovan Bratislava

    Sporting CP

    Braga

    Individual

    References
    1. Jerman, Žiga (13 July 2012). "Pričakovanja Olimpije segajo na vrh". Žurnal24 (in Slovenian). Retrieved 23 January 2020.
    2. Rok Plestenjak (31 August 2015). "Kapetan Olimpije v Ljubljani živi svoje sanje" (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
    3. "Andraž Šporar – statistika 2015–16". prvaliga.si (in Slovenian). Slovenian PrvaLiga. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
    4. FC Basel 1893 (8 December 2015). "FCB verpflichtet den Slowenen Andraz Sporar". fcb.ch (in German). FC Basel. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
    5. Marti, Caspar (14 February 2016). "4:0-Erfolg bei GC: Souveräner Sieg im Spitzenspiel". fcb.ch (in German). FC Basel. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
    6. "Boëtius und Sporar fallen verletzt aus". fcb.ch (in German). FC Basel. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
    7. Marti, Casper (30 April 2016). "Es ist vollbracht!!! Der FCB ist zum 19. Mal Meister". fcb.ch (in German). FC Basel. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
    8. Gašper, Timotej (16 December 2019). "Andraž Šporar na lane veľkoklubu: Koľko môže Slovan zarobiť?". sport7.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 24 January 2020.
    9. "Vittek ani Šporar nezaokrúhlili, ale nesmútili". fortunaliga.sk (in Slovak). Fortuna liga. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
    10. T. J. (23 January 2020). "Šporar bo pet let mreže tresel v dresu Sportinga" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
    11. "Slovan zrealizoval najväčší prestup v histórii Slovenska" (in Slovak). ŠK Slovan Bratislava. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
    12. "Sporar e Borja oficializados no SC Braga" [Sporar and Borja officially at SC Braga] (in Portuguese). SAPO Desporto. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
    13. "Andraz Sporar & James Lea Siliki: Middlesbrough sign Slovenia striker and Cameroon midfielder". BBC Sport. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
    14. "Nottingham Forest 0–2 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
    15. "Katanec reagiral na epidemijo poškodb: naknadno je vpoklical Šporarja in Pihlerja". 24ur.com (in Slovenian). 4 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
    16. "Prvenec Verbiča za pomembne tri točke". nzs.si (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
    17. Plestenjak, Rok (8 June 2019). "Ljubljančanu ni jasno, zakaj ga je oče ponujal Mariboru" (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
    18. Antol, Miroslav (16 January 2018). "Andraža Šporara, veľkého fanúšika FC Liverpool, nezaujíma, že je najdrahší hráč ligy". Šport.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 7 January 2022.
    19. Vráblik, Lukáš (9 January 2018). "Chcel ho Liverpool, potom upadol. Teraz mu Slovan bude platiť desaťtisíce mesačne". Denník N (in Slovak). Retrieved 7 January 2022.
    20. "A. Šporar". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
    21. "Andraž Šporar". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
    22. "Andraz Sporar – Stats – titles won". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
    23. Ribeiro, Patrick (23 May 2021). "Braga beat nine-man Benfica to lift Portuguese Cup". PortuGOAL.net. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
    24. Kovačevič, Marko (24 May 2016). "Jesenski kralj ostal na vrhu". Večer (in Slovenian). Retrieved 26 May 2021.
    25. "Andraž Šporar". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
    26. "Futbalista roka 2019: Výsledky sú známe! Kto je najlepší hráč či tréner?". profutbal.sk (in Slovak). 23 March 2020. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
    27. "Šporar posledným víťazom ankety Hráč mesiaca v tomto kalendárnom roku". sport.aktuality.sk (in Slovak). 26 December 2018. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
    28. "Andraž Šporar víťazom ankety Hráč mesiaca" (in Slovak). ŠK Slovan Bratislava. 25 June 2019. Archived from the original on 15 October 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
    29. "Andraž Šporar víťazom ankety Hráč mesiaca" (in Slovak). ŠK Slovan Bratislava. 24 December 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
    30. "Gól mesiaca OKTÓBER". fortunaliga.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 6 September 2021.
    31. "Jedenástka sezóny so zástupcami štyroch klubov, najlepším hráčom Šporar". fortunaliga.sk (in Slovak). 25 May 2019. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
    32. "V Jedenástke sezóny až sedem futbalistov majstra. Najlepším hráčom Greif". fortunaliga.sk (in Slovak). 12 July 2020. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
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