Leon Benko
Benko in 2007
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leon Benko | ||
| Date of birth | 11 November 1983 | ||
| Place of birth | Varaždin, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
|
Current team
|
Olimpija Ljubljana | ||
| Number | 26 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1991–2003 | Varteks | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2006 | Varteks | 68 | (18) |
| 2006–2008 | 1. FC Nürnberg | 10 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Standard Liège | 14 | (1) |
| 2009–2010 | Kortrijk | 32 | (5) |
| 2011–2012 | Slaven Belupo | 27 | (15) |
| 2012 | Al-Faisaly FC | 9 | (5) |
| 2012–2014 | Rijeka | 50 | (34) |
| 2014 | Dalian Aerbin | 9 | (1) |
| 2014–2016 | Sarajevo | 41 | (27) |
| 2016– | Olimpija Ljubljana | 23 | (8) |
| National team | |||
| 2003 | Croatia U20 | 2 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | Croatia U21 | 17 | (0) |
| 2006–2013 | Croatia | 4 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 April 2017. |
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Leon Benko (born 11 November 1983) is a Croatian professional footballer who currently plays as a forward for Olimpija Ljubljana in the Slovenian PrvaLiga.
A product of Varteks youth academy, Benko also had spells abroad in the German Bundesliga with 1. FC Nürnberg and in Belgium with Standard Liège and Kortrijk. He was the 2012–13 Prva HNL league's top goalscorer.
Benko signed his first professional contract with his youth club, NK Varteks, in July 2003, and continued to play for the club in the following three seasons under coaches Miroslav Blažević (2003–05) and Zlatko Dalić (2005–06). In his second season at Varteks he established himself as one of the club's key players, appearing in 26 matches in the Croatian First League.
In the summer of 2005, he also performed well for Varteks in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, scoring all four goals in their 4–1 victory over Dinamo Tirana as well as a brace that included the winning goal in a 4–3 victory over Inter Turku. He finished the 2005–06 season as the club's top scorer, scoring 14 goals in 27 league appearances, and was instrumental in the club's 2005–06 Croatian Cup campaign in which they reached the final before losing to Rijeka on away goals rule. His excellent performances at Varteks earned him the 2005 Hope of the Year award for Croatia's best young player.
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