Ardian Kozniku (; 27 October 1967) is a Kosovan-Croatian professional football manager and former player who is the assistant manager of Kuwaiti club Al-Salmiya.
Playing career Club He started his career at Vëllaznimi from Gjakova and was later picked up by Prishtina. He moved to Croatian side Hajduk Split in 1990 and played there until 1994, scoring 90 goals in 169 games in all competitions for them.‘Kakav sam bio igrač, takav sam i trener – uporan i željan znanja do iznemoglosti’ - Dnevno He then went on to play for French clubs Cannes, Le Havre and Bastia, as well as Cypriot side APOEL, before making his comeback to Croatia in the summer of 1998, signing with Croatia Zagreb. After two and a half seasons at the club, he made a move to Austrian side Kärnten in the winter break of the 2000–01 season and left the club after only six months for Croatian side Hrvatski Dragovoljac, where he finished his career in 2002.
With Hajduk Split, he was the top goalscorer of the opening season of the Prva HNL in 1992, scoring 12 goals. He scored a total of 45 goals in the league.
International He was an occasional member of the Croatia national team in the 1990s, making seven international caps and scoring two goals. He made his international debut in a friendly match against Slovakia in April 1994 and also made three appearances in Croatia's qualifying campaign for the UEFA Euro 1996, scoring one goal. He was a member of Croatia's bronze medal-winning squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, but was left an unused substitute in all of the team's seven matches at the tournament. His last match for Croatia was a friendly against Australia in early June 1998, during the team's preparations for the upcoming World Cup, where he also netted one goal in his team's 7–0 victory.
He also played for Kosovo in unofficial friendly matches against Albania on 14 February 1993 and again on 7 September 2002 against Albania.1993 MATCHES at RSSSFKosovo v Albania (2002) at National football teams
Managerial career In September 2014 Kozniku became a coach of Shkëndija. In May 2021, he assisted Ante Miše to the Kuwaiti league title with Al-Arabi.OSVOJENA KUVAJTSKA TITULA MIŠE I KOZNIKU DOVELI AL ARABI DO NASLOVA NAKON 19 GODINA ČEKANJA - Croatia FF He later assisted Miše at Saudi Arabian side Al Faisaly FC.Bivši napadač Dinama i Hajduka pomoćnik je Anti Miši u Al-Faisalyju, u Saudijskoj Arabiji - Sportske Jutarnji
Diving Federation Kozniku has served two years as the president of the Croatian Diving Federation. His daughter Diana (born 1995), a diver, placed 11th in 1 m springboard at the 2010 European Aquatics Championships.
International goals Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kozniku goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Ardian KoznikuNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition19 October 1994Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia2–02–0Euro 1996 Qualifying26 June 1998Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia6–07–0Friendly
Honours Hajduk Split Croatian First League: 1992, 1993–94 Croatian Cup: 1993 Croatian Super Cup: 1992, 1993 Yugoslav Cup: 1991
Cannes Coupe Gambardella: 1995
Croatia Zagreb Croatian First League: 1998–99, 1999–00
Kärnten Austrian Cup: 2000–01 Austrian Super Cup: 2001
Orders Order of the Croatian Interlace - 1998
Notes a. Albanian spelling: Ardian Kozniku, Serbian spelling: Ardijan Kozniku, Ардијан Кознику.
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