Andrej Kotnik is living his dream in China: from the yellow helmet at Luka Koper to the centre mid in Maribor and Mandaric’s dementia (INTERVIEW)
Text: David Klemenc. Photo: Dalian Yingbo
He could be called the “enfant terrible” of Slovenian football, but those days are long gone. Today, Andrej Kotnik in China, far from the domestic public, is experiencing a true football renaissance. His impressive statistics this year and his club’s position on the league table clearly show that everything he touches – or more precisely, kicks – turns to gold.
As he himself says, things have finally opened up for him. He needed some negative experiences to rise like a phoenix from the ashes and, most importantly, to start appreciating what he has now. He happily took the time for a very enjoyable, yet extremely honest conversation, in which he revealed numerous interesting anecdotes from his life and was sometimes quite outspoken.
“I have always been a bit unconventional. There were quite a few strange decisions that I thought were good for me at the time, but it later turned out that this was not actually the case,” Andrej Kotnik began the conversation for Football Planetin a very sincere tone.
Andrej Kotnik: “Work clothes and 12 hours in the sun”
The now 29-year-old Prisojčan recalls his early football steps with his local Koper: “Until I was 15, I trained like crazy, even up to 10 hours a day during the holidays. Then, at the beginning of my cadet period, something changed. Football became too much for me, I simply left it and started experimenting with other sports. I joined a boxing club, then played for a while in the handball club Koper, and then I don’t remember how I let myself be convinced to return to football. First in Dekani, then in Izola, in the third division.”
He quickly reached the age when he had to start supporting himself, and since playing in the third Slovenian league was more about recreation than money, he, at the urging of friends, accepted a job at Luka Koper.
“All my friends worked there. They told me: ‘Come on, come, it’s great, you sit and wait all day, you’ll definitely like it.’ And I didn’t have ‘cash’ in my pocket, so I let myself be convinced. Alright, I’ll try it,” he laughs, recalling an experience that turned out to be one of those bad decisions in his life. “They told me we’d be sitting all day, enjoying and getting paid. Then I get there and they give me a yellow helmet, work clothes, big boots, and a 12-hour shift in the summer sun. They’re not normal. And after work, they say: ‘Oh no, it’s not always like this, come tomorrow, you’ll see.’”
Of course, he returned to work the next day, full of hope that it would be more relaxed and less strenuous, but… “I came the next day – even worse! I almost cooked myself! After six hours, I took off the clothes, thanked the guys, and told the foreman: ‘Ciao, this job is not for me, I’m not cut out for this.’ And I went home.” According to him, he decided then that he would no longer work but would try to start serious football. His then-teammate Anže Rupnik helped him by organizing his transfer to Gorica.
Why would he take him if he doesn’t even play for Izola?
In the beginning, things did not go as planned, as the day before the match when Gorica’s coach Miran Srebrnič was supposed to watch him, he had a falling out with coach Aljoša Cotar, and therefore he was not in Izola’s lineup. “Coach Srebrnič said: ‘Why would I take him on trial if he doesn’t even play in the third league?’ Then Rupa asked him: ‘Come on, take him, the kid is good.’ And thank God he managed to soften him up and convince him. So, after a day or two, I was already starting for Nova Gorica.”
In the playing position, he was on trial for about two weeks and, as he himself says, he noticed that he was doing quite well. However, the club did not inform him of how things were going, and meanwhile, he could no longer afford the costs of commuting between Koper and Nova Gorica. So, he decided to approach the club management and ask how things were. Silently, he knew they wanted him, as he was in excellent shape, and Gorica was severely lacking footballers due to the chaos within the club.
“I trained there for about ten days and thought: look, I’m doing well, I couldn’t believe I could do it. But commuting every day? Where would I get the money? I couldn’t afford it. So I told one of the people in the management: ‘Look, I’m doing great here, but tell me how things stand, because I can’t manage this. If you’re not interested, that’s fine. I’ll leave it all behind, go back home, find a job, and play amateur football with friends.’”
Of course, Gorica recognized his talent – an unpolished gem they were not willing to let slip away. Soon, a call came from the coach, who presented the plan and conditions. He made his demands, and it was soon clear that it was just a matter of time before the deal would be done. “I talked to Srebro (Srebrnič, ed.), he presented their conditions, and I presented mine. He said: ‘OK, I’ll call you in two minutes to check the situation.’ And indeed, he called me exactly one minute later with the words: ‘Come sign.’”
Lived a lively party life, then suddenly Serie A
That signature changed his football life, as from that moment he embarked on an almost crazy adventure that took him to various places in Slovenia and around the world – and it continues to this day. “I really enjoyed it. I had my first contract, although it was quite modest – practically, I played only for contributions, but I didn’t mind. I started enjoying playing, and at that time I first thought that I could take this a bit more seriously.”
He wasn’t far off, as after just two seasons, he achieved an almost sensational transfer when Italian Serie A team Crotone lured him into their ranks. That year, the club fought desperately to stay in Serie A, which they eventually heroically secured. Our interviewee, however, did not play a prominent role at that time, as the jump was, frankly, huge. “I can’t even explain what happened if someone asks. Just a year before, I was kicking the ball on concrete with my neighborhood friends and living a lively party life, and suddenly Serie A. Who would understand that? The difference was enormous in every way. To put it simply, it was ‘mega’ for me. Football has always been my great passion. I could do it, and I was paid well – about fifteen times more than in Gorica. I thought it couldn’t get any better.”
As he says, today’s Andrej Kotnik would handle, play, and utilize those unforgettable six months differently, although he does not regret it much. He did not extend his stay in the hot south of Italy, as, according to him, it would have been better if the team had been relegated to the second tier that season. After the sale of the main stars, there would definitely have been a place for him in the revamped squad. Instead, the club decided to build an even stronger team, leaving no room for him and some of his teammates. So, he returned to Slovenia, where he did not intend to stay. Naively, he accepted the first offer his then Italian agent presented to him.
“Third Spanish league, and I’m sitting on the bench”
“My agent calls me and says: ‘I have a club in Spain, my coach is there, you’ll play, everything’s great.’ And when he says the club Formentera, thoughts like: ‘Wow, Spain, island, beaches, parties’ immediately pop into my head. I really don’t know if I needed 15 seconds to shoot back: ‘Yes, I’m going.’” He quickly experienced firsthand that not everything that glitters is gold, and that this was one of those decisions that didn’t exactly benefit him in life. After two rounds played and two losses, “his” coach had to leave, and the islanders filled the gap with a local expert who didn’t like foreigners. He spent the next three games on the bench, which, of course, did not suit him, so he decided to leave on his own. “I told myself: ‘Third Spanish league, and I’m sitting on the bench. I really don’t need this in my life!’ I contacted my agent and told him I had packed my bags and left. You tell them I won’t be back. Later, they really didn’t even notice I was gone.”
Upon returning home and after ending his contract with Gorica, which had loaned him to Spain, he joined the training sessions of Alen Ščulc in Dekani to maintain his form, and simultaneously trained independently with the graduated kinesiologist and fitness coach Marko Cvetković. As he says, he had no shortage of offers from Slovenia, but the ones from abroad were much more interesting to him.
Vikings, mountains, and the most remote parts of Europe
At that time, he did not think much about it, but when he later looked at his football path, he was pleased with the direction it took. He played football in Iceland, Cyprus, Slovakia, and Denmark, always in a different environment and context. His manager was also not shy about getting him into trouble. “My manager was from Slovakia, and when he found out I wasn’t in Spain anymore, he immediately called me and said: ‘I have a good option for you. There’s a club in Iceland looking for a footballer, and they’re ready to sign a contract with you, fly to Reykjavik tomorrow.’” He accepted the offer and went to Iceland, where he soon received another interesting one. “We were about to fly home, and then he told me: ‘There’s an offer from the Cypriot club Aris Limassol, they want to sign you, how about it?’ And I said: ‘Alright, let’s see what it’s like.’”
Although the weather was more favorable on the island, it was a little less interesting. “Our first training was at a temperature of 36 degrees. At that moment, I told myself: ‘Are you kidding me?’ The guys there just said: ‘In Cyprus, it’s always like this in August.’ I had enough after that.” He decided to end his contract prematurely and returned to Iceland, but when his next contract ended, he went to Denmark, where, according to his assessment, football is excellent, and he had a positive experience. “That was already in the first division. I played well, enjoyed the football, but they were still expecting a few foreign players, so in the end, my contract was not extended.”
He returned home and did not know where to go next, as he had to find himself again. Offers came in from Slovenia, but as he says, “I was looking for something different.” He had an opportunity to play in Slovakia, and he went there for a trial period, where the club soon offered him a contract, which he accepted. This club was Žilina, with whom he quickly achieved a great success, winning the championship and appearing in the UEFA Europa League.
Today, a coach and assistant in Maribor
Now, he’s a part of the coaching staff in Maribor. Although he was expected to end his playing career at a younger age, the football experience he has is valuable and well worth the effort of passing it on to younger generations. “When I finished playing in Žilina, the idea came to me that I would continue my football career as a coach. That’s the path I decided to take. I had a few good offers from Slovenia and abroad, and I chose Maribor, which was an obvious choice for me.”
He is also pleased with the development of Slovenian football and thinks that Slovenian footballers have come a long way in recent years. “We have a lot of good footballers who have shown that they are capable of playing in better European leagues, as well as in the national team.” Today, as a coach and assistant in Maribor, he wants to contribute his part to the further development of Slovenian football.
In China, he lives with his girlfriend Aida, whom he humorously describes as his greatest achievement and trophy in his career, as well as one of his most cherished memories from his time in Maribor. His popularity among fans is demonstrated by the fact that journalists, upon learning where his better half is taking a yoga course, immediately went there to interview her. While he is thrilled with the fans, food is a particularly unique chapter. Not necessarily bad, but certainly specific and at times even bizarre. Andrej Kotnik does not hide that he has greatly expanded his culinary repertoire in China. “It’s true. Their food is a special chapter. It’s truly an experience – I’ve eaten scorpions, frogs, insects, some black chicken, and many other things I had no idea what they could be. But I just put it in my mouth; it doesn’t bother me, I like to try new things, and everything was good.”
Already received a Slovenian jersey with number 44 in China
The excellent performances of our national team have not gone unnoticed even in the Far East. One of the most original gifts he received from fans this summer was a Slovenian jersey with the number 44, which he wears at the club, and his name on it. Perhaps the Chinese were trying to send a message to Matjaž Kek? “Yes, I already have the jersey, but they haven’t called me yet. Who knows, maybe that day will come… I’m not stressing about it. Even back when there was that national team B action, they said I’d be included, but nothing came of it. It would be the pinnacle of my career. Who doesn’t dream of that? I think everyone does, and I’m no exception.”
Will six goals, two assists in 16 matches, and the title of the league’s most valuable player be enough to earn a call-up? For anyone who knows this mischievous and always honest Primorec, the answer is undoubtedly affirmative.
This text was automatically translated using AI.
Author: editorial Football Planet
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