Leon Benko

Leon Benko [ lɛɔn bɛnkɔ ] ( born November 11, 1983 in Varaždin ) is a Croatian football player.

From the 2003/2004 season, the striker played in the first Croatian league for his youth club NK Varteks Varaždin and was there for the season 2004/2005 first-team regular. In the season 2005/2006 he was with his 14 goals in 26 games significantly to the third place in the championship with his team. Previously, he had been shot in the Intertoto Cup in the summer of 2005, already 6 goals in 5 games. For the club, he played in three seasons, a total of 68 top-flight appearances, scoring 18 goals.

The left wing was also an important player in the Croatian U21 national team and has been used in early 2006 in a friendly tournament in Hong Kong twice in the senior team.

For the season 2006/2007 Leon Benko moved to the Bundesliga 1 FC Nuremberg, where he has signed a contract until 2010. But the club he could not prevail, and came only occasionally as a substitute for use. He was nevertheless still loaded seven times in the first year, it passed the following year, only three brief appearances without him there succeeded a goal. Benko highlight of the 2007/08 season were his four UEFA Cup bets and especially his equalizer for a 2-2 draw on 29 November 2007 against the eventual Cup winners Zenit St. Petersburg just two minutes after coming on. At the end of the season 2007/ 08 the descent of the 1st FC Nuremberg was in the 2nd Bundesliga and Benko moved to Belgium Standard Liège. A year later he moved within Belgium, for KV Kortrijk.

Achievements

• German Cup in 2007 with the first FC Nuremberg