# Ermin Šiljak

Ermin Šiljak (born 11 May 1973) is a Slovenian professional football manager and former player who played as a centre forward.

## International career

Šiljak made his debut for Slovenia in a March 1994 away friendly match against Macedonia. By the end of his career, he had earned a total of 48 caps for the national team and scored14 goals. He played at the Euro 2000, and scored nine goals in nine games in the UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying campaign. His final international was an October 2005 World Cup qualification match against Scotland.

## Managerial career
### Early career

Between 2007 and 2011, Šiljak managed Slovenian under-16 and under-19 national teams.
In 2012, he was announced as the new manager of Olimpija Ljubljana.

### Botev Plovdiv

Šiljak joined Botev Plovdiv in July 2015. His first match in charge was against local rivals Lokomotiv Plovdiv. The Plovdiv derby ended in a 1–1 draw.
Šiljak achieved five wins and three draws in his first thirteen games as a manager of Botev. On 27 October 2015, Botev was eliminated in the Round of 16 of the Bulgarian Cup. At that point, Šiljak decided to expel Yordan Hristov, Mariyan Ognyanov, Plamen Nikolov, and Joël Tshibamba from the first team, but these changes did not lead to better results. Šiljak relied on young players in the next two league mathes and lost both. At the end of November 2015, after less than six months in charge, Šiljak resigned as the manager of Botev Plovdiv.

### Dalian Transcendence

On 21 April 2016, China League One club Dalian Transcendence announced Ermin Šiljak would be their manager for the following two years. On 10 August 2016, however, Šiljak was sacked by the club, after only 112 days in charge, and 5 wins and 4 draws in 15 games.

### Baoding Yingli

In May 2017, Šiljak joined the China League One club Baoding Yingli as an assistant coach to Jo Bonfrere. Seven games before the end of the season, the owners sacked the whole coaching team (including Šiljak) without an official explanation.

### Aris Thessaloniki

On 29 April 2023, Ermin Šiljak was hired as the head coach at Greek Super League club Aris Thessaloniki, with a specific goal to secure a spot in one of the European competitions in the following season. He signed a two-month contract, until 30 June 2023. Under his management, two rounds before the end of the season, the club successfully secured a spot in the 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round. Despite this success, club owners decided not to extend Šiljak's contract and decided to replace him with Apostolos Terzis.

## Career statistics

    Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 6 December 1995 | Estadio Héroe de Nacozari, Hermosillo | Mexico | 1–2 | 1–2 | Friendly match |
| 2 | 7 February 1996 | Ta'Qali Stadium, Valletta | Iceland | 7–1 | 7–1 | Friendly match |
| 3 | 21 May 1996 | Stadion Bežigrad, Ljubljana | United Arab Emirates | 1–2 | 2–2 | Friendly match |
| 4 | 18 March 1997 | Linzer Stadion, Linz | Austria | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly match |
| 5 | 11 November 2000 | Stadion Bežigrad, Ljubljana | Switzerland | 1–1 | 2–2 | FIFA World Cup 2002 qualification |
| 6 | 7 September 2002 | Stadion Bežigrad, Ljubljana | Malta | 2–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualification |
| 7 | 2 April 2003 | Stadion Bežigrad, Ljubljana | Cyprus | 1–0 | 4–1 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualification |
| 8 | 2 April 2003 | Stadion Bežigrad, Ljubljana | Cyprus | 2–1 | 4–1 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualification |
| 9 | 30 April 2003 | Ta'Qali Stadium, Valletta | Malta | 2–0 | 3–1 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualification |
| 10 | 30 April 2003 | Ta'Qali Stadium, Valletta | Malta | 3–0 | 3–1 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualification |
| 11 | 6 September 2003 | Stadion Bežigrad, Ljubljana | Israel | 1–0 | 3–1 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualification |
| 12 | 11 October 2003 | Tsirion, Limassol | Cyprus | 1–0 | 2–2 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualification |
| 13 | 11 October 2003 | Tsirion, Limassol | Cyprus | 2–0 | 2–2 | UEFA Euro 2004 qualification |
| 14 | 15 November 2003 | Maksimir, Zagreb | Croatia | 1–1 | 1–1 | UEFA Euro 2004 Play-offs |

## Honours

Olimpija Ljubljana
* Prva liga: 1993–94, 1994–95; runner-up: 1995–96
* Slovenian Cup: 1995–96
* Slovenian Super Cup: 1995
Bastia
* Intertoto Cup: 1997
Servette
* National League A: 1998–99
* Swiss Cup: 2001
Hammarby IF
* Allsvenskan: 2001
Dalian Shide
* Chinese FA Cup: runner-up 2003
Mouscron
* Belgian Cup: runner-up 2005–06
Individual
* Slovenian PrvaLiga top scorer: 1995–96 (28 goals in 33 games)
* UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying top scorer (9 goals in 9 games)