Aljaž Struna
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60%Born
1990 (33 years old)
Birth Place
Piran, SFR YugoslaviaPosition
Defender
Status
Free Agent
Ethnicity
Team Number
24
Height
1.89 m (6 ft 2+1⁄2 in)
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SoccerTeam
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2nd Team
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Aljaž "Kiki" Struna (born 4 August 1990) is a Slovenian football defender. He has played over 20 times for the Slovenian national team since his debut in 2016.
Club career
FC Koper
Struna began his career in the youth ranks of Slovenian PrvaLiga side FC Koper. He made his first team debut on 11 April 2009, coming on as a substitute in a 0–0 draw with Maribor. Although Struna played primarily with the youth teams, he made two first team appearances in the 2008–09 season.
Struna found more playing time at the beginning of the 2009–10 season, appearing in fifteen league games and twice in the Slovenian Cup. He scored his first goal for Koper on 12 December 2009 in a 4–0 win over Celje. Struna would go on loan to Slovenian Third League club Jadran Dekani for the second half of the season. Koper would go on to win the PrvaLiga.
Struna returned to Koper after his brief loan. He made his first appearance of the season on 13 July 2010, making his European debut by coming on as a substitute in a UEFA Champions League qualifying match against Dinamo Zagreb. Struna established himself as a starter as the season progressed. On 2 April 2011, Struna scored his first goal of the season to help Koper defeat Maribor 3–0. He would find the net again on 6 April 2011 as Koper beat Celje.
Struna made his first appearance of the 2011–12 season in a UEFA Europa League qualifying match on 30 June 2011, a 1–1 draw with Shakhter Karagandy. Koper would go on to lose 3–2 on aggregate. He scored his only goal of the season on 14 September 2011 in a 2–0 win over Olimpija Ljubljana in a Slovenian Cup match. Struna and Koper would finish fourth in the league, just missing out the UEFA Europa League spot by one point.
Palermo
On 21 May 2012, Struna was sold to Italian side Palermo for €300,000. In the summer he went on loan to Varese of Serie B, with an option for his new club to acquire 50% of his transfer rights by the end of the season. He missed the start of the season due to a fracture in his foot. Struna made his debut for Varese on 6 October 2012, coming on as a substitute in a 2–2 draw with Empoli. He would however suffer another injury, forcing him to miss multiple months. Struna returned to action in February 2013 and would go onto make nine appearances in his debut season in Italy.
Struna returned to Palermo for the 2013–14 season. He made his debut for the club on 31 August 2013, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 defeat to Empoli. On 31 October 2013, Struna suffered a left knee injury during training. He underwent surgery on 5 November 2013. Struna was forced to miss the rest of the season due to his injury.
On 29 August 2014 Struna went on loan to Serie B side Carpi for the 2014–15 season. He made his Carpi debut on 30 August 2014 in 1–1 draw with Livorno. Struna scored his first foal for Carpi on 24 December 2014 in a 4–0 win over Perugia. He made 34 appearances as he helped Carpi have the strongest defense in the league, allowing a league low 28 goals in 42 games. In part due to their stingy defense, Carpi finished first in the league and won promotion to Serie A for the first time in club history.
After signing a new contract with Palermo while on loan with Carpi, Struna returned to Palermo for the 2015–16 season. He made his Serie A debut on 30 August 2015 in a 1–0 win over Udinese. However, he was suspended for the next match after picking up two yellow cards. Struna scored his first Serie A goal and his first for Palermo on 20 April 2016, finding the back of the net in the 76th minute to give Palermo a 2–2 draw with Atalanta. He helped Palermo avoid relegation, finishing 16th and one point above the relegation zone.
On 31 August 2016, Struna went back to Carpi on loan for the 2016–17 season with an obligation to buy if Carpi were to be promoted. On 20 September 2016 he scored to help Carpi secure a 2–2 draw with Brescia. Struna made 30 appearances as he helped the Carpi have the fourth lowest goals against in the league. Carpi finished in seventh place and qualified for the promotion playoffs. Struna helped Carpi defeat Cittadella in the first round and defeat Frosinone 1–0 over two legs in the semi-final. Struna was forced to miss the first leg of the final after picking up two yellow cards in the second leg against Frosinone. He would return in the second leg of the final, but Benevento would win 1–0 and earn promotion.
Struna returned to Palermo for the 2017–18 season, who had been relegated from Serie A the previous year. He made his first appearance of the season on 6 August 2017 in a 5–0 win over Virtus Francavilla in a Coppa Italia match. Struna made 35 Serie B appearances to help Palermo end the year with the second best defense, allowing only 39 goals in 42 matches, and finish in fourth place, qualifying for the promotion playoffs. Although he did not feature in either of the semi-final matches, he would start both of the final legs against Frosinone. However, Struna and Palermo would lose 3–2 on aggregate.
Struna made his first appearance for the 2018–19 season in a 2–1 win over Lecce on 21 October 2018. On 26 October 2018, Struna scored in the 90th minute to give Palermo a 1–1 draw with Venezia. With his contract set to expire at the end of the season and the club in a poor financial situation, Palermo agreed to sell Struna in the January transfer window.
Houston Dynamo
On 24 December 2018 Struna signed with the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer. He made his Dynamo debut on 19 February 2019 in a 1–0 victory over C.D. Guastatoya in a CONCACAF Champions League match. He missed the MLS season opener and the first leg of the quarterfinals tie with Tigres UANL due to a slight thigh injury. Struna returned to action on 9 March 2019, making his MLS debut in a 2–1 win over the Montreal Impact. While he was able to play in the second leg against Tigres, the Dynamo would lose 3–0 on aggregate. Struna had a strong debut season, playing in 29 league matches and picking up one assist, coming in a 4–2 win over the LA Galaxy on the last day of the season. He was voted as the Defensive Player of the Year by local members of the media and the technical staff. Despite Struna's strong performances, Houston ended the season in tenth place in the Western Conference, missing out on the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Struna and the Dynamo opened the 2020 season on 29 February with a 1–1 against the Galaxy. Struna was named to the MLS Team of the Week for his performance in the opening match. Following the second game of the year, the MLS season was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the break, Struna underwent arthroscopic knee surgery. MLS returned to play in July with the MLS is Back Tournament, with Struna playing in every game of the group stage as the Dynamo finished third in their group. He earned his second MLS Team of the Week of the season in Week 16 following a 2–0 win over FC Dallas in the Texas Derby on 7 October. For the final five games of the season, head coach Tab Ramos opted to bench Struna. He ended the season with 17 appearances from Houston's 23 games in an abbreviated season due to COVID-19. The Dynamo finished the season bottom of the Western Conference, failing to qualify for the playoffs.
CF Montréal
On 18 January 2021, Struna was traded from the Houston Dynamo to CF Montréal of Major League Soccer in return for forward Maximiliano Urruti and a 2022 MLS SuperDraft second-round pick.
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