Antonio Rukavina

Not to be confused with Ante Rukavina.
Antonio Rukavina

Rukavina with 1860 München in 2009
Personal information
Full name Antonio Rukavina
Date of birth (1984-01-26) 26 January 1984
Place of birth Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Right back
Club information
Current team
 Villarreal
Number 22
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2002–2007 Bežanija 142 (26)
2007 Partizan 32 (4)
2008 Borussia Dortmund 19 (0)
2009–2012 1860 München 112 (1)
2012–2014 Valladolid 71 (2)
2014– Villarreal 37 (0)
National team‡
2007–2014 Serbia 30 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 May 2016.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2014

Antonio Rukavina (Serbian Cyrillic: Антонио Рукавина, born 26 January 1984) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Villarreal CF as a right back.

Club career

Rukavina joined FK Partizan in January 2007 after an impressive spell with FK Bežanija, and eventually became team captain. On 5 January 2008, Rukavina was transferred to German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund for a fee of €2.5m.[1] After one year Rukavina left Dortmund on 2 February 2009; he was loaned to TSV 1860 München until the end of the season. In July 2009, he transferred permanently to 1860 Munich, with Sven Bender making the opposite move to Borussia Dortmund in lieu of a transfer fee. In June 2012, he was released from 1860 Munich and signed for Spanish side, Real Valladolid, who recently won promotion to La Liga under the guidance of Rukavina's countrymen and former coach Miroslav Đukić. On 8 July 2014, he completed his move to La Liga side Villarreal, signing a two-year deal.[2]

International career

Rukavina is a member of the Serbian national team after being called up from the U21 team. He made his international debut for Serbian national team on 6 June 2007, in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match in Helsinki against Finland. He was part of the Serbian 23-man squad at the FIFA World Cup 2010.

International statistics

Serbian national team
YearAppsGoals
200770
200870
200940
201040
201100
201210
201350
201420
Total300

Personal life

In 2006, Croatian newspapers erranously claimed that he is of Croatian descent, and thus eligible to play for the Croatian national team, the leaders of the Croatian team seeking to win him over, however, Rukavina stated that "I have to disappoint all of the leadership of the Croatian Football Association, because I'm a Serb and I intend to play exclusively for the country where I was born. There has never been talks of me playing for Croatia, nor have I thought about it. Serbia is my choice, and every time I hear the hymn Bože pravde I have goose bumps and feel joy."[3] Sharing the surname with Ante Rukavina, a Croatian footballer, the newspaper said that the surname was Croatian, upon which he replied: "What about the surname? So many people, Serbs and Croats, have the same surnames. I know that my dad's grandmother was born in Croatia and that is my only connection with Croatians. My mother and father are from here [Serbia], and I repeat once again that Serbia is my choice.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Rukavina completes Dortmund transfer". UEFA. 4 January 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  2. ↑ "Villarreal CF sign Antonio Rukavina". Villarreal C.F. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  3. 1 2 Antonio Rukavina (29 December 2006). "SRBIN 100%". Kurir.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Antonio Rukavina.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Milan Smiljanić		 Partizan captain
2007–2008 		Succeeded by
Stevan Jovetić
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, May 01, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.