Milan Smiljanić

Lola Smiljanić

Smiljanić warming up with Espanyol in 2009
Personal information
Full name Milan Smiljanić
Date of birth (1986-11-19) 19 November 1986
Place of birth Kalmar, Sweden
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
Maccabi Netanya
Number 23
Youth career
Partizan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2007 Partizan 48 (1)
2007–2011 Espanyol 47 (0)
2010Sporting Gijón (loan) 6 (0)
2010–2011Partizan (loan) 18 (1)
2011–2013 Partizan 47 (1)
2013–2015 Gençlerbirliği 1 (0)
2015– Maccabi Netanya 28 (0)
National team
2006–2009 Serbia U21 28 (2)
2007–2008 Serbia 6 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:00, 15 February 2016 (UTC).

† Appearances (goals)

Milan "Lola" Smiljanić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милан 'Лола' Смиљанић; born 19 November 1986) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays for Israeli club Maccabi Netanya F.C. as a midfielder.

Early life

Smiljanić was born in Kalmar, Sweden, as his father Branko, who was also a professional footballer, was playing for Kalmar AIK FK at the time.

Club career

Partizan

Smiljanić subsequently returned to Serbia and joined FK Partizan youth ranks. Under head coach Vladimir Vermezović, he made his debut for the first team in a league match against FK Sutjeska Nikšić, during the second part of 2004–05.

Smiljanić also spent some time playing for farm team FK Teleoptik and, in little more than two professional seasons, he amassed more than 50 official appearances with the club, and eventually gained club captaincy despite his age.

Espanyol

On 18 July 2007, Spain's RCD Espanyol agreed with Partizan for the transfer of Smiljanić for an undisclosed fee, in a five-year contract.[1] He made his La Liga debut against Real Valladolid on 26 August, in a 0–1 home loss;[2] most of his first two seasons in Catalonia were spent mainly appearing from the bench, even though one of his main competitors in the team, Iván de la Peña, was often injured.

After the club's initial unsuccessful attempts to loan him out for 2009–10, Smiljanić spent the first months of the new campaign only training, not having been given any squad number. However, such a move was arranged in late January 2010, as he joined Sporting de Gijón until June.[3]

Partizan return

In the summer of 2010, Smiljanić was loaned to his former club Partizan.[4] After his loan expired he returned to Spain and agreed the contract termination with the Barcelona-based club.[5]

On 16 August 2011 Smiljanić signed a permanent contract with Partizan, penning a two-year deal.[6]

Gençlerbirliği

On 29 May 2013, it was announced that Gençlerbirliği S.K. had agreed terms with Smiljanić to sign him as a free agent.[7] He appeared in only four competitive games during his spell, his Süper Lig debut coming on 19 October 2013 in a 1–3 home loss against Kasımpaşa Spor Kulübü.

Smiljanić was released on 30 June 2015.

Maccabi Netanya

On 30 July 2015, Smiljanić joined Maccabi Netanya F.C. on a 1+1 contract.[8]

International career

After the 2006–07 season, Smiljanić was called up by Serbia under-21 coach Miroslav Đukić to be part of his squad for the 2007 UEFA European Championships. He helped the national side finish runner-up in the tournament, to hosts the Netherlands.[9]

Smiljanić made his international debut for the full squad on 22 August 2007, in a 2–3 loss against Belgium in Brussels for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers. In July of the following year he was picked to the 18-man squad for the 2008 Summer Olympics, with Đukić again as manager – Serbia ranked last in its group.[10]

Next year, Smiljanić appeared in the 2009 European Under-21 Championship as captain, but could not help repeat the previous edition's feat as the nation did not progress through the group stages in his country of birth, Sweden.[11]

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 17 October 2007 Tofiq Bahramov, Baku, Azerbaijan  Azerbaijan 5–1 6–1 Euro 2008 qualifying

Statistics

Club

As of 4 December 2013[12]
Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Serbia League Serbian Cup Europe Total
2004–05PartizanSuperLiga20000020
2005–061511000161
2006–073103180421
Spain League Copa del Rey Europe Total
2007–08EspanyolLa Liga3004000340
2008–091705000220
2009–1000000000
Sporting Gijón60000060
Serbia League Serbian Cup Europe Total
2010–11PartizanSuperLiga1813070281
2011–122303010270
2012–132411060311
Turkey League Türkiye Kupası Europe Total
2013–14GençlerbirliğiSüper Lig10300040
Total Serbia 11331112201464
Spain 5309000620
Turkey 10300040
Career total 16732312202124

International

Serbia
YearAppsGoals
200721
200840
Total61

References

  1. "El Espanyol cierra la plantilla con el serbio Smiljanic" [Espanyol closes roster with Serbian Smiljanic] (in Spanish). Terra. 18 July 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  2. "Espanyol 0–1 Valladolid". ESPN Soccernet. 26 August 2007. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  3. "Lola Smiljanic, cedido al Sporting de Gijón hasta final de temporada" [Lola Smiljanic, loaned to Sporting de Gijón until end of season] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 26 January 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  4. "Smiljanić nova akvizicija crno-belih" [Smiljanić new acquisition of Black and Whites] (in Serbian). Partizan's official website. 23 July 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  5. "Lola deixa l'Espanyol" [Lola leaves Espanyol] (in Catalan). Espanyol's official website. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  6. "Smiljanić ponovo u Partizanu!" [Smiljanić returns to Partizan!] (in Serbian). Partizan's official website. 16 August 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  7. Смиљанић сутра потписује за Генчлер (in Serbian). Zurnal. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  8. "סמיליאניץ' ועומר בוארון חתמו במכבי נתניה" [Smiljanić and Omer Buaron signed with Maccabi Netanya] (in Hebrew). Sport 5. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  9. "Jong Oranje clinch European crown". UEFA.com. 24 June 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  10. "Milan Smiljanic". FIFA.com. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  11. "Captain's tears show Serbia dismay". UEFA.com. 24 June 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  12. "M. Smiljanić". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 February 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Milan Smiljanić.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Albert Nađ
Partizan captain
2007
Succeeded by
Antonio Rukavina
Preceded by
Branislav Ivanović
Serbia U-21 captain
2007–2009
Succeeded by
Miralem Sulejmani
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