Nikola Žigić

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Nikola Žigić
Personal information
Full name Nikola Žigić
Date of birth September 25, 1980
Place of birth Bačka Topola, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Height 2.02m
Position Centre forward
Club information
Current club Racing Santander
Professional clubs*
Years Club Apps (goals)
1998–02
2002
2002-03
2002-03
2002-03
2002-03
2003-2006
2006-present		 AIK Backa Topola
Mornar Bar
Red Star Belgrade
Kolubara Lazarevac
AS Saint-Etienne
Spartak Subotica
Red Star Belgrade
Racing Santander		 76 (68)
23 (15)
0 (0)
8 (3)
0 (0)
11 (14)
77 (55)
10 (5)
National team**
2004- Serbia 18 (7)

* Professional club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 11 November, 2006.
** National team caps and goals correct
as of 21 June, 2005.

Nikola Žigić (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Жигић) (born September 25, 1980, in Bačka Topola, Vojvodina, then Yugoslavia) is a Serbian football player who currently plays for Racing Santander. A striker, he has been voted Serbia & Montenegro's Player of the Year three times (in 2003, 2005 and 2006). As of December 2005, he has ten caps for Serbia & Montenegro, and three goals. He is 202 cm (6 ft 7 ½ in) tall, and one of the tallest players in the world. In the latter years at Red Star, Nikola has been known to many fans as "The Doctor".

Although he attracted much attention for his fine performances in the Serbia-Montenegro league, he really started to turn heads after he nailed down a regular place in the Serbia-Montenegro national team in mid-2005. Žigić scored a couple of goals in some friendlies, but it was his appearance in a crucial qualifier against Spain in Madrid that got the people talking. After an atrocious first half on Vincente Calderon stadium during which Serbia-Montenegro rarely crossed the center line and was extremely lucky to be only 0-1 down, coach Ilija Petković threw Žigić into the mix. His towering presence up front changed the flow of the match instantly. Žigić played a key role in Serbia's tying goal, and later set up Mateja Kežman perfectly for another, only to see his strike partner arrive a tad late, clipping the ball wide of Íker Casillas' gaping half-empty net. However, Serbia got the key away point and confirmed their World Cup qualification at home in Belgrade versus Bosnia-Herzegovina with Žigić again nicely setting up Kezman for the game's only goal.

Following his fine national team outings, Žigić continued to shine for his club Red Star Belgrade. His world class goal from 30 meters against AS Roma in UEFA Cup action delighted home fans and further raised his asking price on the transfer market.

Over the coming months Žigić has been linked to FA Premier League sides Portsmouth FC, Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United, for a fee speculated to be €11.5 million. He was also linked with Arsenal, but Red Star Belgrade's president Dragan Stojković, rejected all offers from English Premiership sides downright, postponing all further negotiations until after the World Cup 2006 in Germany.

Much like the entire Serbia-Montenegro national football team, Žigić had a forgetable World Cup, which some felt led to many of the teams turning their attention away from him.

On 29 August 2006, Zigic signed a contract with the Spanish side Racing Santander for the next four seasons.

[edit] External links

Racing de Santander - Current Squad

1 Toño | 2 P. Alfaro | 3 Oriol | 4 Garay | 5 Neru | 6 Vitolo | 7 Juanjo | 8 Regragui | 9 Aganzo | 10 Munitis | 11 Serrano | 12 González | 13 Calatayud | 14 Pinillos | 15 Balboa | 16 Momo | 17 L. Fernández | 18 Colsa | 19 Castro | 20 Álvarez | 21 Ayoze Díaz | 22 Moratón | 23 Felipe Melo | 24 Matabuena | 25 Lee J.H. | 26 Žigić | 27 Raúl Martín | 33 Portilla | 35 Tomás
Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Serbia and Montenegro

1 Jevrić | 2 Ergić | 3 Dragutinović | 4 Duljaj | 5 Vidić | 6 Gavrančić | 7 Koroman | 8 Kežman | 9 Milošević | 10 Stanković | 11 P. Đorđević | 12 Kovačević | 13 Basta | 14 N. Đorđević | 15 Dudić | 16 D. Petković | 17 Nađ | 18 Vukić | 19 Žigić | 20 Krstajić | 21 Ljuboja | 22 Ilić | 23 Stojković | Coach: I. Petković
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