Nikola Žigić

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nikola Žigić
Personal information
Full name	Nikola Žigić
Date of birth	September 25, 1980 (age 26)
Place of birth	Bačka Topola, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Centre forward
Club information
Current club	Racing Santander
Number	12
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1998–02 2002 2002-03 2002-03 2003-2006 2006-present	AIK Backa Topola Mornar Bar Kolubara Lazarevac Spartak Subotica Red Star Belgrade Racing Santander	76 (68) 23 (15) 8 (3) 11 (14) 77 (55) 24 (10)
National team2
2004-	Serbia	20 (8)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 April, 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 24 March, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Nikola Žigić (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Жигић; born September 25, 1980, in Bačka Topola, Vojvodina, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Serbian football player who currently plays for Racing Santander. A striker, he has been voted Serbia's Player of the Year three times (in 2003, 2005 and 2006). As of April 2007, he has twenty caps for Serbia national football team, and eight goals. He is 202 cm (6 ft 7 ½ in) tall, and one of the tallest footballers in the world playing on a top flight football club. In the latter years at Red Star, Žigić has been known to many fans as "The Doctor"^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Career

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.

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

On April 1st 2007, Žigić scored his first hat trick in La Liga.^[1]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Nikola Žigić profile at JadranSport
• Nikola Žigić Tactical Formations at Football-Lineups.com

• Nikola Žigić's career timeline and detailed statistics

Racing de Santander - Current Squad
1 Toño | 2 P. Alfaro | 3 Oriol | 4 Garay | 6 Vitolo | 7 Juanjo | 9 Aganzo | 10 Munitis | 11 Serrano | 12 Žigić | 13 Calatayud | 14 Pinillos | 15 Balboa | 16 Momo | 17 L. Fernández | 18 Colsa | 20 Álvarez | 21 Rubén | 22 Moratón | 23 Felipe Melo | 24 Matabuena | 25 Scaloni | 28 Tomás | 35 Christian | Coach Portugal

	Serbia and Montenegro squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
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