Dejan Stanković

Dejan Stanković

Personal information
Full name	Dejan Stanković
Date of birth	11 September 1978 (1978-09-11) (age 32)
Place of birth	Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Internazionale
Number	5
Youth career
1992–1994	Red Star Belgrade
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1995–1998	Red Star Belgrade	85	(30)
1998–2004	Lazio	137	(22)
2004–	Internazionale	183	(24)
National team‡
1998–	Serbia	91	(14)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 July 2010. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 January 2010

Dejan Stanković (Serbian Cyrillic: Дејан Станковић; born 11 September 1978 in Belgrade) is a Serbian footballer who currently plays for the Italian Serie A side Internazionale and the Serbian national team, which he captains. He is an attacking midfielder who can also play out wide on the wings or track back in a defensive midfield role. "Deki", as he is nicknamed, is best known for his effective, accurate passing, versatility and creativity as well as his ability to score goals from long distance.^[1]

On 13 June 2010, Stanković became the first player to represent three different countries in the FIFA World Cup: Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Serbia.

Early life

Stanković grew up in Zemun, a municipality of Belgrade. Both of his parents, Borislav and Dragica, have strong football backgrounds.

Club career

Stanković began playing football for FK Teleoptik, based in his neighbourhood of Zemun. When spotted by Red Star cadet squad coach Branko Radović, however, 14-year-old Dejan transferred to Red Star Belgrade's youth system.

Red Star Belgrade

Stanković then passed every age category at his hometown club.^[2] In the youth teams, he was coached by Pižon Petrović, playing alongside future professionals Nikola Lazetić and Nenad Lalatović.

During the 1994–95 season, Stanković's debut opportunity for first team action came under head coach Ljupko Petrović against crosstown rivals OFK Beograd. Fighting for a spot on the team led by, among others, Rambo Petković, Darko Kovačević, and Nebojša Krupniković, 16-year-old Dejan made seven league appearances that season as the team won league title. He scored his first goal against Budućnost Podgorica, soon becoming a first team regular and a fan favourite. Before the start of the 1997–98 season, he was made squad captain at the tender age of 19, the youngest ever in the club's history. Despite not winning the league he captained the team to two domestic cup victories.

During the early '90s, Red Star was under an international ban because of a United Nations sanction imposed on FR Yugoslavia, meaning that the team could not compete in any European competition. The ban was lifted ahead of the 1996–97 season, and Stanković played a huge part in a memorable two-leg victory over Kaiserslautern (0:1, 4:0) in the Cup Winners' Cup.

Lazio

In the summer of 1998, he transferred for £7.5 million (DM24 million) to Lazio, where he scored on his Serie A debut versus Piacenza on 13 September 1998. In those years, Lazio had an all-star squad with world class players at almost every position, but Stanković quickly secured a regular first-team place despite competition from fellow midfielders Pavel Nedvěd, Juan Sebastián Verón, and Roberto Mancini. He formed a formidable midfield combination with Nedvěd and Mancini and were an integral part of the successful Lazio side at the turn of the decade. His work rate and impressive performances earned him the nickname Il Dragone (The Dragon) from fans.^[3] He had five-and-a-half successful seasons in the biancoceleste part of Rome, before earning a high profile move to Internazionale in February 2004.

Internazionale

During the latter part of Stanković's career at Lazio, the Biancoceleste struggled with financial problems and were forced to sell many of their best players. Many of the big-name teams in European football knew that the club would have to sell Stanković in the near future, so there was fierce competition for his services during the 2003–04 winter transfer window. Juventus were favorite to getting Stanković's signature, but he eventually chose Internazionale. He was signed as part of a deal worth €4 million that also sent Macedonian international Goran Pandev (plus 50% of Pandev's contract) in the opposite direction.^[4][5]

The fact that old Lazio teammate Roberto Mancini was already at Inter may have influenced his decision. In early February 2004, Stanković played his debut match for Inter, a Serie A clash against Siena. On 21 February 2004, he scored a spectacular goal directly from a corner kick to put Inter 1–0 up in Derby della Madonnina versus fierce rivals Milan.

On 7 May 2006, he played his 100th match for Inter. Stanković showed good form during the 2006–07 Serie A campaign, scoring some decisive goals. His strike against Catania and his memorable goal against city rivals Milan have enhanced his reputation with the fans of Internazionale.

According to the official ratings of the La Gazzetta dello Sport, Stanković was selected as the man of the match five times during the 2006–07 Serie A campaign. He renewed his contract on 2 February 2007, with Inter securing his services until at least 2010.

On 19 October 2008, Stanković scored a superb goal in Inter's 4–0 hammering of Roma. After receiving a pass from Sulley Muntari, he slid the ball past the Roma goalkeeper into the net, his 24th goal in all competitions for the Nerazzuri, thus ending a year-long goal drought.^[6] On 7 February 2009, Stanković celebrated his 200th appearances for Inter in all competitions at the away game with Lecce. Inter hammered the newly-promoted team 3–0 with Stanković heading in the third goal following a slick pass from Maicon. Stanković's good form continued as he scored Internazionale's second goal against Milan in the 270th Milan Derby on 15 February. This turned out to be the winning goal after Alexandre Pato had pulled one back. Inter went on to win a fourth consecutive title, his fifth Serie A trophy.

The 2009–10 season began well for Stanković. In the 29 August Milan derby, he played in a deeper role to replace the injured Esteban Cambiasso. Nevertheless, he scored Inter's fourth goal and his second in consecutive Milan derbies in a 4–0 thrashing, a spectacular 30-yard strike after quickly collecting Sulley Muntari's pass.^[7] He subsequently scored against Rubin Kazan and Udinese to continue his rich vein of form under the Portuguese José Mourinho. He also scored a wonder-goal from 54 metres out in a 5–0 thrashing against Genoa, volleying the ball straight in from Marco Amelia's clearance.^[8]

International career

Stanković made his international debut for the old Yugoslavia team against South Korea on 22 April 1998, scoring two goals in a 3–1 victory.^[9] He played at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 when the Serbian national team was still called Yugoslavia and soon established himself as an important player.

The Yugoslavian team became Serbia and Montenegro by the time 2006 World Cup qualifying started, and Stanković started in all games and scored two goals, but missed the last qualifier through injury. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he was given the number 10 shirt and Savo Milošević captained the new Serbia and Montenegro team in their first World Cup, but they failed to progress to the knock-out rounds after losing all their group matches to Côte d'Ivoire, Argentina, and the Netherlands. After Milošević retired, the midfielder took over as captain of the re-formed Serbian national team, following the break up of Serbia and Montenegro.

In the 2010 World Cup qualifying, Stanković has started in and captained all but two of Serbia's matches. They qualified for their first World Cup as an independent nation.

Dejan Stankovic has started both of Serbia's first two World Cup games and also helped Serbia to a 1-0 win over Germany.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	22 April 1998	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Beograd, Serbia	Korea Republic	1–1	3–1	Friendly
2.	22 April 1998	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Beograd, Serbia	Korea Republic	2–1	3–1	Friendly
3.	02 September 1998	Čair Stadium, Niš, Serbia	Switzerland	1–0	1–1	Friendly
4.	1 September 1999	Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Republic of Ireland	1–1	2–1	UEFA Euro 2000 qual.
5.	8 September 1999	Philip II Arena, Skopje, Macedonia	Macedonia	0–3	2–4	UEFA Euro 2000 qual.
6.	9 October 1999	Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia	Croatia	1–2	2–2	UEFA Euro 2000 qual.
7.	6 Jun 2001	Svangaskard, Toftir, Faroe Islands	Faroe Islands	0–1	0–6	2002 FIFA World Cup qual.
8.	6 Jun 2001	Svangaskard, Toftir, Faroe Islands	Faroe Islands	0–3	0–6	2002 FIFA World Cup qual.
9.	16 November 2003	Kazimierz Górski Stadium, Plock, Poland	Poland	2–1	4–3	Friendly
10.	13 October 2004	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Beograd, Serbia	San Marino	2–0	5–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qual.
11.	13 October 2004	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Beograd, Serbia	San Marino	3–0	5–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qual.
12.	27 May 2006	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Beograd, Serbia	Uruguay	1–0	1–1	Friendly
13.	11 October 2006	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Beograd, Serbia	Armenia	1–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2008 qual.
14.	5 Jun 2010	Stadion FK Partizan, Beograd, Serbia	Cameroon	2–2	4–3	Friendly

Career statistics

Honours

Domestic

• Scudetto: (6): 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
• Coppa Italia: (5): 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010
• Supercoppa Italiana: (5): 1998, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010
• FR Yugoslavia Cup: (3): 1995,1996,1997
• FR Yugoslavia Championship: (1): 1994–95

European

• Cup Winners' Cup: 1999
• UEFA Super Cup: 1999
• UEFA Champions League: 2010

Individual

• Serbian Player of the Year: 2006 ^[10]

References

External links

• Profile on Serbian national football team website
• Club profile at Inter's site
• Club League Stats
• Sloba uzeo 15 miliona od Dekija!, Press, February 13, 2008

FR Yugoslavia squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Kralj • 2 Mirković • 3 Đorović • 4 Jokanović • 5 Đukić • 6 Brnović • 7 Jugović • 8 Savićević • 9 Mijatović • 10 Stojković • 11 Mihajlović • 12 Leković • 13 Komljenović • 14 Saveljić • 15 Drulović • 16 Petrović • 17 Milošević • 18 Govedarica • 19 Stević • 20 Stanković • 21 Ognjenović • 22 Kovačević • Coach: Santrač

FR Yugoslavia squad – UEFA Euro 2000 1 Korać • 2 Dudić • 3 Đorović • 4 Jokanović • 5 Đukić • 6 D. Stanković • 7 Jugović • 8 Mijatović • 9 Milošević • 10 Stojković • 11 Mihajlović • 12 Cicović • 13 Komljenović • 14 Saveljić • 15 Bunjevčević • 16 Govedarica • 17 Drulović • 18 Kovačević • 19 J. Stanković • 20 Kežman • 21 Nađ • 22 Kralj • Coach: Boškov

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 (c) • 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

Serbia squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Stojković • 2 Rukavina • 3 Kolarov • 4 Kačar • 5 Vidić • 6 Ivanović • 7 Tošić • 8 Lazović • 9 Pantelić • 10 Stanković (c) • 11 Milijaš • 12 Isailović • 13 Luković • 14 Jovanović • 15 Žigić • 16 Obradović • 17 Krasić • 18 Ninković • 19 Petrović • 20 Subotić • 21 Mrđa • 22 Kuzmanović • 23 Đuričić • Coach: Antić