Ljubinko Drulović

Ljubinko Drulović (Serbian Cyrillic: Љубинко Друловић, born 11 April 1968) is a Serbian retired footballer who played as a winger, and a current coach.

He spent the most notable part of his playing career in Portugal, with stints at Porto and Benfica – ten seasons between the two teams combined, winning 14 major titles with the former.

Drulović represented the Serbian national team in one World Cup and one European Championship, gaining nearly 40 caps.

Club career

Drulović was born in Nova Varoš, Serbia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After playing out his contract at FK Rad in the summer of 1992 he signed a two-year deal with Portuguese side Gil Vicente FC, but only played there until December 1993, after which he moved to top division giants F.C. Porto; between both clubs, he finished the 1993–94 season with a career-best 18 goals.

Drulović was one of very few players to have contributed to each of Porto's five consecutive titles during the 90s. He was mostly remembered at the club for his pin-point assists and incredible ability to cross the ball, mainly to the head of centre forward Mário Jardel.

In 2001, already 33, Drulović moved to S.L. Benfica. After a slow 2002–03 campaign he returned home and signed with FK Partizan, being one of the most influential players in the club as it reached the group stage in the UEFA Champions League; he moved back to Portugal a year later, finishing out his career with lowly F.C. Penafiel alongside former Porto teammate António Folha.

Drulović began his coaching career with modest Portuguese club G.D. Tourizense, in 2006–07. At its closure, he obtained a professional coaching licence.

In early April 2008 Drulović became manager of FK Banat Zrenjanin, in the Serbian top level.^[1] As its fifth manager of the season – he replaced Žarko Soldo – he took over a club under relegation threat (8th place out of 12), with eleven matches to go.^[2] Eventually, he could not help prevent the club from dropping down a level, after a 1–4 loss to FK Vojvodina, on 17 May.^[3]

In June 2008, Drulović moved to Slovenia, signing with NK Drava Ptuj. Almost two years later, in January 2010, he was appointed coach of Clube Desportivo Primeiro de Agosto of Angola.^[4]

International career

Drulović made his debut for FR Yugoslavia on 28 December 1996, in a friendly with Argentina played in Mar del Plata (3–2).

He went on to collect a further 37 caps in the following five years, appearing for the nation at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000 tournaments, contributing with one goal (in the 3–3 against Slovenia) and three assists in the latter tournament, as the national side reached the quarterfinals.

International

Honours

Porto

• Portuguese League: 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99
• Portuguese Cup: 1993–94, 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2000–01
• Portuguese Supercup: 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2001

Serbia U19

• UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship: 2013

References

External links

• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• Stats at ForaDeJogo
• National team data (Serbian)
• Ljubinko Drulović at National-Football-Teams.com
• Ljubinko Drulović – FIFA competition record

v t e 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 (c) 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

v t e 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 (c) 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