Savo Milošević

Savo Milošević

Milošević in 2009
Personal information
Full name Savo Milošević
Date of birth (1973-09-02) 2 September 1973
Place of birth Bijeljina, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Striker
Youth career
Proleter Ruhotina-Johovac
Podrinje Janja
1989–1992 Partizan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1995 Partizan 98 (65)
1995–1998 Aston Villa 90 (29)
1998–2000 Zaragoza 72 (38)
2000–2004 Parma 31 (9)
2002 → Zaragoza (loan) 16 (6)
2002–2003 → Espanyol (loan) 34 (12)
2003–2004 → Celta (loan) 37 (14)
2004–2007 Osasuna 82 (21)
2008 Rubin Kazan 16 (3)
Total 476 (197)
National team
1994–2008 Serbia 102 (37)
Teams managed
2011–2012 Montenegro (assistant)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Savo Milošević (Serbian Cyrillic: Саво Милошевић, Serbian pronunciation: [sǎʋo milǒːʃeʋit͡ɕ]; born 2 September 1973) is a retired Serbian footballer who played as a striker.

After making a name for himself at Partizan, he signed for Aston Villa, and went on to spend the vast majority of the following decade playing in Spain, where he represented four clubs, amassing La Liga totals of 241 games and 91 goals and netting nearly 300 official goals over a 16-year professional career.

At the international level, Milošević played for the national team of FR Yugoslavia (later renamed Serbia and Montenegro),[1] and Serbia, surpassing the century of caps for both teams combined and appearing in two World Cups and one European Championship, at which he earned the Golden Boot at Euro 2000.

Club career

Partizan

Born in Bijeljina, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Milošević started playing football at the age of 6[2] and spent his youth in the Drina Valley, until he was 14 and was spotted by FK Partizan scouts, being transferred for 5,000 Deutsche Mark.[3]

Milošević his senior debuts in 1992, and scored an astonishing 60 league goals in his last two seasons combined – a competition-best in both years – as the Belgrade club won back-to-back national championships, including the double in 1993–94.

Aston Villa

In the summer of 1995, Milošević moved to Aston Villa, being brought to Birmingham by manager Brian Little for £3.5 million, a club record at the time. His spell in England lasted three seasons, during which he earned the tabloid nickname "Miss-a-lot-ević" owing to his frequent goalscoring dry spells.[4]

However, Milošević did score 34 goals all competitions comprised in 117 games for the Villans (28 in the Premier League), including one in the 1995–96 Football League Cup final, a 3–0 win against Leeds United.[5]

Zaragoza

Milošević signed for Real Zaragoza in La Liga in 1998, again scoring at an impressive rate in two seasons, notably netting 21 in 1999–2000. He finished the first round of matches with 19 league goals, only finding the net twice subsequently, with the Aragonese eventually finishing in fourth position.[6]

Parma

After rediscovering his scoring touch in Spain, Milošević joined Parma A.C. in the summer of 2000 for €25 million.[7][8] He was used sparingly during his spell with the Emilia-Romagna side, only scoring once in the first half of his second season in Serie A.

Milošević was loaned back to Spain in January 2002, re-joining Zaragoza to replace Blackburn Rovers-bound Yordi.[9] He scored six times during his second spell, still managing to finish as the club's top scorer[10]– alongside Yordi and Roberto Acuña – but his team was eventually relegated.

In the 2002–03 campaign, Milošević played for RCD Espanyol,[11] again finishing as his team's top scorer but narrowly escaping relegation, a fate that would befall him in the following year with Celta de Vigo (still owned by Parma[12]), helping the Galicians reach the round-of-16 in their first ever appearance in the UEFA Champions League, with one goal in seven appearances, in a 3–2 group stage home win against AFC Ajax.[13]

Later years

In mid-July 2004, aged 30, Milošević signed a three-year contract with another Spanish top flight club, CA Osasuna.[14] In his second season with the Navarrese, he scored 11 goals in 32 games to help the team qualify for the Champions League, going scoreless in ten contests in the subsequent semifinal run in the UEFA Cup – he did provide two assists in a 3–0 away win against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the quarterfinals' first leg (4–0 on aggregate).[15]

In the summer of 2007, Milošević left Osasuna following his contract's expiry. He took a six-month break from competitive football, during which he had a trial with Major League Soccer's Toronto FC in November with a view of signing with them for the 2008 season. The deal fell through and, on 8 March 2008, he agreed terms with FC Rubin Kazan prior to the start of the Russian Premier League campaign.[16]

Milošević in action for Rubin Kazan (2008)

On 2 November 2008, Milošević scored the decisive goal for Rubin in a game against FC Saturn Ramenskoye, which meant his team won its first ever national championship. He retired shortly afterwards, aged 35.[17]

International career

Milošević earned 102 caps for Serbia, scoring 37 goals.[18] He made his debut for the nation (then named Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) on 23 December 1994, in a 0–2 friendly loss in Brazil.

After appearing in two games at the 1998 FIFA World Cup,[19] Milošević scored five goals at UEFA Euro 2000. He was the tournament's joint-top scorer alongside Patrick Kluivert, despite playing one match fewer than the Dutchman.[20]

On 16 June 2006, in the World Cup in Germany, Milošević appeared in his 100th international, in a 0–6 group stage loss against Argentina, becoming the all-time leader in caps.[21] As a formal farewell from international football, he was called up for a friendly with Bulgaria on 19 November 2008, scoring twice and missing two penalties in a 6–1 win before being replaced by Dragan Mrđa.

Personal life

Boris Tadić and Milošević at a convention in Sremski Karlovci, on 1 May 2012.

Milošević was born into an ethnic Serb family,[2] having one sister.[3] His mother died in 2000 from cancer;[3] he has distant paternal ancestry from Lijeva Rijeka of the large Milošević brotherhood of the Vasojevići tribe in northeastern Montenegro, and was a relative of Slobodan Milošević.[3]

Milošević is a political supporter of the Democratic Party led by Boris Tadić, having supported it since 1993 after meeting with Zoran Đinđić and officially becoming a member in 2003.[3] He took part in the 1996–97 protests and the 5 October Overthrow.[3]

Milošević married to Vesna, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.[2] On 11 June 2011, his father Stevo was shot in the chest and killed in the family house in Glavičice by his grandfather Savo, after a family row. The latter was later detained.[22][23]

Career statistics

International

[24]

Serbia
YearAppsGoals
199410
199574
199675
199795
1998112
199974
2000126
200185
200291
2003101
200472
200580
200650
200700
200812
Total10237

Honours

Club

Partizan
Aston Villa
Rubin Kazan

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Retiring Savo pleased with fitting final salvo". UEFA.com. 20 November 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 "Savo Milošević" (in Serbian). Puls. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Sloboda i pravda se ne dobijaju na tanjiru" [Freedom and justice are not handed on a plate] (in Serbian). Vreme. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  4. ↑ The 10 worst foreign signings of all time; The Guardian, 6 August 2000
  5. ↑ "Milosevic gives; Villa a touch of magic". The Independent. 25 March 1996. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "EL PERSONAJE – El serbio flemático – El gol número 20 de Savo Milosevic da al Zaragoza opciones al título" [THE CHARACTER – The phlegmatic Serb – Savo Milosevic's goal number 20 gives Zaragoza a shot at the title] (in Spanish). El País. 16 May 2000. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Savo's Parma move imminent". BBC Sport. 27 July 2000. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
  8. ↑ Džeko je kralj transfera SFRJ (Džeko is the king of transfers in Yugoslavia); MTS Mondo, 7 January 2010 (Serbian)
  9. ↑ "Milosevic returns to Zaragoza". UEFA.com. 23 January 2002. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
  10. ↑ "La guerra del gol" [The war of goal] (in Spanish). El Periódico de Aragón. 21 February 2002. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "Espanyol move for Milosevic". UEFA.com. 18 July 2002. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
  12. ↑ "Celta gamble on Milosevic". UEFA.com. 24 July 2003. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
  13. ↑ "Celta ride Ajax comeback". UEFA.com. 4 November 2003. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  14. ↑ "Milosevic takes Osasuna option". UEFA.com. 17 July 2004. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
  15. ↑ "Ruthless Osasuna stun Leverkusen". UEFA.com. 5 April 2007. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  16. ↑ "Milošević agrees return with Rubin". UEFA.com. 11 March 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
  17. ↑ "Russian minnows hit the big time". BBC Sport. 20 October 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  18. ↑ Savo Milosevic – Goals in International Matches; at RSSSF
  19. ↑ Savo Milošević – FIFA competition record
  20. ↑ "Kluivert heads chase for Golden Boot". BBC Sport. 28 June 2000. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  21. ↑ "Argentina 6–0 Serbia & Montenegro". BBC Sport. 16 June 2006. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  22. ↑ "Premier League – Milosevic's father killed by grandfather". Yahoo! Sports. 11 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  23. ↑ "Father of former Aston Villa striker Savo Milosevic killed by the grandfather after argument". The Daily Telegraph. 13 June 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  24. ↑ "Savo Milošević". European Football. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
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