Darko Kovačević

Darko Kovačević

Personal information
Full name	Darko Kovačević
Date of birth	18 November 1973 (1973-11-18) (age 37)
Place of birth	Kovin, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Olympiacos (Chief Scout)
Youth career
	Radnički Kovin
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1992–1994	FK Proleter	51	(37)
1994–1996	Red Star Belgrade	47	(37)
1996	Sheffield Wednesday	16	(4)
1996–1999	Real Sociedad	98	(41)
1999–2001	Juventus	47	(11)
2001	Lazio	7	(0)
2001–2007	Real Sociedad	180	(51)
2007–2009	Olympiacos	60	(31)
National team
1994–2004	FR Yugoslavia/Serbia & Montenegro[1]	58	(10)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Darko Kovačević (Serbian Cyrillic: Дарко Ковачевић) (born 18 November 1973 in Kovin, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a former Serbian football player. He is known for his spells at Real Sociedad where his partnership with Nihat Kahveci was one of the best in Spain. His key attributes are his strength and aerial ability. Kovačević also had positive spells with Juventus and Olympiakos.He is now the Chief Scout of Olympiacos.

Club football

Serbia—Proleter and Red Star Belgrade

Beginning his career with his birth-town club FK Radnički Kovin, but was soon spoted by Zrenjanin based Serbian top league club FK Proleter and it became clear, at the young age of 19, that Kovačević would become one of the country's greatest ever goalscorers. Spending two seasons with the club, Darko managed over a goal every other game, and was quickly snatched up by Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade. Kovačević flourished at the Belgrade club, becoming one of Europe's hottest prospects and earning a call-up to the Yugoslavia national team. Netting in an astonishing 37 goals in just 47 games, Kovačević was eventually picked up by Premier League club Sheffield Wednesday in December 1995 for £2m.

England—Sheffield Wednesday

Given the opportunity to showcase his skills in one of the top leagues in Europe, Darko initially looked good, impressive in the air, and scoring 2 goals in one game against Bolton Wanderers in a 4–2 victory that saw him likened to Les Ferdinand, but the rest of his skills failed to leave any mark with the English club. Kovačević's transfer turned out to be a disaster for Sheffield Wednesday as the striker managed only 4 goals in his lone half-season at the club. His move to Wednesday from Red Star was in July 2007 named #10 on The 50 worst transfers in Premier League history list by British newspaper The Times.^[2]

Spain—Real Sociedad (first time)

Hoping to reach top form once again, Kovačević moved to La Liga side Real Sociedad in 1996. It was with the Spanish club that Darko put on some of his best performances and became one of Europe's best once again. Larger clubs soon came calling, with Italian giants Juventus acquiring the big Serbian in 1999.

Italy—Juventus and Lazio

At the Turin based club, Kovačević found goals in both the Serie A and competitions such as the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup becoming their leading European goal scorer one season. Yet the Juventus management felt Darko was underachieving and soon both parties were looking for a move out of Italy, with clubs such as Rangers willing to offer £12m for the Serbian's services.^[3] In 2001 Kovačević spent a brief time with Lazio (as part-swap deal with Marcelo Salas) before moving back to Spain in the middle of the season.

Spain—Real Sociedad (second time)

In 2001 Kovačević eventually returned to the club where he found his most success at, Real Sociedad. Kovačević would go on to spend 6 more seasons at the club, netting in 51 goals in his second spell with Sociedad. The 2006–07 season would be Kovačević's last season with the Spanish side, ending in the club's relegation.

Greece—Olympiacos

In 2007 Kovačević signed with Greek champions Olympiacos. Kovačević once again reached top form for the Piraeus based club, scoring 17 goals in the Greek Superleague to lead Olympiacos to the league championship, and adding 3 goals in the Champions League as the team reached as far as the Round of 16.

Kovačević scored twice in the UEFA Cup 1st round 5–0 home leg win against FC Nordsjælland.

In early 2009, he was diagnosed with a blocked artery; he successfully underwent heart surgery to improve the flow of blood to his heart.^[4] His doctors have advised him that he should retire from football, and Kovacevic officially retired in May 2009, playing a final friendly match for Olympiakos to celebrate the winning of the Greek domestic double.^[5] After his retirement he may take another role for the team. Then Darko Kovacevic and his children Darko Kovacevic jr and Stella Kovacevic who were at St. Lawrence College all went back to Spain. However, Kovacevic returned to Greece as he loved the country and worked for several months as a columnist. In June, 2010 the new president of Olympiakos, Evangelos Marinakis hired Kovacevic as a Chief Scout for the club.

International football

Kovačević made 59 appearances for the then Yugoslavia national team. Beginning his international career in 1994, Kovačević would go on to score 10 goals and compete in both EURO 2000 and FIFA World Cup 1998.

Honours

• FR Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro Cup: 1995, 1996
• Greek Super League: 2007–2008
• Greek Super Cup: 2007
• Greek Cup: 2008

Sources

1. ^ Alpuin, Luis Fernando Passo; Mamrud, Roberto; Miladinovich, Misha (20 February 2009). "Yugoslavia (Serbia (and Montenegro)) – Record International Players". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/joeg-recintlp.html. Retrieved 12 March 2009. 
2. ^ Edgar, Bill (18 July 2007). "The 50 worst transfers". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2096584.ece. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
3. ^ Philip, Calum (5 August 2000). "Rangers set to renew pursuit of Kovacevic". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/scottish/rangers-set-to-renew-pursuit-of-kovacevic-696633.html. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
4. ^ Kovacevic Hospitalized for Artery Problem SI.com, January 13, 2009
5. ^ Crvena Zveda Zveda With Darko Kovacevic Mirosport.net, January 17, 2009

External links

• Darko Kovačević – FIFA competition record
• Darko Kovačević statistics and biography at FootballDatabase.com
• Darko Kovačević at National-Football-Teams.com
• Profile on Serbian national football team website
• Gate7 Tribute

Persondata
Name	Kovacevic, Darko
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	18 November 1973
Place of birth	Kovin, SFR Yugoslavia
Date of death
Place of death