Milan Smiljanić

Lola Smiljanić

Smiljanić warming up with Espanyol
Personal information
Full name	Milan Smiljanić
Date of birth	19 November 1986 (1986-11-19) (age 24)
Place of birth	Kalmar, Sweden
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Partizan
Number	99
Youth career
	Partizan
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–2007	Partizan	48	(1)
2007–2011	Espanyol	47	(0)
2010	→ Sporting Gijón (loan)	6	(0)
2010–2011	→ Partizan (loan)	18	(1)
2011–	Partizan	4	(0)
National team‡
2006–2009	Serbia U21	28	(2)
2007–	Serbia	6	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:00, 12 June 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13:00, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

Milan "Lola" Smiljanić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милан Смиљанић Лола; born 19 November 1986) is a Serbian footballer who plays for FK Partizan as a midfielder.

Early life

Smiljanić was born in Kalmar, Sweden, as his father Branko, who was also a professional footballer, was playing for Kalmar AIK FK at the time.

Club career

Smiljanić subsequently returned to his country and joined FK Partizan youth ranks. Under head coach Vladimir Vermezović, he made his debut for the first team in a league match against FK Sutjeska Nikšić, during the second part of 2004–05. He also spent some time playing for FK Teleoptik, the farm team. In little more than two professional seasons, he amassed more than 50 official appearances with Partizan, and eventually gained club captaincy despite his age.

On 18 July 2007, Spain's RCD Espanyol agreed with Partizan for the transfer of Smiljanić for an undisclosed fee, in a five-year contract.^[1] He made his La Liga debut against Real Valladolid on 26 August, in a 0–1 home loss;^[2] most of his first two seasons in Catalonia were spent mainly appearing from the bench, even though one of his main competitors in the team, Iván de la Peña, was often injured.

After the club's initial unsuccessful attempts to loan him out for 2009–10, Smiljanić spent the first months of the new campaign only training, not having been given any squad number; however, such a move was arranged in late January 2010, as he joined Sporting de Gijón until June.

In the summer of 2010, Smiljanić was loaned to his former club Partizan.^[3] After his loan expired, he returned to Spain and agreed the contract termination with the Barcelona-based club.^[4] On 16 August 2011, he signed a permanent contract with Partizan, penning a two-year deal.^[5]

International career

After the 2006–07 season, Smiljanić was called up by Serbia's U-21 coach Miroslav Đukić to be part of his squad for the 2007 European Championships; he helped the national side finish runner-up to hosts Holland.

He made his international debut for the full squad on 22 August 2007, in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match in Brussels against Belgium, a 3–2 loss.

In July 2008, Smiljanić was picked to the 18-man squad for the 2008 Summer Olympics, with Đukić again as manager. Serbia ranked last in its group. Next year, he appeared in the 2009 European Under-21 Championship, as captain, but could not help repeat the previous edition's feat, as the nation did not progress through the group stages in his country of birth, Sweden.^[6]

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	17 October 2007	Tofik Bahramov Stadium, Baku	Azerbaijan	5–1	6–1	Euro 2008 qualifying

Statistics

Club

As of 18 August 2011

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Serbia			League		Serbian Cup		Europe		Total
2004–05	Partizan	SuperLiga	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
2005–06			15	1	1	0	0	0	16	1
2006–07			31	0	3	1	8	0	42	1
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Europe		Total
2007–08	Espanyol	La Liga	30	0	4	0	0	0	34	0
2008–09			17	0	5	0	0	0	22	0
2009–10			0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Sporting Gijón		6	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Serbia			League		Serbian Cup		Europe		Total
2010–11	Partizan	SuperLiga	18	1	3	0	7	0	28	1
2011–12			0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
Total	Serbia		66	2	7	1	16	0	89	3
	Spain		53	0	9	0	0	0	62	0
Career total			119	2	16	1	16	0	151	3

International

Serbia national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2007	2	1
2008	4	0
Total	6	1

References

1. ^ "El Espanyol cierra la plantilla con el serbio Smiljanic [Espanyol closes roster with Serbian Smiljanic]" (in Spanish). Terra. 18 July 2007. http://www.terra.es/deportes/articulo/html/dpo370332.htm. Retrieved 1 January 2010. 
2. ^ "Espanyol 0-1 Valladolid". ESPN Soccernet. 26 August 2007. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report/_/id/226455?cc=5739. Retrieved 27 October 2011. 
3. ^ "Smiljanić nova akvizicija crno-belih [Smiljanić new crno-belih acquisition]" (in Serbian). Partizan's official website. 23 July 2010. http://www.partizan.rs/arhiva/vest.php?Jezik=sr&IDV=539&akcija=show&prikaz1=2010&prikaz2=7&sec=2. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
4. ^ "Lola deixa l'Espanyol [Lola leaves Espanyol]" (in Catalan). Espanyol's official website. 11 August 2011. http://www.rcdespanyol.com/principal.php?modulo=detalleNoticia&idnoticia=11677&idseccion=28&idsite=1&idmenu=9&idsubmenu=108. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
5. ^ "Smiljanić ponovo u Partizanu! [Smiljanić returns to Partizan!]" (in Serbian). Partizan's official website. 16 August 2011. http://www.partizan.rs/16990-smiljani%C4%87-ponovo-u-partizanu/. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
6. ^ "Captain's tears show Serbia dismay". UEFA.com. 24 June 2009. http://www.uefa.com/under21/news/newsid=841163.html. Retrieved 1 January 2010. 

External links

• BDFutbol profile
• National team data (Serbian)
• Milan Smiljanić at National-Football-Teams.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Albert Nađ	Partizan captain 2007	Succeeded by Antonio Rukavina
Preceded by Branislav Ivanović	Serbia U-21 captain 2007–2009	Succeeded by Miralem Sulejmani

Persondata
Name	Smiljanic, Milan
Alternative names
Short description	Footballer
Date of birth	19 November 1986
Place of birth	Kalmar, Sweden
Date of death
Place of death