Nenad Milijaš

Nenad Milijaš
Ненад Милијаш

Personal information
Full name	Nenad Milijaš
Date of birth	April 30, 1983 (1983-04-30) (age 28)
Place of birth	Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Number	20
Youth career
1995–2000	FK Zemun
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2000–2006	FK Zemun	130	(18)
2006–2009	Red Star Belgrade	97	(37)
2009–	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	(4)
National team‡
2008–	Serbia	25	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19 November 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20 October 2011

Nenad Milijaš (Serbian Cyrillic: Ненад Милијаш, born 30 April 1983) is a Serbian international footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Milijaš rose to prominence in his homeland with his first club FK Zemun before moving to Red Star Belgrade where he won league and cup honours. Decorated with individual awards for his performances at Red Star, he broke into the Serbian national side in 2008. He moved to England in 2009 when he signed for Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Club career

FK Zemun

Milijas began his playing career in the youth ranks of Belgrade-based FK Zemun, where he progressed through to make it into their first team in 2000. He really began to establish himself in the middle of the park during the 2001-02 season and was a vital player for the club over the following seasons. In 2005–06 he had his best goalscoring start to a season, netting eight times by Christmas. This attracted attention from the country’s biggest club and local rival, Red Star Belgrade.

Red Star Belgrade

Following his continually impressive form for FK Zemun, Milijas signed for Red Star Belgrade in January 2006. He ended his first season with Belgrade by winning both the Serbian Superliga and Serbian Cup with his new club. He won both trophies again with Belgrade the following season. Milijas found appearances restricted by then manager Dusan Bajević, but the arrival of Boško Djurovski as the club’s new manager saw him gain more playing time and re-discover his form. He then held down a first team spot in central midfield for the following seasons, becoming a vital member of the team as they went close to more domestic honours and regularly competing in European competitions. The Serbian midfielder enjoyed his best season so far in 2008–09, finishing Red Star's top goalscorer with 16 league goals, 22 goals in all competitions, making him Serbian football’s leading scorer in that season. He also won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award, was voted into the All Star Team, named Serbian Superliga Player Of The Year 2008-09 and broke into the Serbia national football team. This form attracted attention from various clubs in Europe.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolves fought off competition from various other clubs around Europe to capture Milijas from Red Star Belgrade. He signed a four-year deal on the 15 June 2009 for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £2.6m.^[2] He made his debut in the club's opening day defeat to West Ham United, in which he was voted man of the match.^[3] Milijaš scored his first goal for Wolves with a long distance strike to earn a 2–1 victory over Bolton Wanderers in December 2009; he netted a second time against Burnley two weeks later.^[4] As of the 9 February 2011, Milijas has got 2 league goals, both against Manchester City. Milijas made 20 appearances in the Premier League in the 2010-11 season, scoring twice. He also matched that tally in the Carling Cup, scoring two penalties, against Southend and Notts County. Arguably his finest performance of the season came in a 3-3 home draw against Tottenham, in which Milijas assisted Kevin Doyle's opening goal, and earned Wolves' second goal, when he was fouled by Spurs full-back Alan Hutton.

International career

Milijaš made his full international debut for Serbia on 6 September 2008, in a 2–0 win over the Faroe Islands in a World Cup 2010 qualifier. He scored his first international goal in his fourth appearance, in a 6–1 rout of Bulgaria in a friendly on 19 November 2008, then added his first competitive goal when he netted the winner from the penalty spot to defeat Austria 1–0 on 6 June 2009. This qualification campaign ultimately saw the nation qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals in South Africa, with Milijaš a regular in central midfield, usually paired with captain Dejan Stanković. He was subsequently selected in their final squad for the tournament, their first World Cup Finals competing as "Serbia", and played in their opening game against Ghana.

He has previously represented Serbia and Montenegro at under–21 level, appearing in the side which made the semi finals of the 2006 European Under–21 Championship in Portugal.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	19 November 2008	Partizan Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia	Bulgaria	5–1	6–1	Friendly
2.	6 June 2009	Stadion FK Crvena zvezda, Belgrade, Serbia	Austria	1–0	1–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying
3.	9 September 2009	Stadion FK Crvena zvezda, Belgrade, Serbia	France	1–0	1–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying
4.	4 June 2010	Partizan Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia	Cameroon	3–2	4–3	Friendly

Honours

Club

• Serbian Superliga: 2005–06, 2006–07
• Serbian Cup: 2005–06, 2006–07

Individual

• Serbian Superliga Player of the Year: 2008–09
• Serbian Superliga All Star Team: 2008–09
• Most valuable player: 2008–09

References

1. ^ "Premier League Player Profile". Premier League. http://www.premierleague.com/page/PlayerProfile/0,,12306~47224,00.html. Retrieved 18 March 2011. 
2. ^ "Wolves snap up Serbian midfielder". BBC Sport. 2009-06-15. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/wolverhampton_wanderers/8099822.stm. 
3. ^ "Hammers ruin Wolves' return". Sky Sport. 2009-08-15. http://www.skysports.com/football/match_report/0,19764,11065_3149191,00.html. 
4. ^ "Wolverhampton 2–1 Bolton". BBC Sport. 5 December 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8388618.stm. Retrieved 5 December 2009. 

External links

• Official club profile
• Profile on Serbian national football team website
• Nenad Milijaš career stats at Soccerbase

Persondata
Name	Milijaš, Nenad
Alternative names
Short description	Professional football player
Date of birth	1983-4-30
Place of birth	Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Date of death
Place of death