Željko Ljubenović ( sr-Cyrl, Жељко Љубеновић; born 9 July 1981) is a

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and a former player who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He is the manager of Ukrainian Premier League club Inhulets Petrove. After playing almost exclusively for second-tier clubs in his homeland, Ljubenović spent most of his footballing career in Ukraine, representing four clubs and amassing over 250 appearances in the country's top league.

Career

Born in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, Ljubenović started out as a trainee at

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

in 1990. He spent five years in the club's youth setup, before switching to

OFK Beograd OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club'') is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, more precisely in Karaburma, ...

in 1995. After completing his formation, Ljubenović made his senior debuts with the ''Romantičari'' in the

2000–01 First League of FR Yugoslavia The 2000–01 First League of FR Yugoslavia was the ninth season of the FR Yugoslavia's top-level football league since its establishment. It was contested by 18 teams, and Red Star Belgrade won the championship. Incidents Eternal derby abandoned ...

. He subsequently played for Second League clubs Mladenovac, Mladost Lukićevo, and

Proleter Zrenjanin Fudbalski klub Proleter Zrenjanin () is a football club from the city of Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, Serbia. History Early period Soon after World War II, the club almost achieved promotion to the Yugoslav Second League after finishing top of the ...

. In the summer of 2005, Ljubenović signed with top-flight side

Hajduk Kula FK Hajduk Kula (Serbian Cyrillic: ФК Хајдук Кула) was a Serbian football club based in Kula. The club was named after a Hajduk, a much celebrated hero figure in the Serbian epic poetry. On 30 July 2013, just eleven days before start ...

. He spent just half a season there, before transferring abroad. In the 2006 winter

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

, Ljubenović moved to Ukraine and signed with

Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih Football Club Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih () was a professional Ukrainian football club based in Kryvyi Rih. Until 2013 the club participated in professional competitions. In June 2013 the club went bankrupt and was expelled from the Ukrainian Premier ...

. He switched clubs the following summer and joined fellow top-tier club Tavriya Simferopol. Over the next five and a half years, Ljubenović played regularly for the side and recorded near 200 appearances in all competitions. He left the club midway through the 2011–12 season, eventually joining another Premier League side,

Oleksandriya Oleksandriia () is a city located in Oleksandriia Raion, Kirovohrad Oblast (region) in central Ukraine. Administratively, Oleksandriia serves as the administrative center of Oleksandriia Raion (district). Oleksandriia also hosts the administrat ...

. In the summer of 2012, Ljubenović signed with

Zorya Luhansk FC Zorya Luhansk ( uk, ФК «Зоря» Луганськ ) is a Ukrainian football team. Zorya Luhansk is based in the city of Luhansk, Ukraine. However, because of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the team play their games at Slavutych-Arena in Zapori ...

. After 6 seasons in Zorya he retired in May 2018. In July 2018 Zorya's general director Serhiy Rafailov announced that Ljubenović will work in the club as scout in Balkan region. On 18 November 2023 Ljubenović returned to the Ukrainian Premier League in role of football manager to help struggling

FC Mynai FC Mynai or FC Minaj ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Минай», Futbolnyi klub Mynai) is a Ukrainian football club from Mynai, a suburb of Uzhhorod in the Zakarpattia Oblast. The club currently competes in the Ukrainian Premier League, d ...

to remain in the league.

Honours

;Tavriya Simferopol *

Ukrainian Cup The Ukrainian Cup ( uk, Кубок України) is an association football national knockout cup competition run by the Ukrainian Association of Football. The competition is conducted almost exclusively among professional clubs. Since the 2003� ...

: 2009–10 *

Ukrainian Super Cup The Ukrainian Super Cup ( uk , Суперкубок України) is an association football game of the Ukrainian Premier League in traditional super cup format that acts as the grand-opening for every new football (soccer), football competiti ...

: Runner-up 2010 ;Zorya Luhansk *

: Runner-up 2015–16

References

External links

Official website

Tavriya profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ljubenovic, Zeljko Men's association football midfielders Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine First League of Serbia and Montenegro players FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih players FC Oleksandriya players FC Zorya Luhansk players FK Hajduk Kula players FK Proleter Zrenjanin players OFK Beograd players OFK Mladenovac players SC Tavriya Simferopol players Serbian expatriate men's footballers Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Serbian men's footballers Footballers from Belgrade Ukrainian Premier League players 1981 births Living people Serbian football managers Serbian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Ukraine FC Mynai managers Ukrainian Premier League managers