Dragan Mrđa ( sr-Cyrl, Драган Мрђа; born 23 January 1984) is a former Serbian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a forward. At international level he has represented

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

Club career

Early career

After spending many years of his youth playing with

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

, during which he was loaned to

FK Jedinstvo Ub FK Jedinstvo Ub () is a professional football club based in Ub, Serbia. They compete in the Serbian First League, the second tier of the national league system. History In the late 1990s, the club established a partnership with Red Star Belgra ...

, he decided to accept a challenge that came from Belgium and moved to Lierse S.K. in August 2005. In the summer of 2006, he was loaned to another

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 te ...

club,

S.V. Zulte Waregem Sportvereniging Zulte Waregem (), commonly known as Zulte Waregem or by their nickname Essevee (), is a Belgian professional football club based in Waregem, West Flanders. Zulte Waregem plays in the Belgian First Division A. Their highest finish a ...

before moving to Russia to play with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club

FC Khimki FC Khimki (russian: ФК Химки) is a Russian professional football club based in Khimki. The club returned to the Russian Premier League in the 2020–21 season. History The team was formed in 1996 by merging two amateur clubs from Khimki ...

Vojvodina

After one season in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, he returned to Serbia to join

FK Vojvodina Fudbalski klub Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Војводина), commonly known as Vojvodina and colloquially as Voša ( sr-Cyrl, Воша), is a Serbian professional football club based in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, the second l ...

in the

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League ( sr, Супер лига Србије / Super liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet Super League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Супер лига / Mozzart Bet Super liga) for sponsorship reasons, is a Serbian profes ...

. In spite of arriving to the club off of dry spells in Belgium and Russia, he became Vojvodina's captain after a remarkably short period of time due to a spontaneous explosion of good form. His prolific goal-scoring with Vojvodina earned him calls from the Serbian national team from 2008, having been called up for a friendly against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

and another friendly match against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

which took place the same year. By the end of the 2009–10 season, Mrđa had scored 22 goals in 29 league games and was named SuperLiga Player of the Year.

Sion

After two seasons spent in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

, in summer 2010, he signed a 3-year contract with Swiss side

FC Sion Football Club de Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss football team from the city of Sion. The club was founded in 1909, and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have won the Swiss Super League twice, and ...

. In March 2011 in a match against

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

he suffered a serious knee injury which kept him out of football for six months.

Return to Red Star Belgrade

After seasons spent in Sion, Mrđa returned to the club at which he debuted professionally, signing a two-year contract with

. On September 29, 2013, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 5-0 win against FK Spartak Subotica. On November 23, 2013, he scored another

in a 4–1 win against

FK Sloboda Užice Fudbalski klub Sloboda Užice () is a Serbian professional football club from Užice. They are currently playing in the Serbian First League, the second tier of Serbian football. History Early years (1920s and 1930s) The club was founded throu ...

, becoming Red Star's highest goal-scorer of the half-season.

Omiya Ardija

On 1 July 2014, Mrđa joined J. League Division 1 club

Omiya Ardija is a professional association football club based in Ōmiya in Saitama, Japan. Its "hometown" as designated by the league is the whole of Saitama city, which is shared with neighbours Urawa Red Diamonds. Omiya competed in the J1 League follow ...

. Mrđa scored on his debut on 19 July 2014 helping them to earn a 3–3 draw against

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima ( ja, サンフレッチェ広島, translit=''Sanfuretche Hiroshima'') is a Japanese professional football club based in Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the co ...

. He played 18 times for Omiya in the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

as they suffered relegation to the Division 2.

International career

Mrđa was a part of the Serbian U21 team that made it to the final of the

2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2007 were held from 10 June 2007 to 23 June 2007. It was the 16th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. Summary For the first time, a host nation was chosen ahead of the competition – the Neth ...

, where he scored coming off the bench against the Netherlands U21 side. By the end of the championship he had scored a total of two goals, which was on level with the likes of

Ryan Babel Ryan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) *Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia * Division of Ryan, an elector ...

. Mrđa scored two goals for the Serbian national team in a 3–0 friendly win against Japan on April 7, 2010. In June 2010, he was called up by

Radomir Antić Radomir Antić ( sr-Cyrl, Радомир Антић, ; 22 November 1948 – 6 April 2020) was a Serbian professional football manager and player. Following a 17-year playing career as a defender, most of which he spent playing at Partizan, wit ...

to Serbia's squad at the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, but didn't make any appearances there.

Career statistics

Club

''Updated to 23 February 2017''.Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社
"2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)"
8 February 2017, Japan, (p. 41 out of 289)

International

International goals

References

External links

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at UEFA {{DEFAULTSORT:Mrdja, Dragan 1984 births Living people People from Vršac Serbian footballers Association football forwards Serbia youth international footballers Serbia under-21 international footballers Serbia international footballers Red Star Belgrade footballers FK Jedinstvo Ub players Lierse S.K. players S.V. Zulte Waregem players FC Khimki players FK Vojvodina players FC Sion players Omiya Ardija players Shonan Bellmare players NK Olimpija Ljubljana (2005) players Belgian First Division A players Russian Premier League players Serbian SuperLiga players Swiss Super League players J1 League players J2 League players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Serbian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Japan Expatriate footballers in Slovenia Serbian expatriates in Belgium Serbian expatriates in Russia Serbian expatriates in Switzerland Serbian expatriates in Japan Serbian expatriates in Slovenia 2010 FIFA World Cup players