Damir Kojašević (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Дамир Којашевић; born 3 June 1987) is a Montenegrin professional

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 plays as a winger for Fushë Kosova. While playing as a professional in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

, Talgat Baysufinov called him "the little scoundrel", referring to his playing style on the field.

Club career

Early career

Kojašević signed his first professional contract with Montenegrin club Dečić at the age of 16. At the age of 18, he completed his first international transfer to Polish team

Jagiellonia Białystok Jagiellonia Białystok () is a Polish football club based in Białystok that plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. The club was founded in 1920 by soldiers in the Reserve Battalion in Białystok. Jagiellonia play their home g ...

in 2008. At the age of 19, he was named the best foreign player in the

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

. He left after a season due to a disagreement with the coach. He then returned to Montenegro and joined

Zeta Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; grc, ζῆτα, el, ζήτα, label= Demotic Greek, classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived f ...

, with whom he played for three months.

Sarajevo

In 2010, Kojašević joined Bosnian team

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

after being scouted by the club president at the time, Zijad Blekić. Over the course of two seasons with Sarajevo, he was considered to be one of the best players in the Premijer Liga. After the club told him they could not afford to pay his salary, Kojašević voluntarily terminated his contract. He subsequently joined Budućnost in a free transfer in January 2012, but played for them for only three months.

Astana

After only a brief period with Budućnost, Kojašević joined Kazakh side

FC Astana Astana Football Club ( kk, Astana Futbol Kluby) is a professional football club based in Astana. They play in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Kazakh football. The club's home ground is the 30,254-seat Astana Arena stadium. ...

in the spring of 2012. During his time with Astana, he enjoyed clubbing after games. In February 2015, Kojašević moved from Astana to

Lokomotiv Tashkent PFC Lokomotiv Tashkent ( uz, Lokomotiv Toshkent Professional Futbol Klubi) is an Uzbekistan, Uzbek professional association football, football club based in Tashkent. The owner and main sponsor of the club is a state-owned company Uzbek Railways. ...

on loan.

Mladost Podgorica

In August 2015, Kojašević turned down clubs from other countries to join

Mladost Podgorica OFK Titograd (Montenegrin Cyrillic: ОФК Титоград) is a professional football club based in Podgorica, Montenegro. Founded in 1951, they play in the Third League of Montenegro. The team has one league trophy and two Montenegrin Cup tr ...

, citing family reasons. At Mladost his coach was

Nikola Rakojević Nikola "Peco" Rakojević (; born 15 January 1958) is a Montenegrin football manager and former player. Playing career A one-club man, Rakojević played for Sutjeska Nikšić over the course of 14 seasons between 1975 and 1989, making over 250 ...

. In November 2015 he suffered a

calf Calf most often refers to: * Calf (animal), the young of domestic cattle. * Calf (leg), in humans (and other primates), the back portion of the lower leg Calf or calves may also refer to: Biology and animal byproducts * Veal, meat from calves * ...

injury. Although he only spent a half-season at Mladost, Kojašević contributed to Mladost winning the league that season with seven goals.

Vardar

In December 2015, Kojašević signed with

Vardar The Vardar (; mk, , , ) or Axios () is the longest river in North Macedonia and the second longest river in Greece, in which it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . Th ...

. He contributed in Vardar's first ever successful qualifying campaign to the

2017–18 UEFA Europa League The 2017–18 UEFA Europa League was the 47th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 9th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2018 UEFA Europ ...

, and played in their historic upset of heavily favored Fenerbahçe in front of an audience of 45,000 at the

Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium The Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium () (Known for sponsorship reasons as Ülker Stadyumu Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Spor Kompleksi, or Ülker Stadium for short) is a football stadium located in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is th ...

on 24 August 2017. Despite Vardar entering the Europa League group stage for the first time, Kojašević left the team before the group stage allegedly due to financial issues with club owner Sergey Samsonenko. Vardar ended up without a single win in Europa League Group L that season.

Vojvodina

In September 2017, Kojašević signed a one-year contract with Serbian club

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

. On 29 September 2017, he scored two goals against

Mladost Lučani Mladost (meaning "youth" in Slavic languages) may refer to: Placenames *Mladost, Sofia, municipality of Sofia, Bulgaria * Mladost, Varna, municipality of Varna, Bulgaria * Mladost, Obrenovac, municipality of city Obrenovac, Serbia. Association fo ...

. On 28 October 2017, he scored an

olympic goal A corner kick is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the Goal line (association football), goal line, without a Scoring in association football, goal being scored and having last ...

in a 3–0 win against

Rad RAD or Rad may refer to: People * Robert Anthony Rad Dougall (born 1951), South African former racing driver * Rad Hourani, Canadian fashion designer and artist * Nickname of Leonardus Rad Kortenhorst (1886–1963), Dutch politician * Radley R ...

. On 3 December 2017, Kojašević scored a goal in a 1–1 tie against

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 ...

at their stadium in snowy conditions. In the half-season he played for Vojvodina, he scored four goals over the course of 14 matches. He was a teammate with Dušan Jovančić. Although he allegedly agreed to remain in Vojvodina for the remainder of the season, he terminated his contract in late January 2018.

Shakhter Karagandy

On 12 February 2018, Shakhter Karagandy announced the signing of Kojašević. At the time he joined, the team was coached by

Uladzimir Zhuravel Uladzimir Ivanavich Zhuravel ( be, Уладзімір Іванавіч Журавель; russian: Владимир Иванович Журавель; 9 June 1971 – 18 November 2018) was a Belarusian professional football player and coach. In 20 ...

, with whom Kojašević worked well and got playing time. However, the team's record under Zhuravel experienced a period of losses in addition to Zhuravel's health problems. Later in 2018 Zhuravel was replaced by

Nikolay Kostov Nikolay Kostov ( bg, Николай Костов; born 2 July 1963) is a Bulgarian football manager and former footballer who most recently managed Shakhter Karagandy. Career Much of his coaching career has taken place in Cyprus. His first co ...

, with whom Kojašević also saw playing time in addition to a significantly improved record during the season. In August 2018, Kojašević went to the coal mine in

Karaganda Karaganda or Qaraghandy ( kk, Қарағанды/Qarağandy, ; russian: Караганда, ) is the capital of Karaganda Region in the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, fourth most populous city in Kaza ...

with the rest of the team. Although he was initially scared, the mine left a strong impression with him, as he had never gone down a mine before.

Radnički Niš

On 16 January 2019, Kojašević joined Serbian club Radnički Niš. Coach

Nenad Lalatović Nenad Lalatović (, ; born 22 December 1977) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player. He is currently coaching the team Radnički Niš. Club career Lalatović came through the youth system of hometown club Red Star Belgra ...

had insisted on Kojašević's signing, referring to him as one of the best

playmakers ''Playmakers'' is an American drama series that aired on ESPN from August 26 to November 11, 2003. It depicted the lives of the Cougars, a fictional professional football team in an unidentified city. The show starred Omar Gooding, Marcello Thed ...

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 ...

. On 29 January 2019, he scored his first goal for Radnički Niš in a 3-0 friendly win against Russian club Avangard. On 7 April 2019, he scored two goals in a 5–1 win against

OFK Bačka OFK Bačka (Serbian Cyrillic: ОФК Бачка) is a football club based in Bačka Palanka, Serbia. In 2016, the club achieved promotion to the Serbian SuperLiga. It is known as one of the most successful football clubs in Serbia at the all t ...

Sutjeska Nikšić

On 14 June 2019, Kojašević signed a one-year contract with Montenegrin club Sutjeska Nikšić. On 10 July 2019, he scored a goal in a 1–1 tie against Slovan Bratislava in the first leg of the first qualifying round for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League. On 6 August 2019, he scored from a

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

in a 1–2 loss against Linfield in the first leg of the third qualifying round for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League.

International career

Kojašević was called up to the senior

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

squad for a friendly against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

in June 2016. However, he did not make his debut until substituting Marko Vešović in a match against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

on 4 September 2016. Less than 10 minutes after coming on the field, Kojašević made an

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

for teammate Stevan Jovetić, whose goal tied the game 1-1. On 27 March 2017, he made another assist for teammate Stefan Mugoša in his goal against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, although Montenegro ended up losing 1–2. As of September 2020, he has earned a total of 9 caps, scoring 1 goal.

Career statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list Montenegro's goal tally first.''

Honours

Budućnost Podgorica *

Montenegrin First League The First League of Montenegro ( Montenegrin: ''Prva crnogorska fudbalska liga'' — ''Prva CFL'' — ''1. CFL''; ) is the top football league in Montenegro. Founded in 2006, competition is headed by the Football Association of Montenegro. 10 te ...

: 2011–12 Astana *

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League ( kk, Қазақстан Премьер Лигасы, ''Qazaqstan Premer Ligasy''), commonly referred to as Kazakh Premier League or simply Premier League, is the top division of football in Kazakhstan ...

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 ...

Kazakhstan Cup The Kazakhstan Cup is the main knockout cup competition in Kazakhstan football, run by the Football Federation of Kazakhstan. The tournament was initially founded in 1936 as a competition for clubs in the Kazakh SSR ; kk, Қазақ Сове� ...

: 2012 Vardar *

Macedonian First League The Macedonian First Football League ( mk, Прва македонска фудбалска лига, ''Prva Мakedonska Fudbalska Liga''), also called Macedonian First League, 1. MFL, and Prva Liga, is the highest professional football competiti ...

: 2015–16, 2016–17

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kojasevic, Damir 1987 births Living people Footballers from Podgorica Men's association football wingers Montenegrin men's footballers Montenegro men's international footballers FK Dečić players Jagiellonia Białystok players GKS Górnik Łęczna players FK Zeta players FK Sarajevo players FK Budućnost Podgorica players FC Astana players PFC Lokomotiv Tashkent players OFK Titograd players FK Vardar players FK Vojvodina players FC Shakhter Karagandy players FK Radnički Niš players FK Sutjeska Nikšić players FC Feronikeli 74 players Montenegrin First League players Ekstraklasa players I liga players III liga players Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina players Kazakhstan Premier League players Uzbekistan Super League players Macedonian First Football League players Serbian SuperLiga players Football Superleague of Kosovo players Montenegrin expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Expatriate men's footballers in Uzbekistan Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Uzbekistan Expatriate men's footballers in North Macedonia Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in North Macedonia Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Kosovo Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Kosovo