Danijel Ljuboja
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Danijel Ljuboja ( sr-Cyrl, Данијел Љубоја, ; born 4 September 1978) is a
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 ...
n retired 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 played as a forward. He was known for his passing and set pieces. He represented Serbia and Montenegro at the
2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...
.


Career


Club

Ljuboja was born in
Vinkovci Vinkovci () is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The city's registered population was 28,247 in the 2021 census, the total population of the city was 31,057, making it the largest town of the county. Surround ...
,
SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Sociali ...
, SFR Yugoslavia to Serb parents. There he played in the youth teams of NK Dinamo Vinkovci,
NK Osijek Nogometni klub Osijek ( en, Osijek Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Osijek or simply Osijek (), is a Croatian professional football club from Osijek. Founded in 1947, it was the club from Slavonia with the most seasons in the Yugoslav ...
and
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 ...
. He moved to France where his professional career started with
Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy S ...
in the 1998–99 season. Ljuboja made his debut, coming on as a substitute in the 76th minutes for Anthony Sirufo, in a 2–1 loss against
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
on 11 September 1998; then on 31 October 1998, Ljuboja scored his first goal and scored another, in a 4–0 win over Montpellier. However, in his first season, Sochaux was relegated to Ligue 2. The next
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...
, Ljuboja soon became an important member of the first team and began his goalscoring form, including a hat-trick in a 5–1 win over
Créteil Créteil () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Créteil is the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne department as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Cr ...
on 15 April 2000. At the end of the season, Ljuboja's goalscoring form led him to become a top-scorer for the club, but he was second top-scorer behind
Amara Traoré Amara Traoré (born 25 September 1965) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who is the head coach of Horoya AC in the Guinée Championnat National. He managed the Senegal national team and ASC Linguère in Senegal. Playing career ...
. However, the club wasn't able to return to Ligue 1, having come one point too short. In his two-year stint with the team, he played 62 games scoring 20 goals. Following his stay with Sochaux, Ljuboja moved to Strasbourg in the 2000–01 season. In his first season, he made a slow start, scoring three goals in thirty appearances. The club was relegated despite winning the Coupe de France final, beating Amiens 5–4 on penalties. Soon in his second season, Ljuboja was able to bounce back, scoring fifteen goals and the club to return to Ligue 1. He also made two appearances in the
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
competition, scoring twice against Belgian side
Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...
but the club was knocked out, having lost 2–0 in the first leg. Strasbourg was explained, due to winning the Coupe de France, the previous season. The next season, in which the French League was renamed to Ligue 1, Ljuboja's goalscoring form soon faded, with nine goals but the club still remained in Ligue 1. The season after, Ljuboja soon formed an important strike partnership with newly signing
Mamadou Niang Mamadou Hamidou Niang (born 13 October 1979) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He has represented Senegal at international level, participating in the 2004, 2006, and 2008 African Cup of Nations. He is t ...
, which was short-lived as he moved from Strasbourg to PSG. Because of his departure, Niang didn't score again for the remainder of the second half of that season. Upon his departure, Ljuboja had made 123 league appearances scoring 34 goals in total. In December 2003, Ljuboja was linked with Ligue 1 rival
Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...
and two unknown Premier League clubs.


Paris Saint-Germain

During the 2003–4 January transfer window, Ljuboja moved from Strasbourg to
Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...
for a €3.000.000 fee. In his first half of the season at PSG, Ljuboja made a good start, scoring six goals, including four goals in three consecutive games. Also, his new club was able to win the
Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...
, beating Châteauroux 1–0. During his time at PSG, he faced competition from strikers like
Pauleta Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes (born 28 April 1973), known as Pauleta (), is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a striker. During 18 years as a senior he never played in the Primeira Liga, having spent 12 of those c ...
and
Fabrice Pancrate Fabrice Dimitri Pancrate (; born 2 May 1980) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Career in France Pancrate started his professional career in Louhans-Cuiseaux in 1999, where he played two matches. ...
. Ahead of the 2004–05 season, Ljuboja soon had a rift with manager
Vahid Halilhodžić Vahid Halilhodžić (; born 15 October 1952) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the most controversially successful Bosnian football managers, due to his successful tenure in coaching various na ...
after Halilhodžic was far from happy with Ljuboja's attitude in pre-season training, resulting not trained for the past two days due to a back complaint. This led a transfer speculation by moving to
Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
. Despite the strained relationship, Ljuboja first team wasn't affected. However, in September 2004, Ljuboja was disgusted with Halilhodžic after he wasn't included in a match against Monaco and was omitted from the first team despite lack of attackers at the club. Ljuboja told L'Equipe that Halilhodžic didn't give him explanations ahead of a match and that he was 100 percent committed at PSG. In January transfer window, with PSG announcing their intentions to sell Ljuboja, Ljuboja was linked with clubs around Europe like
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, Málaga,
Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
and
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
. However, no move was made as Ljuboja desired to stay at the club. His 2004–05 season wasn't a success as he scored twice and his form was declining and the club finished in the ninth place. During the season, he played five games with the team in the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
. He scored seven times in 42 league appearances.


Joining the German clubs

In 2005, he transferred to German club side Stuttgart, at first on loan, having been linked with clubs like Mallorca,
Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
and
Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...
. After joining Stuttgart, Ljuboja said he left PSG, not for the revenge he received last season but to keep his dream alive ahead of a World Cup. Weeks later, Ljuboja made his debut, on 10 September 2005, in a 1–1 draw with Arminia Bielefeld; and a month later, he scored his first goal, on 23 October 2005, in a 1–1 draw with
Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...
. Three days before scoring his first Bundesliga goal, Ljuboja scored his first goal in the UEFA Cup in a 2–0 win over Rennes and scored a brace in a 2–0 win over
P.A.O.K. PAOK ( el, ΠΑΟΚ, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans' ...
At Stuttgart, he formed a striking partnership with Jon Dahl Tomasson. Later in the season, he scored eight goals and the club finished in ninth place. He was contracted in April 2006 (through 2009), but by that his income, that was still paid half by PSG, was lowered significantly. Although he had a valid contract, he demanded from Stuttgart the same wages he got before from PSG. Stuttgart in consequence told him to look for a new club in the summer of 2006 and let him train with their reserve team that played in the third German league. In August 2006, Ljuboja was transferred on loan to Champions League participant
Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...
for one year with the option to buy the player afterwards. Ljuboja made a good start by scoring on his debut, in the first round of
DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...
, in a 4–3 loss against
Stuttgarter Kickers Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers. History In its early years the club had a decent local squad that played in the Südk ...
; then, made his league debut in a 1–0 loss against
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...
on 16 September 2006 and scored his first goal, a week later, in a 2–2 draw against
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
. He also played six games with the team in the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
. At Hamburg, he was also demoted to the reserves team because he did not participate in team briefings. Hamburger SV did not use their option to buy him, so he went back to VfB Stuttgart at the end of the season. Upon his return, VfB Stuttgart was looking to offload him to another club and he was placed at the Stuttgart reserves. Ljuboja says that he wanted back to France, having desire to leave Stuttgart but to no avail. At the end of July, he was linked a move to Italian side
Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...
, but the transfer did not materialize. He was also linked with a move to Fulham, having been on trial. He was part of the reserve team of VfB Stuttgart in the Regionalliga. In January 2008, Ljuboja was loaned out to
VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...
, until the end of the season, after training with the club. He made his debut, on 2 February 2008, in a 1–1 draw against Arminia Bielefeld; then one month later, he scored his first goal in a 1–1 draw against Hamburg. At the end of the season, Wolfsburg did not use the option to sign the forward permanently. In July 2008, he was pardoned and returned to the first team of
VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...
, but was again downgraded to the reserve team
VfB Stuttgart II VfB Stuttgart II is a German football team located in Stuttgart, currently playing in the Regionalliga Südwest. From 2008 to 2016 the team played in the 3. Liga. They are the reserve team of VfB Stuttgart. Until 2005 the team played under the n ...
on 5 February 2009 until the end of his contract in June 2009. In June 2009, Ljuboja left after three years at Stuttgart and became a free agent.


Return to France

After four years in Germany, Ljuboja returned to France on 23 July 2009 signing with
Grenoble Foot 38 Grenoble Foot 38, commonly referred to as simply Grenoble or GF38, is a French association football club based in Grenoble. The club plays its home matches at the Stade des Alpes, a sports complex based in the heart of the city, and wears whit ...
. He made his league debut in the club's opening match of the season, a 2–0 defeat at home to
Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
on 8 August 2009, coming on for Josip Tadić. In the next game, he scored his first goal, in a 2–1 loss against Boulogne. On 8 May 2010, he scored a brace in a 2–0 win over Boulogne. At the end of the season, Grenoble was relegated to Ligue 2. Despite the relegation, he had a good season, scoring ten goals in thirty-four appearances. In the new season, Ljuboja made three more appearances before leaving for Nice. On 31 August 2010 (the transfer deadline), he then signed with Ligue 1
Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...
, for a fee of €300K. He made his league debut in the club's opening match of the season, in a 2–1 win over
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...
. A week later, he scored his first goal in a 2–1 loss against Rennes. He also scored twice in a 3–2 win over Arles-Avignon on 11 May 2011. After a mixed season, he finished with six goals in all competitions and he left the club.


Legia Warsaw

After one season in
Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...
, he yet again changed his club by signing with
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
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 ...
club Legia Warsaw on a one-year deal. He made his league debut in the club's opening match of the season, in a 3–1 win over KS Cracovia; then, scored twice in a 3–1 win over
Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning the second-most Po ...
. Having scored three goals in four matches, he was awarded the Player of the month. On 29 September 2011, he scored and provided an assist in a 3–2 win over Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Europa League group stage. Later in the season, he scored eleven goals, making the club's top-scorer this season. In April 2012, he signed a new one-year contract with the club. In his first season, he won the 2012 Polish Cup. The next season, Ljuboja started his season when he scored two goals in the Europa League qualifying, in both legs against
SV Ried SV Ried is an Austrian association football club from Ried im Innkreis, Upper Austria. The team plays its home matches at Josko Arena, a stadium with a capacity of 7,680. After being relegated from Bundesliga in the 2016–17 season, SV Ried ...
. In the league, his performance got better when he scored a hat-trick on the opening game of the season, in a 4–0 win over
Korona Kielce Korona Kielce, , (Korona – ''Crown'' – symbol of club and city, Kielce – name of city where club is based) is a Polish football club, which will compete in Ekstraklasa in the 2022–23 season. In the years 2002–08 the club ...
. In late November, his performance could have made him a legend icon at the club. In January, Ljuboja could leave the club at the end of the season. The club would win a double:
the league ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football leagu ...
and the cup. In May 2013, Ljuboja, along with Miroslav Radović, was disciplined by the club over drinking alcohol in one of the club's premises. It announced that Ljuboja will leave the club. In July 2013, he returned again to France where he joined
RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), co ...
on a one-year deal. In December 2014, he has retired from active football to become a talent scout for Legia Warsaw.


International career

He was a part of Serbia and Montenegro national team, played 19 times and scored one goal. Ljuboja featured for his country in the group stage of the
2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...
. He scored his first and only goal in a 3–2 win over
Wales national football team ) , Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , Coach = Rob Page , Captain = Gareth Bale , Most caps = Gareth Bale (111) , Top scorer = Gareth ...
back in 2003 in a
UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...
qualifying match.


Career statistics


International


Honours


Club

;RC Strasbourg *
Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...
: 2001 ;Paris Saint-Germain *
Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...
: 2004 ;Legia Warsaw * Polish Ekstraklasa:
2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
*
Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...
: 2011–12,
2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...


References


External links

*
Danijel Ljuboja
at kicker.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Ljuboja, Danijel 1978 births Living people Footballers from Vinkovci Serbs of Croatia Men's association football forwards Serbia and Montenegro men's international footballers Serbian men's footballers Serbia men's international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Poland FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players RC Lens players RC Strasbourg Alsace players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players VfB Stuttgart players Hamburger SV players VfL Wolfsburg players Grenoble Foot 38 players OGC Nice players Legia Warsaw players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Bundesliga players Ekstraklasa players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Serbian expatriate men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in France Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Germany Serbian expatriate sportspeople in France Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Poland