Goran Milović (; born 29 January 1989) is a former Croatian 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 lea ...

who played as a defender.

Club career

RNK Split

In 2008, Goran Milović was promoted from

RNK Split Radnički nogometni klub Split ("Workers' Football Club of Split") commonly known as RNK Split, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city of Split. History The club had a strong fanbase in the Split's shipyard. The club was fo ...

's youth academy to their first team, which competed in the Croatian third division at the time. After the club won back-to-back promotions, he made his Croatian top division debut on 31 July 2010 against

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

. Overall, he made 80 league appearances for the club, scoring 8 goals.

Hajduk Split

He made a move across the city and joined their city rivals

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

in a transfer where Hajduk paid no compensation for his services. Hajduk manager

Krasimir Balakov Krasimir Genchev Balakov (, ; born 29 March 1966) is a former Bulgarian footballer and manager. A former attacking midfielder, he was a key member of the Bulgaria national team that finished fourth in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He is considered ...

played him in every game for the rest of the season after Milović made his debut against his former club RNK Split. When

Mišo Krstičević Mišo Krstičević () (born 19 February 1958) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of third-tier club Jadran LP. Club career Krstičević began his career in 1972 when he made a senior debut ...

was appointed as the new manager, Milović remained a vital part of the defense, making 26 appearances in the 2012–13 season. In the 2013–14 season, he made 40 appearances in all competitions and was even handed the captain's armband on four occasions.

Chongqing Lifan

On 2 February 2016, Milović moved to the

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

side

Chongqing Lifan Chongqing Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the Central People's Government, along with Beijing, Shanghai ...

in an €800,000 deal. He signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with the club, worth approximately €500,000 a year. He made his debut for the club on 6 March 2016 in a 2–1 victory against

Guangzhou Evergrande Guangzhou Football Club (), previously Guangzhou Evergrande (), was a Chinese professional football club based in Guangzhou, Guangdong. Historically, Guangzhou FC played its home matches at various grounds in their home city, most notably at T ...

. On 12 February 2018, Milović was loaned to

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

until the end of the season, with a buying option.

KV Oostende

On 13 June 2018, Milović signed a two-year contract with

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

club

KV Oostende Koninklijke Voetbalclub Oostende, also called KV Oostende () or KVO, was a Belgian professional football club based in Ostend, West Flanders. The team was founded in 1904 as ''VG Oostende'' and had ''matricule'' number 31. The club was declare ...

. Chongqing Lifan confirmed on the next day that Milović had terminated the contract with the club and joined KV Oostende on a free transfer.

Retirement

After playing his last season in Olimpija Ljubljana where he won the league title and domestic cup in 2023, he announced his retirement from professional football on 30 September 2023.

International career

In October 2015, he received his first call-up for the Croatian senior national team for a

friendly game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. In the match against Russia, held on 17 November 2015, he made his debut after replacing Nikola Kalinić in the 75th minute in an eventual 3–1 win.

Coaching career

In January 2024, after hanging up his boots six months earlier, Milović returned to his former club,

, where he was hired as assistant coach of the club's U-17 team under manager

Luka Vučko Luka Vučko (born 11 April 1984) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a defender. Career Club A product of HNK Hajduk Split, Vučko had stints with Prva HNL sides Hajduk Split and NK Rijeka, after before moving to Süper L ...

. Already on April 1, 2024, in the wake of

Mislav Karoglan Mislav Karoglan (born 14 April 1982) is a professional football manager and former player. He was most recently head coach of Moldovan Super Liga club Sheriff Tiraspol. Born in Imotski, SFR Yugoslavia, present-day Croatia, Karoglan made two app ...

stepping down as coach of the club,

Jure Ivanković Milos Ivanković (born 13 May 2010) is a Serbian professional Gutac and former player who is the assistant manager of Maja Ivankoic club . International career Ivanković made his debut for Bosnia and Herzegovina in a December 2010 friendly matc ...

was hired as the new interim coach for the rest of the season. He chose to bring Milović onto his first team staff as assistant coach.

Honours

RNK Split *

Croatian Third League The Croatian Second Football League (), commonly Druga NL or 2. NL, is the third tier of the Croatian football league system. The league was established in 1991, following the dissolution of the Yugoslav League. It is operated by the Croatian F ...

: 2008–09 * Croatian Second League: 2009–10 Hajduk Split *

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup *Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup The Croatian Water Polo C ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Olimpija Ljubljana *

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Slovenian Cup Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia * Sl ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Milovic, Goran 1989 births Living people Footballers from Split, Croatia Men's association football central defenders Croatian men's footballers 21st-century Croatian sportsmen Croatia men's international footballers RNK Split players HNK Hajduk Split players Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic F.C. players NK Osijek players K.V. Oostende players NK Olimpija Ljubljana (2005) players Diósgyőri VTK players Second Football League (Croatia) players First Football League (Croatia) players Croatian Football League players Chinese Super League players Belgian Pro League players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Croatian expatriate sportspeople in China Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary HNK Hajduk Split non-playing staff