Ivan Kecojević (

Montenegrin Cyrillic The Montenegrin alphabet is the collective name given to "''Abeceda''" (#Latin alphabet, Montenegrin Latin alphabet) and "''Азбука''" (#Cyrillic alphabet, Montenegrin Cyrillic alphabet), the writing systems used to Writing, write the Montene ...

: Иван Кецојевић, born 10 April 1988) is a Montenegrin

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 le ...

who plays as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

, he started playing in his hometown club

FK Mornar Fudbalski klub Mornar is a Montenegrin professional football club, based in the coastal town of Bar. They currently compete in the Montenegrin First League. History FK Mornar (''FC Sailor'') was founded in December 1923, as ''JSK Crnojević''. ...

. He made his debut for the senior squad in the 2004–05 Montenegrin First League. After 2006 when Montenegro separated and formed its own league, Kecojević still played the first six months of the 2006–07 season, when, during the winter break he moved to Serbia and signed with

FK Teleoptik FK Teleoptik () is a professional football club based in Zemun, Belgrade, Serbia. They compete in the Serbian League Belgrade, the third tier of the national league system. History Founded by the manufacturing company of the same name in 1952, t ...

. Teleoptik is known for being

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...

's satellite club, and most better players end up having good prospects of later earning a chance in Partizan's main team, or other Serbian top league clubs. Kecojević played with Teleoptik for two and a half seasons, before getting a chance 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 ...

by being loaned to Čukarički. There he became a regular player making 25 league appearances that season. Unsurprisingly, in the following summer of 2010, he signed a three-year contract with another SuperLiga club,

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, ...

Gaziantepspor

Kecojević signed for Gaziantepspor in August 2012 on a four-year contract. In a match against

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

, he attempted to go on the field in only

briefs Briefs (or a brief) are a type of short, form-fitting Undergarment, underwear and swimsuit, swimwear, as opposed to styles where material extends down the thighs. Briefs have various different styles, usually with a waistband attached to fabric ...

without any shorts on.

Zürich

On 9 January 2013, Kecojević signed for

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 ...

, after which club chairman Ancillo Canepa told journalists that "In Ivan we got an excellent, experienced player, focused one hundred percent on football." He won the

2013–14 Swiss Cup The 2013–14 Swiss Cup was the 89th season of Switzerland's annual football cup competition. The competition started on 14 August 2013 with the first game of Round 1 and ended in May 2014 with the Final. The winners of the competition qualified f ...

and

2015–16 Swiss Cup The 2015–16 Swiss Cup is the 91st season of Switzerland's annual football cup competition. The competition started on 15 August 2015 with the first games of Round 1 and ended on 29 May 2016 with the Final, won by FC Zürich. As winners of the co ...

with Zürich. In June 2017, his contract expired.

Cádiz / Albacete

On 9 August 2017, Kecojević signed a one-year contract with

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

club

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

. On 18 August 2019, he moved to fellow league team

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

on a three-year deal.

International career

Since 2008, he has been a regular player of the

Montenegro national under-21 football team The Montenegro national under-21 football team is the national under-21 Football (soccer), football team of Montenegro and is controlled by the Football Association of Montenegro. The team competes in the European Under-21 Football Championship, h ...

. Under coach

Branko Brnović Branko Brnović (Cyrillic: Бранко Брновић; born 8 August 1967) is a Montenegrin manager and retired professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Club career After making his professional debuts with local club Budu� ...

, he began appearing for the Montenegrin senior side in the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

qualification phase. He made his senior debut for

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

in a November 2012

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

match against

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

and has earned a total of five caps, scoring no goals. His final international appearance was an October 2013 World Cup qualification match against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

References

External links

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Ivan Kecojević Stats
at Utakmica.rs {{DEFAULTSORT:Kecojevic, Ivan 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Bar, Montenegro Men's association football central defenders Montenegrin men's footballers Montenegro men's under-21 international footballers Montenegro men's international footballers FK Mornar players FK Teleoptik players FK Čukarički players OFK Beograd players Gaziantepspor footballers FC Zürich players Cádiz CF players Albacete Balompié players Montenegrin First League players Serbian SuperLiga players Süper Lig players Swiss Super League players Segunda División players Montenegrin expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Spain CF Intercity players