Ivan Šaponjić ( Serbian Cyrillic: Иван Шапоњић; born 2 August 1997) is a Serbian 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 le ...

who plays as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for Slovan Bratislava in the Niké Liga. At international level, Šaponjić won the gold medal for Serbia at the

2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the twentieth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. The competition took place for the first time in New Zealand, the third time on Oceanian soil after ...

, scoring two goals in the process.

Club career

Partizan

Born in

Nova Varoš Nova Varoš ( sr-cyr, Нова Варош, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of southwestern Serbia. The municipality of Nova Varoš has a population of 16,638, while the town of Nova Varoš itself has a population of ...

, Šaponjić started playing football at local clubs Zlatar Nova Varoš and

Sloboda Užice A sloboda ( rus, слобода́, p=sləbɐˈda) was a kind of settlement in the history of the Old Russian regions Povolzhye, Central Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The name is derived from the early Slavic word for " freedom" and may be loosely ...

before joining the youth academy of

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 ...

. He made his senior debut for the club in a

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

game on 30 November 2013, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute in a 2–0 home win over Spartak Subotica. He eventually failed to make any other competitive appearance in the 2013–14 season. On 30 May 2014, he signed his first professional contract with Partizan, penning a three-year deal. He scored his first competitive goal for the team in a 2–0 away victory over Jagodina in the second leg of the Serbian Cup semi-final on 8 April 2015. Five days later, he scored his first league goal in a 3–1 away win over OFK Beograd. In total, he scored 5 goals in 16 appearances in all competitions during the 2014–15 season. On 25 July 2015, Šaponjić scored a brace in a 6–0 home league win over Jagodina. He scored his first international goal for Partizan with an overhead kick in a 2–1 home win over

BATE Borisov FC BATE Borisov (russian: link=no, ФК БАТЭ Борисов, ''FK BATE Borisov'' ; be, ФК БАТЭ Барысаў, ''BATE Barysaw,'' ) is a professional Belarusian football team from the city of Barysaw. The club competes in the Belarusi ...

in the return leg of the Champions League play-off round on 26 August 2015. This was the club's 100th victory in European football. He also scored both goals for Partizan in their 2–0 Serbian Cup win over Sinđelić Beograd on 28 October 2015.

Benfica

On 12 January 2016, Šaponjić signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with Portuguese champions Benfica and was immediately assigned to their reserve team. In July 2017, he was loaned out to Belgian club

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 ...

Atlético Madrid

On 11 July 2019, Šaponjić signed a three-year contract with

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

for an undisclosed fee, reported to be in region of 500 thousand euros. He made his debut on 23 January 2020, in a Copa del Rey clash against Cultural Leonesa. On 22 January 2021, Šaponjić joined fellow La Liga side Cádiz on loan until the end of the season. On 31 January 2021, he made his club debut in a 2–4 home league defeat against his contractual owners, Atlético Madrid.

Slovan Bratislava

In January 2022, Slovan Bratislava announced the signing of Šaponjić on a 3,5 year deal.

International career

Internationally, Šaponjić represented his homeland at various youth levels. He was the team's joint top scorer (alongside

Luka Jović Luka Jović ( sr-Cyrl, Лука Јовић; born 23 December 1997) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Fiorentina and the Serbia national team. Early life Jović was born in Loznica, FR Yugoslavia. He was rais ...

) with five goals in their unsuccessful qualification campaign for the 2014 UEFA Under-17 Championship. With three goals, Šaponjić was the team's joint top scorer (again with Jović) in their unsuccessful qualification campaign for the 2015 UEFA Under-19 Championship. Šaponjić was included in the final 21-man squad for the

. He scored an injury time equalizer against Hungary in the round of 16 on 10 June 2015, with Serbia eventually winning the game 2–1 after extra time. On 17 June 2015, he scored an extra time winning goal in the semi-final against Mali. He was the team's joint top scorer (alongside Nemanja Maksimović,

Staniša Mandić Staniša Mandić ( sr-cyr, Станиша Мандић; born 27 January 1995) is a Montenegrin professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serbian club Metalac Gornji Milanovac. He used to represent Serbia at Under-19 and Under-20 le ...

and

Andrija Živković Andrija Živković ( sr-Cyrl, Андрија Живковић, ; born 11 July 1996) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Greek Super League club PAOK and the Serbia national team. He is the youngest player ever to m ...

) with two goals, as Serbia eventually won the tournament.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

Partizan * Serbian SuperLiga: 2014–15 * Serbian Cup: Runner-up 2014–15 Slovan Bratislava *

Fortuna Liga The Slovak Super Liga is the top level football league in Slovakia, currently known as the Fortuna Liga due to a sponsorship arrangement. It was formed in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The record for most titles is eleven, ...

: 2021–22

International

Serbia * FIFA U-20 World Cup:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saponjic, Ivan 1997 births Living people People from Nova Varoš Footballers from Zlatibor District Serbian men's footballers Men's association football forwards FK Partizan players S.L. Benfica B players S.V. Zulte Waregem players Serbian SuperLiga players Atlético Madrid footballers Cádiz CF players ŠK Slovan Bratislava players Bandırmaspor footballers Liga Portugal 2 players Belgian Pro League players La Liga players Slovak First Football League players Serbia men's under-21 international footballers Serbia men's youth international footballers Serbian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey