Ljubinko Drulović (; born 11 September 1968) is a Serbian former 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 played as a winger, and is a current

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. He spent the most notable part of his playing career in Portugal, with stints at

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

and Benfica – a combined ten seasons between the two clubs, winning 14 major titles with the former. He also had brief spells at

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 ...

as player and manager. Drulović represented the Yugoslavian national team in one

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and one European Championship, earning 38

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. He had brief spells as manager of his country and Macedonia, as well as coaching Serbia under-19 to the European title in

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Club career

Drulović was 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 ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

. After playing out his contract at FK Rad in the summer of 1992, he signed a two-year deal with Portuguese club Gil Vicente FC, but only remained there until December 1993, after which he moved to

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

also of the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

; between both teams, he finished the 1993–94 season with a career-best 18 goals. Drulović was one of very few players to have contributed to each of Porto's five consecutive titles during the 90s. He was mostly remembered at the side for his pin-point assists and ability to cross the ball, mainly to the head of

Mário Jardel Mário Jardel de Almeida Ribeiro (; born 18 September 1973) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was most noted for his positioning on the field and his heading ability. He was a legend for Grêmio, play ...

. In June 2001, already 33, Drulović joined

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional association football, football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese footba ...

. After a slow 2002–03 campaign, he returned home and signed with

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 ...

, being one of the side's most influential players as they reached the group stage 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 competit ...

. He moved back to Portugal a year later, finishing his career with F.C. Penafiel alongside former Porto teammate António Folha.

International career

Drulović made his debut for

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup A relationship breakup, breakup, or ...

on 28 December 1996, in a friendly with

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

played in

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a s ...

(3–2). He went on to play a further 37 times in the following five years, appearing for the nation at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

and

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

tournaments and contributing with one goal in the 3–3 group stage draw against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

and four assists in the latter as the country reached the quarter-finals.

Coaching career

Drulović began his coaching career with modest Portuguese club G.D. Tourizense, in 2006–07. At the season's closure, he obtained a professional licence. In early April 2008, Drulović became manager of

FK Banat Zrenjanin FK Banat Zrenjanin () was a football club based in Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, Serbia. History The club was founded in June 2006 by the merger of Budućnost Banatski Dvor and Proleter Zrenjanin. They started competing in the Serbian SuperLiga in the ...

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 ...

. As the fifth manager of the season – he replaced Žarko Soldo – he took over a team under relegation threat (eighth place out of 12), with eleven matches to go. Eventually, he could not help prevent them from dropping down a level after a 4–1 loss to

FK Vojvodina Fudbalski klub Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Војводина), commonly known as Vojvodina and colloquially as Voša ( sr-Cyrl, Воша), is a Serbian professional football club based in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, the second la ...

on 17 May. In June 2008, Drulović moved to

and signed with

NK Drava Ptuj Nogometni klub Drava Ptuj ( en, Drava Ptuj Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Drava Ptuj or simply Drava, was a Slovenian football club, which played in the town of Ptuj. Named after the Drava river which flows through the town, Drav ...

. Eighteen months later, he was appointed coach of C.D. Primeiro de Agosto of the Angolan

Girabola Girabola, or ''Campeonato Nacional de Futebol em Séniores Masculinos'', is the top division of Angolan football. It is organized by the Angolan Football Federation. The league winner and runner-up qualify for the CAF Champions League. Gira ...

. As manager of his country's under-19 team, Drulović won the 2013 UEFA European Championship in Lithuania with a shock 1–0 win over

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in the final. The following February, he became the senior team's

interim manager Interim management is the temporary provision of management resources and skills. Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight interim executive manager to manage a period of transition, crisis or change with ...

manager after

Siniša Mihajlović Siniša Mihajlović ( sr-Cyrl, Синиша Михајловић, ; 20 February 1969 – 16 December 2022) was a Serbian professional Footballer, football player and Football coach (association football), manager. During his career as a football ...

failed to make the year's World Cup. He led the team for four exhibition games before the appointment of

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former football player and coach who is currently the head coach of Eerste Divisie side ADO Den Haag. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a coach, including three sti ...

, starting with a 2–1 win away to the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

on 5 March. Drulović was named in charge of neighbours Macedonia on 23 April 2015. In five games before leaving for Partizan in October, he avoided defeat in only his last – a goalless draw away to

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

. His spell back at the reigning Serbian champions lasted only until 22 December, when he was dismissed from the fourth-placed team who were 26 points behind rivals

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 ...

Career statistics

Honours

Player

Porto *

: 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

: 1993–94, 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2000–01 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

: 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2001

Manager

1º de Agosto * Supertaça de Angola:

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Serbia U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

Individual * Serbian Coach of the Year: 2013

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Drulovic, Ljubinko 1968 births Living people People from Nova Varoš Yugoslav footballers Serbian footballers Association football wingers Yugoslav First League players Serbian SuperLiga players FK Sloboda Užice players FK Rad players FK Partizan players Primeira Liga players Gil Vicente F.C. players FC Porto players S.L. Benfica footballers F.C. Penafiel players Serbia and Montenegro international footballers 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players Serbian expatriate footballers Serbia and Montenegro expatriate footballers Serbia and Montenegro footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Serbian football managers FK Banat Zrenjanin managers FK Partizan managers C.D. Primeiro de Agosto managers Serbia national football team managers North Macedonia national football team managers Serbian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Portugal Expatriate football managers in Angola Expatriate football managers in Uzbekistan