Milan Ivanović ( Serbian Cyrillic: Милан Ивановић, ; born 21 December 1960 in Sivac, SR Serbia,

SFR 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 ...

) is a former

Serbian Australian Serbian Australians ( sr, / ), are citizens of Australia who fully, or partially identify as Serbian by birth or descent. In the 2021 census there were 94,997 people in Australia of Serbian ancestry, making it a significant group with the glob ...

football (soccer) player. He also played for Australian national team.

Club career

Ivanović started his career with a local club

Crvenka Crvenka () is a small town located in the municipality of Kula in the West Bačka District, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a Serbian ethnic majority, and it had a population of 9,001 in 2011. Name In Serbian, th ...

. After stints with Rudar Kostolac and

OFK Belgrade 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, ...

, he joined Red Star Belgrade in 1985. Ivanović played in a 1988 European Cup encounter against A.C. Milan. He emigrated to Australia and on arrival in 1989 he joined Adelaide City in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

. Nicknamed "The Doctor" for his ability to cut out the opposition's attacks and launch into an incisive midfield run, the classy, composed sweeper formed a formidable partnership with Alex Tobin that became the mainstay of the Adelaide City and Socceroo defence. That resulted in two national titles in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, cementing his legendary status. In 2007, Ivanović came out of retirement to play in the South Australian Premier League club, Northern Demons.

International career

Ivanović made his first international appearance for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1991. He captained Australia once, in a match against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on 15 February 1998, which also his last appearance for Australia. Ivanović made 59 international appearances for Australia. In 2000, he was selected as a member of the Australian "Team of the Century" by respondents to a worldwide

Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...

vote, beating Paul Okon into second place for a position in central defense.

Managerial career

Ivanović has coached at local level in South Australia, in both Federation and Amateur leagues. He has been in charge at both Enfield City and

White City White City may refer to: Places Australia * White City, Perth, an amusement park on the Perth foreshore * White City railway station, a former railway station * White City Stadium (Sydney), a tennis centre in Sydney * White City FC, a football clu ...

and saved the latter club from relegation in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. Currently Coaching U/19's at Croydon Kings (Polonia) Soccer Club in South Australia. He is now currently the Head Soccer coach at Scotch College Adelaide.

Honours

With

: *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

(Runners-Up) * OFC Nations Cup:

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

With Adelaide City: *

: 1991–1992, 1993–1994 * NSL Cup:

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, 1991–1992 Personal honours: *

FFA Hall of Fame The aims of the Football Australia Hall of Fame are to celebrate and highlight the achievements of retired players and other participants who have contributed significantly to the game. These are made up of either Australian and/or non-Austral ...

Inductee - 2003 *

Johnny Warren Medal The Johnny Warren Medal is awarded to the best player of the Australian national soccer club competition. It was first awarded in the National Soccer League in 1990, and upon the NSL's demise in November 2004, was carried forward into the new na ...

: 1990–1991 with Adelaide City *

Joe Marston Medal The Joe Marston Medal is an A-League award given to the player of the match in the A-League Grand Final each year. Introduced in 1990, previously the award was also given to the best player in the National Soccer League grand final. The medal i ...

: 1992–1993 with Adelaide City * RSSSF Australian Team of the Century: 2000

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivanovic, Milan 1960 births Living people People from Kula, Serbia Yugoslav emigrants to Australia Yugoslav First League players Australian soccer players Red Star Belgrade footballers OFK Beograd players FK Radnički Niš players Adelaide City FC players National Soccer League (Australia) players Men's association football defenders FK Beograd (Australia) players Campbelltown City SC players Australian people of Serbian descent Australia men's international soccer players 1996 OFC Nations Cup players 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players Yugoslav footballers Serbian footballers Sportspeople from Vojvodina Serb diaspora sportspeople Soccer players from Adelaide Australian sports coaches