Milinko Pantić (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Милинко Пантић, born 5 September 1966) is a Serbian retired

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 ...

and current manager.

Playing career

Pantić spent the first six seasons of his professional career 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 ...

between 1985 and 1991. He then moved on to Greek

Alpha Ethniki The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

league where he played until 1995 for

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

side

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

. At almost 29 years of age, he was brought to

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 ...

by their new coach

Radomir Antić Radomir Antić ( sr-Cyrl, Радомир Антић, ; 22 November 1948 – 6 April 2020) was a Serbian professional football manager and player. Following a 17-year playing career as a defender, most of which he spent playing at Partizan, wit ...

who knew Pantić well from his Partizan days. The move turned out to be a hit as Pantić's creative midfield presence provided the extra edge to Atlético side that won the double (

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

and

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

) in the 1995–96 season. Pantić contributed with 10 goals in 41 appearances, including the winner in the 1996 Copa del Rey Final, and countless assists. In the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League he scored five goals, finishing as the top-scorer of the tournament (to this date he is the only

player to achieve this). He spent two more seasons in Madrid with a total of 18 goals in 106 matches in his career there. He moved to

Le Havre AC Le Havre Athletic Club (; commonly referred to as Le Havre) is a French association football club based in Le Havre, Normandy. The club was founded as an athletics and rugby club in 1872, making Le Havre AC the oldest professional French foo ...

during summer 1998 for a season. In the summer of 1999, Pantić transferred back to Panionios where he spent the last year of his playing career. He earned two caps for the FR Yugoslavia national team in 1996.

Coaching career

Pantić went back to

as a coach in Atletico's youth system, working with kids 3 to 9 years of age in the club's training facility in

Majadahonda Majadahonda () is a municipality in Spain, situated northwest of Madrid, in the Community of Madrid. It lies alongside the motorway A6 Madrid-A Coruña. The Puerta de Hierro university (public) hospital was relocated to Majadahonda from the wes ...

. From there he moved up the ranks coaching different youth squads. He became head of the youth and developing squads at the club while managing certain squads at the same time. During the summer of 2011 Pantić became coach of

Atlético Madrid B Atlético de Madrid B is a Spanish football team based in Madrid, in the community of Madrid. Founded on 17 September 1963, it is the reserve team of Atlético Madrid and currently plays in Segunda Federación – Group 5. They play their home ...

(Atlético Madrid reserve squad) after his great success with the youth and developing squads at the club and after just about missing out on being coach of the first team. He also plays for Atlético Madrid's Indoor-Soccer team, competing in the veteran league which comprises nine clubs that have won the La Liga title throughout history. Pantić was appointed as manager of

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League ( az, Azərbaycan Premyer Liqası) is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Azerbaijan football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is conteste ...

team

FC Baku FC Baku ( az, "Bakı" Futbol Klubu) is an Azerbaijani football club based in Baku that has been an amateur club since 2016. Prior to that, Baku played 18 seasons in the Azerbaijan Premier League, winning the championship twice and earning the Nat ...

in June 2013, little over a year later, 24 July 2014, Pantić left the club by mutual consent. On 5 July 2016, Pantić was announced as the head coach of China League One team Dalian Yifang.

Accolades

Paul Lambert Paul Lambert (born 7 August 1969) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Ipswich Town. Lambert played as a midfielder and won the Scottish Cup in 1987 with St Mirren as a 17-year-ol ...

in naming the best one to eleven he played against named Pantic as the direct opponent who gave him his most difficult time during Lambert's playing career.

Honours

Partizan *

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League ( Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

: 1985-86, 1986-87 *

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп на Југославија), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Kup kralja Aleksandra, ...

: 1988-89 *

Yugoslav Super Cup The Yugoslav Super Cup was an annual football match played between the title holders of the Yugoslav First League and Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп ...

: 1989 Atlético de Madrid *

: 1995–96 *

: 1995–96 Individual * UEFA Champions League Top Scorer: 1996–97

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pantic, Milinko 1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Loznica Yugoslav footballers Serbian footballers Association football midfielders Serbia and Montenegro international footballers FK Partizan players Panionios F.C. players Atlético Madrid footballers Le Havre AC players Yugoslav First League players Super League Greece players La Liga players Ligue 1 players UEFA Champions League top scorers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Spain Serbian expatriate footballers Serbia and Montenegro expatriate footballers Serbia and Montenegro footballers Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Greece Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in France Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Greece Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Serbian expatriate sportspeople in China NK Olimpija Ljubljana (1945–2005) players Atlético Madrid B managers FC Baku managers Expatriate football managers in Azerbaijan Expatriate football managers in China Serbian football managers