Mijat Gaćinović (, ; born 8 February 1995) 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 ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Greek Super League 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 ...

club

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

and the Serbia national team.

Club career

Vojvodina

Gaćinović was born in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

while his father

Vladimir Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

played for

FK Bečej FK or fk may refer to: In arts and entertainment: * Flyer Killer, fictional automated robots in the ''Terminator'' film franchise. * Fox Kids, a former American children's television programming block. * Funky Kong, a video game character. Place: ...

. His family is from

Trebinje Trebinje ( sr-Cyrl, Требиње, ) is a city and municipality located in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the southernmost city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is situated on the banks of Trebišnjica river in the re ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, where Gaćinović returned when his father finished his career. He started to play football at Leotar, before joining the youth academy of

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

. He made his first team debut under manager Nebojša Vignjević on 19 March 2013, coming off the bench as a substitute for

Miroslav Vulićević Miroslav Vulićević (; born 29 May 1985) is a retired Serbian professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career Early years Vulićević began playing football at Kosmet Leposavić, before moving to Bane. He made his debut for their ...

in a 3–0 home win over Donji Srem. On 18 May 2013, Gaćinović scored his first senior goal in a 3–2 home league victory over Radnički Niš. After already establishing his place in the starting lineup, Gaćinović helped Vojvodina win the

2013–14 Serbian Cup The 2013–14 Serbian Cup season is the eighth season of the Serbian national football tournament. The competition will start on 4 September 2013 and concludes with the Final on 7 May 2014. The winner of the competition will qualify for the 2014 ...

in the club's centennial year. He was named the team's captain in early 2015, eventually becoming their top league scorer in the 2014–15 season, netting 11 goals.

Eintracht Frankfurt

In the summer of 2015, Gaćinović moved to Germany and signed with

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

. He made his official debut for the club on 28 November 2015, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–2 away league loss against

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

. On 19 May 2016, Gaćinović scored the equalizer in the first leg of the 2015–16 Bundesliga relegation playoffs against

Nürnberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ci ...

, before assisting the only goal in the return leg away to keep his club in the top flight.

Hoffenheim

On 4 August 2020, Gaćinović signed for

Hoffenheim Hoffenheim () is a village in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Sinsheim and, as of 2020, it has a population of 3,191. History The village, settled since prehistoric times, and first mentioned ...

as part of a swap deal, with

Steven Zuber Steven Zuber (born 17 August 1991) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a winger for Greek Super League club AEK Athens and the Switzerland national team. Early life Steven Zuber was born on 17 August 1991 in Winterthur, Zürich, Sw ...

going to Frankfurt. He put pen to paper on a 4-year contract.

Loan to Panathinaikos

On 31 January 2022, in the last day of winter transfer window,

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

completed the loan signing of Gaćinović, until the summer of 2022.

AEK Athens

On 28 June 2022, Gaćinović signed a 4-year contract with

International career

Gaćinović played for

at the Under-17 level, before eventually choosing to represent

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 ...

at the Under-19 level. He was a member of the team that won the 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. Furthermore, Gaćinović scored an equalizer against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in the 85th minute of the semi-final. He also appeared at the

2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 13th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship since its reclassification from an under-18 event in 2002, and the 63rd since the tournament was created in 1948. Hungary was chosen to ho ...

. Subsequently, Gaćinović represented

at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, winning the gold medal. He debuted for the senior national team on 24 March 2017 against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, replacing

Filip Kostić Filip Kostić (, ; born 1 November 1992) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a left midfielder or left wing-back for Serie A club Juventus and the Serbia national team. Club career Radnički Kragujevac Kostić made his senior ...

in the 81st minute, and scored the third goal for Serbia in the 86th minute. In May 2018 he was named in Serbia’s preliminary squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Russia, but he wasn't selected for the final squad.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''As of match played 2 September 2017''

Honours

Club

Vojvodina *

Serbian Cup The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије, Kup Srbije) is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. From 2006 to 2010, the competition was known as the Lav Cup ...

: 2013–14 Eintracht Frankfurt *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

: 2017–18 Panathinaikos *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

: 2021–22

International

Serbia * UEFA Under-19 Championship:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

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 ...

Individual

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 ...

Team of the Season: 2013–14, 2014–15 ;Orders * Medal of Merit (

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Feder ...

)

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gacinovic, Mijat 1995 births Living people Association football midfielders Serbian footballers Serbia youth international footballers Serbia under-21 international footballers Serbia international footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina youth international footballers Bundesliga players Eintracht Frankfurt players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players FK Vojvodina players Panathinaikos F.C. players AEK Athens F.C. players Serbian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Greece Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Serbian SuperLiga players Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Footballers from Novi Sad Super League Greece players People from Trebinje