Milan Ivanović (

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 ...

: Милан Ивановић, ; born 21 December 1960 in

Sivac Sivac () is a village located in the municipality of Kula, Serbia. The village has a Serb ethnic majority with a sizable Montenegrin minority, with its population numbering 7,895 inhabitants (as of 2011 census). History The existence of Sivac ...

SR Serbia , life_span = 1944–1992 , status = Constituent state of Yugoslavia , p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia , flag_p1 = Flag of German Reich (1935–1945).svg , p2 ...

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 gl ...

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player. He also played for

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

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 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 ...

in 1985. Ivanović played in a 1988 European Cup encounter against

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

. He emigrated to Australia and on arrival in 1989 he joined

Adelaide City Adelaide City Football Club is a soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club was known historically as Juventus — the original name given to the club by its founders in Adelaide's Italian community. Adelaide City is one of Aust ...

in the National Soccer League. 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 Alexander Hugh Tobin (born 3 November 1965) is a former Australian footballer. Tobin is the fifth-most capped player for the Australia national football team with 87 'A' appearances, including 30 as captain. He made his international debut on ...

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 The National Premier Leagues South Australia (often abbreviated to NPL South Australia or NPL SA) is a semi-professional football competition in the Australian state of South Australia. The league is a subdivision of the second tier National P ...

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 vote, beating

Paul Okon Paul Michael Okon (born 5 April 1972) is a former Australian soccer player. He has Belgian citizenship. He previously captained the Australian National Team and has represented Australia Olympic Football Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Ba ...

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 The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the OFC member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name ...

: 1996 With

: * National Soccer League: 1991–1992, 1993–1994 * NSL Cup: 1989, 1991–1992 Personal honours: * FFA Hall of Fame 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

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

RSSSF 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 ...

Australian Team of the Century: 2000

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivanovic, Milan 1960 births Living people People from Kula, Serbia Serbian 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 Association football defenders FK Beograd (Australia) players Campbelltown City SC players Australian people of Serbian descent Australia international soccer players 1996 OFC Nations Cup players 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players