Milan Borjan ( sr-cyr, Милан Борјан; born 23 October 1987) is a professional

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 who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

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 ...

and the Canadian national team.

Early life

Borjan was born on 23 October 1987 in

Knin Knin (, sr, link=no, Книн, it, link=no, Tenin) is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagr ...

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 ...

, to ethnic Serb parents Boško and Mirjana (née Jadrić). Borjan got his first taste of organized football in the town, playing with the Dinara Knin youth side. Borjan's family lived in Knin until

Operation Storm }) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory for the Croatian Army (HV), which attacked across a front against the self-declared proto-state R ...

in 1995, at which point his family fled to

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, and Borjan began playing soccer with

FK Radnički Beograd FK Radnički Beograd (Serbian Cyrillic: ФК Раднички Београд) is a Serbian football club based in New Belgrade. The club is often referred to as FK Radnički Novi Beograd, although the club is officially named simply as FK Radni ...

. In 2000, the family emigrated to Canada, first living in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

for a few months, before settling in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

where his parents still reside. He attended

Glendale Secondary School Glendale Secondary School is located at 145 Rainbow Drive in Hamilton, Ontario. The school was founded in 1959 and is a part of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. The school is located close to the Hamilton suburb of Stoney Creek, On ...

. He played youth soccer in Canada with East Hamilton SC for six months, before joining Mount Hamilton SC.

Club career

Early career

Borjan went on trial with

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

in 2005, but failed to sign a contract with the club. In 2006, he joined

Club Nacional de Football Club Nacional de Football (, ''National Football Club'' or simply as Nacional) is a Uruguayan professional sports club based in Montevideo. The club was founded on 14 May 1899 as a result of the merger between ''Uruguay Athletic Club'' and ''Mon ...

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Uruguay, playing for their youth team, and in July 2007, he went on trial with the Argentine club

Club Atlético River Plate Club Atlético River Plate, commonly known as River Plate, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Núñez, Buenos Aires, Núñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Founded in 1901, the club is named after the English name for the city ...

. His final South American stint was with

Quilmes Quilmes () is a city on the coast of the Río de la Plata, Rio de la Plata, in the , on the south east of the Greater Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1666 and it is the seat of the Quilmes Partido, eponymous county. With a population of 230 ...

, with whom he played from January 2008 through the end of the

2007–08 Primera B Nacional The 2007–08 Argentine Primera B Nacional was the 22nd season of second division professional football in Argentina. A total of 20 teams competed; the champion and runner-up were promoted to Argentine Primera División. Club information St ...

season.

Rad

Borjan returned to Serbia in January 2009, signing with the Belgrade

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 ...

club FK Rad. He initially had difficulty breaking into the team, signed as the third-string goalkeeper. However, due to trouble with the starting keeper's work permits, and an injury from the second string, Borjan soon became the only available goalkeeper on the club roster. He made his debut on 16 August 2009 in a 3–2 victory over

FK Smederevo Fudbalski klub Smederevo 1924 ( sr-cyr, Фудбалски клуб Смедерево 1924), commonly known as Smederevo, is a Serbian professional football club based in Smederevo. During Yugoslavia the club mainly played in amateur ranks of co ...

. By fall 2010, he was the starting keeper, with a nine-game winning streak. Under his tenure, FK Rad became fourth in the league, gaining them a berth in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds.

Sivasspor

Following an appearance in the

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the 21st CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's 50 years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition started on June ...

, Borjan joined the Turkish club

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Demir Grup Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department competes in Süper Lig, as of 201 ...

, and made his debut on 11 September 2011 in a 2–1 loss against Karabükspor.

Loan to Vaslui

Due to a lack of playing time in Turkey, Borjan was loaned to Romanian club

SC Vaslui CS Sporting Juniorul Vaslui (), commonly known as Sporting Vaslui, Juniorul Vaslui or simply as Vaslui, is a Romanian professional football club based in Vaslui, Vaslui County, founded in 2002 and re-founded in 2014. The club is currently playin ...

in a deal that would keep him in Romania through the end of the season, with an option to purchase the player for an undisclosed transfer fee. Borjan joined the club as the starting goalkeeper and played seven

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

games in 16 starts, securing Vaslui a spot 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 ...

Return to Sivasspor

After returning from a successful stint in Romania, Borjan returned to the starting lineup in the third match of the 2012–13 season in a 0–0 draw against Fenerbahçe on 2 September 2012. In February 2014, following a decrease in playing time under new manager

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his care ...

, Borjan's contract with Sivasspor was terminated. Speculation arose, after the termination, that a deal had been put in place for Borjan to join

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in June, as the

Turkish Football Association The Turkish Football Federation (; TFF) is the governing body of association football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined FIFA the same year and UEFA in 1962. It organizes the Turkey national football team, the Turkish Footba ...

blocked a January move.

Ludogorets Razgrad

Following reports that he had signed for

Bosnian Premier League The m:tel Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( bs, m:tel Premijer liga Bosne i Hercegovine / м:тел Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), also known as Liga 12, is the top tier football league in Bosnia and He ...

club

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

as a free agent, Borjan accepted an offer from Bulgarian club PFC Ludogorets Razgrad on 12 September 2014. The club had already qualified for the

2014–15 UEFA Champions League group stage The 2014–15 UEFA Champions League group stage was played from 16 September to 10 December 2014. A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the knockout phase of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League. Draw The draw w ...

, and four days after signing, Borjan made his club debut in a 2–1 Champions League away defeat to

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

That game marked the first time that a Canadian international played in the group stage since

Lars Hirschfeld Lars Justin Hirschfeld (born 17 October 1978) is a Canadian retired soccer goalkeeper. He is currently the goalkeeping coach for FC Edmonton. Club career Born in Edmonton, Alberta, of German descent, Hirschfeld started his career with the E ...

played with

Rosenborg BK Rosenborg Ballklub, commonly referred to simply as Rosenborg () or RBK, is a Norwegian professional football club from Trondheim that plays in Eliteserien. The club has won a record 26 league titles, a shared record 12 Norwegian Football Cup ti ...

in 2007. Razgrad released Borjan shortly thereafter, having secured first-choice goalkeeper

Vladislav Stoyanov Vladislav Boykov Stoyanov ( bg, Владислав Бойков Стоянов; born 8 June 1987) is a Bulgarian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Stoyanov began his youth career with Metalurg Pernik before transferring to CSKA Sof ...

through the summer of 2015.

Radnički Niš

Spurning interest from Sarajevo, Borjan signed a one-year contract with SuperLiga club

FK Radnički Niš Fudbalski klub Radnički (), commonly known as Radnički Niš ( sr-cyr, Раднички Ниш), is a professional football club based in ok Niš, Serbia. Its name means ''Labourers'' in Serbian and stems from the relationship with the Labour ...

on 15 February 2015. Due to his Serbian passport, Borjan did not count as a foreigner while playing at Radnički. He debuted in a 0–0 draw against

on 23 February, the first of three clean sheets in a row.

Return to Ludogorets Razgrad

Borjan turned down a contract to return to Radnički, instead returning to the

Bulgarian A Football Group The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

of Ludogorets, where he signed a three-year deal on 2 June 2015. Although he was signed as the second-string goalkeeper, Borjan began to start after Stoyanov sustained a major injury.

Loan to Corona Kielce

On 15 February 2017, Borjan was loaned to the

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

club

Korona Kielce Korona Kielce, , (Korona – ''Crown'' – symbol of club and city, Kielce – name of city where club is based) is a Polish football club, which will compete in Ekstraklasa in the 2022–23 season. In the years 2002–08 the club ...

through the end of the season, where he made 14 league appearances and five clean sheets.

Red Star Belgrade

Three years after rumors of a transfer to Red Star Belgrade, Borjan made the transfer official, replacing Filip Manojlović on 24 July 2017. Borjan signed a three-year contract with the club and chose the jersey number 82. He made his debut in the first leg of the third qualifying round for the

2017–18 UEFA Europa League The 2017–18 UEFA Europa League was the 47th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 9th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2018 UEFA Europ ...

, keeping a clean sheet in a home victory against

Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...

on 27 July 2017. He played his first eternal derby with the club a month later. In his second season with the club, Borjan would help Red Star qualify for the

2018–19 UEFA Champions League The 2018–19 UEFA Champions League was the 64th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 27th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. For the first tim ...

, and would earn two clean sheets: once in the group stage opener against Napoli, and again in a 2–0 home win against Liverpool. In February 2019,

Zvezdan Terzić Zvezdan Terzić (Serbian Cyrillic: Звездан Терзић; born 21 May 1966) is a Serbian football administrator and former player. He currently serves as the general director for Red Star Belgrade of the Serbian SuperLiga. Immediately af ...

announced that Borjan would sign a contract extension until 2023, and would finish his career after that. He was honoured by Red Star shortly after as the club athlete of the year. On 23 May 2022 Borjan notably scored a penalty for Red Star in their final game of the

2021–22 Serbian SuperLiga The 2021–22 Serbian SuperLiga will be the 16th season of the Serbian SuperLiga since its establishment in 2006. Red Star are the defending champions, having won their 7th SuperLiga and 32nd domestic title in the previous season. Start and end ...

against

Voždovac Voždovac ( sr-cyr, Вождовац, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2011 census results, the municipality has a population of 158,213 inhabitants. The municipality is located in the south-central part of the urban ...

, as the club clinched their fifth-straight title. In July 2022, despite earlier talk of retirement after his current deal ended, Borjan signed a contract extension until 2026.

International career

Borjan was called to join the Canada national team in 2010, following strong performances with FK Rad. He was called up to the Canadian senior team on 3 February 2011, and made his team debut in an

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against Greece a week later. That summer, Borjan was called up to the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup roster, making his Gold Cup debut on 11 June 2011 in a 1–0 victory over

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

Raymond James Stadium Raymond James Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Tampa, Florida that opened in 1998 and is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) and the University of South Florida (USF) Bulls college football program. The se ...

. He also recorded his first national team game on home soil at

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is home to Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Constructed on the site of the former Exhibit ...

on 1 June 2011 in an exhibition against

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

that ended in a 2–2 draw. Due to the suspension of first choice goalkeeper

, Borjan started in the 0:0 home draw against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

in a

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

qualifier on 12 June 2012. Since the end of 2012, Borjan has been Canada's starting goalkeeper, named to the final squad in the

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 ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, and

2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 15th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was primarily hosted in th ...

. He earned his first red card for Canada on 11 June 2015 in a 2018 World Cup qualifying match, handling the ball outside the box after a mistake from

Julian de Guzman Julian Bobby de Guzman (born March 25, 1981) is a Canadian soccer executive and former professional player and coach. De Guzman was the first Canadian to play in the Spanish La Liga. While playing in Spain, he was voted 2007–08 Deportivo La ...

. Borjan remained Canada's starting goalkeeper for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. During this campaign, he played a crucial role in one of Canada's best ever results, making a goal-line save to keep Canada in the lead during stoppage time in a 2-1 victory over Mexico in Edmonton, Canada's first win against Mexico in 21 years. He also kept a clean sheet against the United States in a 2–0 victory in

, after which he was named by

Canada Soccer The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ...

as Canada's player of the month for January. On November 13, 2022, Borjan was named to Canada's squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

Personal life

Borjan is married to Snežana Filipović, a former marketing director of

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 ...

and sister of Nenad Filipović. He has a younger brother, Nikola, who is also a goalkeeper in the Red Star system.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

SC Vaslui *

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

runner-up: 2011–12 Ludogorets *

Bulgarian First League The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16 Red Star Belgrade *

: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, 2021–22 *

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 ...

, 2021–22 Individual *

Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season The Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season is an annual award given to a set of 11 footballers in the top tier of Serbian football, the SuperLiga, who are seen to be the best 11 players of the calendar season. Winners 2008–09 Source 2009–10 ...

: 2018–19

References

External links

* *
Milan Borjan stats
at Utakmica.rs * {{DEFAULTSORT:Borjan, Milan 1987 births Living people Association football goalkeepers Sportspeople from Knin Canadian soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Serbian footballers Serbs of Croatia Yugoslav Wars refugees Refugees in Serbia Serb diaspora sportspeople Naturalized citizens of Canada Naturalized citizens of Serbia Serbian people of Croatian descent Canadian people of Serbian descent Canadian people of Croatian descent Canadian expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in Uruguay Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay Expatriate footballers in Argentina Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Expatriate footballers in Turkey Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Bulgaria Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Expatriate footballers in Poland Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Club Nacional de Football players Boca Juniors footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Quilmes Atlético Club footballers FK Rad players Sivasspor footballers FC Vaslui players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players FK Radnički Niš players Korona Kielce players Red Star Belgrade footballers Serbian SuperLiga players Süper Lig players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Ekstraklasa players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players