Miljan Mrdaković (, ; 6 May 1982 – 22 May 2020) was a

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

n 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 played as a striker. A

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

, he played for 20 clubs across ten countries and scored 150 goals in all competitions. He also represented

at the 2008 Olympics.

Club career

Mrdaković was born in

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...

Socialist Federal Republic of 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 Yu ...

. After starting out at

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 ...

and

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 ...

he moved to Belgian club R.S.C. Anderlecht at the age of 16, playing for their youth and reserve teams before going on loan to fellow

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 te ...

side

S.C. Eendracht Aalst SC Eendracht Aalst is a Belgian football club based in Aalst, East Flanders. History During World War I, citizens from Aalst played football matches to raise money for prisoners of war. In 1919 Sport-Club Eendracht Aalst became an official f ...

in early 2002. Subsequently, Mrdaković returned to his homeland and signed with

OFK Beograd 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 Karaburm ...

on a free transfer. He was his team's top scorer in the 2002–03 season and third overall with 20 league goals, and in August 2003 transferred back to Belgium by joining K.A.A. Gent on a four-year contract. He left by mutual agreement in April 2004, then spent a further one and a half years with OFK. In early 2005, Mrdaković signed with

SV Austria Salzburg SV Austria Salzburg is an Austrian professional football club, based in the city of Salzburg. The club was formed in 2005 by some supporters of the original SV (Austria) Salzburg after it was renamed FC Red Bull Salzburg by its new owners, who al ...

. Six months later, he left for

FC Metalist Kharkiv Football Club Metalist Kharkiv ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб Металі́ст Ха́рків ) is a Ukrainian football club based in Kharkiv that plays in the Ukrainian First League during the 2021–22 season. It was revived 5 year ...

of the

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( uk, "Українська Прем'єр-ліга", ''Ukrayinska Premier Liha'') or UPL is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Vyshcha Liha ( uk, Вища ліга, ''Top League' ...

and, in August 2006, was acquired by Israeli side

Maccabi Tel Aviv FC Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל מכבי תל אביב; ''Moadon Kaduregel Maccabi Tel Aviv'') is an Israeli football club from Tel Aviv and part of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Sport Club. Founded in 1906 in Jaffa a ...

. During his spell at the latter, he scored eight times across all competitions. After spending the 2007–08 campaign in the Portuguese Primeira Liga with

Vitória de Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória ...

, Mrdaković plied his trade in the

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional association ...

with Shandong Luneng Taishan FC. In July 2009, he agreed to a two-year deal at

Apollon Limassol FC Apollon Limassol FC ( el, Απόλλων Λεμεσού, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Divis ...

. He failed to make an immediate impact, being loaned to fellow

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

club

Ethnikos Achna FC Ethnikos Achna Football Club ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Εθνικός Άχνας), commonly known as Ethnikos Achna, or simply Ethnikos, is a Cypriot football club based in the village of Achna. Founded in 1968, the club current ...

the following

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...

. Mrdaković returned to the

Tsirio Stadium The Tsirio Stadium ( el, Τσίρειο Στάδιο) is an all-seater multi-purpose stadium in Limassol, Cyprus. The stadium holds 13,331 people and is mostly used for football matches. It was the home ground of the three biggest clubs in Limas ...

for

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, netting a career-best 21 goals to lead all players. In June 2011, he signed with AEK Larnaca FC on a three-year contract. He scored seven times in the league during his tenure, leaving in February 2012. In early 2012, Mrdaković rejoined the Chinese top flight with Jiangsu Sainty FC. He returned to Cyprus shortly after, joining

Enosis Neon Paralimni FC Enosis Neon Paralimni Football Club ( el, Ένωση Νέων Παραλιμνίου, ''Enosi Neon Paralimniou'', "Youth Union of Paralimni"), commonly referred to as ENP, is a Cypriot football team from Paralimni. Currently playing in the fir ...

. After a few months in the Super League Greece with

Veria FC Veria ( el, Βέροια or Βέρροια), officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Berea or Berœa, is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of I ...

, Mrdaković moved to

Tampines Rovers FC Tampines Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Tampines, Singapore, that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of Singapore football league system. Founded in 1945, the club have won the national league ...

of Singapore in January 2014 as their

marquee player A marquee player is an athlete who is considered exceptionally popular, skilled, or otherwise outstanding, especially in professional sports. Its name comes from theater marquees, on which the names of the stars of productions in said theater ar ...

. He scored 25 goals overall, helping his team win two cup titles ( Charity Shield in February and

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

July July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the fourth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., it being the mont ...

). In February 2015, Mrdaković returned to Greece and signed with Levadiakos FC. He joined

FK Vojvodina Fudbalski klub Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Војводина), commonly known as Vojvodina and colloquially as Voša ( sr-Cyrl, Воша), is a Serbian professional football club based in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, the second l ...

on a one-year deal in June, scoring twice in the qualifying rounds of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

as the side progressed to the play-off round. Mrdaković returned to OFK Beograd on 19 January 2017, stating his intention to retire at the club.

International career

Mrdaković represented

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yug ...

at the 2001 UEFA European Under-18 Championship. He was also capped for the national under-21 team, but saw little action due to a conflict with

Vladimir Petrović Vladimir Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Владимир Петровић, ; born 1 July 1955) is a Serbian football manager and former player. He is widely known domestically by his nickname Pižon ( sr, Пижон), after the French for ''pigeon''. ...

. In July 2008, Mrdaković was additionally called up by

Miroslav Đukić Miroslav Đukić ( sr-cyr, Мирослав Ђукић, ; born 19 February 1966) is a Serbian former footballer who played as a sweeper, and a manager. He spent 14 years of his professional career in Spain, notably at the service of Deportivo ...

to the Serbia squad for the 2008 Summer Olympics. He was one of the three overage players alongside Aleksandar Živković and

Vladimir Stojković Vladimir Stojković (, ; born 28 July 1983) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays for Saudi club Al-Fayha as a goalkeeper. During his career he played for the two biggest clubs in his country, Red Star and Partizan, but also represent ...

. He appeared in all three group stage matches, scoring in the 4–2 loss against Ivory Coast. Mrdaković received his first call-up to a full Serbia squad in May 2011, when Petrović selected him for two friendlies in Asia and Oceania. However, he missed the mini tour due to an injury picked up in a training session.

Death

Mrdaković died by suicide in the

Zvezdara Zvezdara ( sr-cyr, Звездара, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. The municipality is geographically hilly and with many forests. According to the 2011 census results, the municipality has a population of 148,014 inhabitants. The ...

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

of Belgrade on 22 May 2020, aged 38.

Career statistics

Honours

Shandong Luneng *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Tampines Rovers *

Singapore League Cup The Singapore League Cup was an annual soccer competition in Singapore. It was launched in 2007, and was open to teams who play in the S.League. The 2007 competition was sponsored by SingTel, and officially titled the SingTel League Cup. Eight of ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* Singapore Charity Shield:

Individual *

top scorer:

References

External links