Nenad Milijaš ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Милијаш, ; born 30 April 1983) is a retired

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 ...

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 ...

. He represented

at the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. Milijaš rose to prominence in his homeland with his first club

FK Zemun Fudbalski klub Zemun (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Земун) is a Serbian professional football club based in Zemun, Belgrade, that competes in the Serbian League Belgrade. History Immediately after the end of the Second ...

before moving to

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 ...

where he won league and cup honours. Decorated with individual awards for his performances at Red Star, he broke into the Serbian national side in 2008. He moved to England in 2009 when he signed for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

side

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

but returned to his former club three years later.

Club career

Zemun

Milijaš began his playing career in the youth ranks of Belgrade-based

, where he progressed through to make it into their first team in 2000. He really began to establish himself in the middle of the park during the 2001–02 season and was a vital player for the club over the following seasons. In 2005–06, he had his best goalscoring start to a season, netting eight times by Christmas. This attracted attention from the country's biggest club and local rival,

Red Star Belgrade

Following his continually impressive form for

, Milijaš signed for

in January 2006. He ended his first season with Belgrade by winning both the

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 ...

and

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 f ...

with his new club. He won both trophies again with Belgrade the following season. Milijaš found appearances restricted by then manager Dusan Bajević, but the arrival of Boško Djurovski as the club's new manager saw him gain more playing time and re-discover his form. He then held down a first team spot in central midfield for the following seasons, becoming a vital member of the team as they went close to more domestic honours and regularly competing in European competitions. Milijaš enjoyed his best season so far in 2008–09, finishing Red Star's top goalscorer with 18 league goals, 22 goals in all competitions, making him Serbian football's leading scorer in that season. He also won the league's ''Most Valuable Player Award'', was voted into the ''All Star Team'', named 2008–09 Serbian Superliga Player of the Year and broke into the

Serbia national football team The Serbia national football team ( sr, Фудбалска репрезентација Србије, Fudbalska reprezentacija Srbije) represents Serbia in men's international football competition. It is controlled by the Football Association ...

. This form attracted attention from various clubs in Europe.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Newly promoted Premier League side Wolves signed Milijaš on 15 June 2009 in a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £2.6 million. He made his debut in August 2009, in the club's 2–0 opening day defeat to

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...

, in which he was voted

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

' man of the match. Milijaš scored his first goal for Wolves with a long-distance strike to earn a 2–1 home win against

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

in December 2009; before netting a second and final goal for the season two weeks later, against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

. Milijaš made twenty appearances in the Premier League in the 2010–11 season, scoring twice. He also matched that tally in the League Cup, scoring two penalties, against

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

and

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

. In a 3–3 home draw against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

, Milijaš created two goals by assisting

Kevin Doyle Kevin Edward Doyle (born 18 September 1983) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a forward. He played for Wexford F.C. (formerly Wexford Youths), St Patrick's Athletic, and Cork City in his homeland before he moved to Eng ...

's opening goal, and then winning a penalty for a second Doyle goal. He also featured in the team's victory at Aston Villa as Wolves narrowly stayed up on the final day of the season. Milijaš made only sporadic appearances during the next season, but during November and December he enjoyed a run of starts in the team. However, this was halted when he was sent off in a 1–1 draw at Arsenal for a challenge on

Mikel Arteta Mikel Arteta Amatriain (born 26 March 1982) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player. He is the manager of club Arsenal. Arteta began his senior career at Barcelona in 1999 but limited playing time led to a loan to Paris ...

. Wolves made an appeal to have this red card rescinded, including a unique press conference by then-manager

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional football manager, pundit, and former player. He was last in charge of EFL Championship club Cardiff City. McCarthy began his playing career at Barnsley in 1977, and he later had ...

who showed slow motion replays from a number of angles, but the appeal was unsuccessful and the three-match ban was upheld. Following this dismissal he only made a number of substitute appearances in the final months as the club were relegated under caretaker manager

Terry Connor Terence Fitzroy Connor (born 9 November 1962) is an English former professional football player turned coach who is assistant manager at Blackpool. He was born in Leeds and was a pupil at Foxwood School, Seacroft, Leeds. As a player, Connor ...

. Following the appointment of

Ståle Solbakken Ståle Solbakken (born 27 February 1968) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Norway national team. During his playing career, Solbakken was named 1995 Norwegian midfielder of the year, and h ...

as Wolves manager during the close season, it was announced that Milijaš was available for transfer, having expressed a desire to play more regularly. On 30 August, his contract was cancelled by mutual consent to allow him to find a new club.

Return to Red Star Belgrade

On 31 August 2012, one day after his departure from Wolves, Milijaš rejoined his former club

when he signed a three-year deal. He scored his first goal against Radnički Kragujevac 1923 from a free kick. On 13 April 2013, he scored a hat-trick against

FK Spartak Zlatibor Voda Fudbalski klub Spartak Ždrepčeva Krv () is a professional football club from Subotica, Serbia, that plays in the Serbian SuperLiga. The club was founded in 1945 and was named after Jovan Mikić Spartak, the leader of the Partisans in Subotic ...

Hebei China Fortune

On 16 February 2015, Milijaš transferred to

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

side Hebei China Fortune.

Nei Mongol Zhongyou

On 14 February 2016, Milijaš transferred to fellow

side Nei Mongol Zhongyou.

Red Star Belgrade

On January 31, 2017, Milijaš rejoined his club Red Star for a third time. An avid Red Star fan, Milijaš once again proved loyalty to his club and fans. Milijaš signed one and a half year deal. On May 19, 2019, he played his last game for Red Star in a 3–0 win over

Napredak Napredak may refer to: * HKD Napredak, cultural society of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina *FK Napredak Kruševac, Serbian football club * FK Napredak Aleksinac, Serbian football club * FK Napredak Banatska Topola, Serbian football club *NK SAŠK N ...

. During his 9 years altogether in Red Star, Milijas played 170 matches, scored 49 goals and had 38 assists. He also won 4 trophies, all 4 being

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 ...

in 06/07, 13/14, 17/18 and 18/19 seasons.

International career

Milijaš represented Serbia and Montenegro at under-21 level, appearing in the side which made the semi finals of the 2006 European Under-21 Championship in Portugal. Milijaš made his full international debut for

on 6 September 2008, in a 2–0 win over the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

in a World Cup 2010 qualifier. He scored his first international goal in his fourth appearance, in a 6–1 rout of

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

in a friendly on 19 November 2008, then added his first competitive goal when he netted the winner from the penalty spot to defeat

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

1–0 on 6 June 2009. This qualification campaign ultimately saw the nation qualify for the

Finals in South Africa, with Milijaš a regular in central midfield, usually paired with captain Dejan Stanković. In June 2010, he was selected in Serbia's squad for the

, where he appeared in group stage match against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Serbia's goal tally first.''

Honours

;Club *

(5): 2005–06, 2006–07, 2013–14, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

(2): 2005–06, 2006–07 ;Individual *

: Player of the Season 2008–09 *

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 ...

: 2008–09

References

External links

* * * *
Player profile on Serbian National Team page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milijas, Nenad 1983 births Living people Footballers from Belgrade Serbian footballers Serbia international footballers Serbia and Montenegro under-21 international footballers FK Zemun players Red Star Belgrade footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Hebei F.C. players Inner Mongolia Zhongyou F.C. players Serbian SuperLiga players Premier League players China League One players Serbian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in China Association football midfielders 2010 FIFA World Cup players Red Star Belgrade non-playing staff