Nemanja Pejčinović (, ; born 4 November 1987) is a Serbian former 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 centre-back. A former Serbia U21 international, Pejčinović made three appearances for

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 ...

at full level between 2008 and 2016. In 2019, he was granted Russian citizenship.

Club career

Career in Serbia

Born in Kragujevac, Pejčinović started out at hometown club Radnički. He was snapped up by Rad in 2003, alongside

Nenad Tomović Nenad Tomović (; born 30 August 1987) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Cypriot First Division club AEK Larnaca. A former Serbian Olympian and U21 international, Tomović made 22 appearances for Serbia at full l ...

. In the summer of 2005, Pejčinović was promoted to the first-team squad and given the number 33 shirt for the upcoming 2005–06 campaign. He made one league appearance during his first senior season, as the club suffered relegation to the second tier. In 2006, Pejčinović also captained the under-19 team that won the double (league and cup). He subsequently played 19 matches in the

2006–07 Serbian First League The 2006–07 Serbian First League (referred to as the Prva Liga Telekom Srbija for sponsorship reasons) was the second season of the league under its current title. League table Playoffs 3rd to 6th place playoffs Promotion playoffs Top sco ...

, helping the side reach the promotion playoffs. In June 2007, Pejčinović was transferred to

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 ...

side

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 ...

. He failed to make his official debut for the club, before being loaned back to Rad in February 2008. Until the end of the

2007–08 Serbian First League The 2007–08 Serbian First League (referred to as the Prva Liga Telekom Srbija for sponsorship reasons) was the third season of the league under its current title. League table Playoffs 3rd to 6th place playoffs Promotion playoffs Relegati ...

, Pejčinović scored once in 16 games and helped the club earn promotion to the top flight through the playoffs. He subsequently signed with Rad on a permanent basis. In the 2009 winter transfer window, Pejčinović 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 ...

on loan until the end of the season.

Germany and France

In July 2009, Pejčinović was loaned to German side Hertha BSC with an option to buy. He made 25 appearances in all competitions, including 16 games in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

, failing to help the club avoid relegation from the top flight. In July 2010, Pejčinović moved to France and joined

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

, initially on a season-long loan, which became a permanent deal in December of that year. He made 100 appearances and scored six times in Ligue 1 over the next four seasons. In June 2014, it was announced that Pejčinović would be leaving the club after his contract expires.

Russia and China

On 11 June 2014, Pejčinović signed a long-term contract with Russian club

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three oc ...

. He was a regular member of the team that won the

2017–18 Russian Premier League The 2017–18 Russian Premier League was the 26th season of the premier football competition in Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the 15th under the current Russian Premier League name. Spartak Moscow came into the season as th ...

, their first championship title after 14 years. Previously, Pejčinović won two Russian Cups ( 2014–15 and 2016–17). In July 2018, Pejčinović signed for Chinese club Changchun Yatai on a free transfer. The club suffered relegation from 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 ...

at the end of the 2018 season. In October 2020, Pejcinovic signed with

Russian Football National League The Russian First League (russian: Первая лига, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division (russian: Первый дивизион) and Russian Football National League (FNL) (russian: Первенство Футбольн� ...

club

Fakel Voronezh FC Fakel Voronezh (russian: Футбольный клуб "Факел" Воронеж) is a Soviet and Russian professional football club based in Voronezh. Founded in 1947, the club has played in the Soviet Top League and the Russian Premier Le ...

on a one-year contract. After his contract expired the following year, he signed another deal with the club on 31 August 2021, this time until June 2022.

International career

Serbia

Pejčinović represented

at the

2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship began on 15 June 2009, and was the 17th UEFA European Under-21 Championship. This was the first tournament after the competition reverted to a two-year format, following the single-year 2006–07 compe ...

. He made his full international debut for

on 14 December 2008, coming on as a substitute in a 1–0 friendly loss against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Antalya la, Attalensis grc, Ἀτταλειώτης , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 07xxx , area_code = (+90) 242 , registration_plate = 07 , blank_name = Licence plate ...

, as the team was made up of mainly domestic-based players. In May 2014, Pejčinović received a call-up to the squad by caretaker

Ljubinko Drulović Ljubinko Drulović (; born 11 September 1968) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a winger, and is a current manager. He spent the most notable part of his playing career in Portugal, with stints at Porto and Benfica – ...

ahead of Serbia's mini tour in the Americas, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 win over

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Harrison, New Jersey Harrison is a town in the western part of Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is a suburb of the nearby city of Newark, New Jersey, and is located from New York City. As of the 2 ...

Request to change teams

In April 2019, Pejčinović was granted Russian citizenship. In October 2020, he stated that since he had not been called up to the Serbia national team for three years, he wanted to request permission to be called up for the Russia national team.

Statistics

Club

International

Honours

;Lokomotiv Moscow *

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

: 2017–18 * Russian Cup: 2014–15, 2016–17 *

Russian Super Cup The Russian Super Cup () is a one-match football annual competition. Its official sponsored name is ''OLIMPBET Russian Supercup'' (). The two participating clubs are the Russian Premier League champions and the Russian Cup winners. If the Premie ...

: Runner-up 2015,

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 s ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pejcinovic, Nemanja 1987 births Living people Footballers from Kragujevac Men's association football defenders Bundesliga players Changchun Yatai F.C. players Chinese Super League players Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Russia FC Lokomotiv Moscow players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players FK Rad players Hertha BSC players Ligue 1 players OFK Beograd players OGC Nice players Red Star Belgrade footballers FC Fakel Voronezh players Russian Premier League players Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbia men's international footballers Serbia men's under-21 international footballers Serbian expatriate men's footballers Serbian expatriate sportspeople in China Serbian expatriate sportspeople in France Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Naturalised citizens of Russia Serbian First League players Serbian men's footballers Serbian SuperLiga players