Nikola Lazetić (; born 9 February 1978) is a Serbian former

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 le ...

who played as a winger.

Club career

Born in

Titova Mitrovica Mitrovica ( sq-definite, Mitrovicë; sr-cyrl, Митровица) or Kosovska Mitrovica ( sr-cyrl, Косовска Митровица) is a city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality located in Kosovo. Settled on the banks of Ibar River, ...

, Lazetić started out at his hometown club Trepča. He was later discovered by

Tomislav Milićević Tomislav Milićević (; born 29 September 1940) is a former Yugoslav and Serbian Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Playing career Milićević started out at FK Napredak Kruševac, Napredak ...

who brought him 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 ...

. In December 1995, Lazetić made his league debut for the club in a 5–1 home win over

Proleter Zrenjanin Fudbalski klub Proleter Zrenjanin () is a football club from the city of Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, Serbia. History Early period Soon after World War II, the club almost achieved promotion to the Yugoslav Second League after finishing top of the ...

. He made three more appearances in the second half of the 1995–96 season. In the summer of 1996, Lazetić was loaned to Budućnost Valjevo, before returning to Red Star in the second part of the 1996–97 season. He also played on dual registration for Hajduk Beograd during the spring of 1997. In the summer of 1998, Lazetić signed a contract with

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

, helping them reach the

1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals were won by Valencia, Werder Bremen, and Bologna. All three teams advanced to the UEFA Cup. The 1998 tournament saw Spanish clubs debut in the competition and also the return of English clubs, since the controve ...

final. He subsequently moved to

Obilić Obiliq, ) or Obilić ( sr-cyr, Обилић, ), also referred to as Kastriot ( sq-definite, Kastrioti, ) is a town and municipality in Kosovo. According to the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS) estimate from the 2011 census, there were 21,549 peo ...

in a controversial transfer during the winter of 1999, spending the next year and a half at the club. After his retirement, he confirmed that he had been brought to Obilić against his will. In May 2000, Lazetić was sold to Turkish club Fenerbahçe for an undisclosed fee. He helped them win the league in his debut season, contributing with five goals in 30 appearances. In his

second year Second year (also known as S2 in Scotland) is the second year of schooling in secondary schools in Scotland and in the Republic of Ireland, and is roughly equivalent to Year 9 in England and Wales and Year 10 (Third Form) in Northern Ireland. Mos ...

, Lazetić appeared in 16 league games and scored once, as the team finished runners-up to

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

. In June 2002, Lazetić moved to Italy and joined

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

newcomers

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

. He was loaned to

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...

three months later, without making his debut for Como. In January 2003, Lazetić's rights were transferred to

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

until the end of the season. In July 2003, Lazetić joined fellow Serie A club

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

on a season-long loan from Como. He was subsequently sold to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

side

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, but remained on loan at Siena. In August 2005, Lazetić signed a two-year contact with Serie A club

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

. He later moved to Serie B side

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

in January 2006, helping them win promotion to the top flight. Afterwards, Lazetić spent two more seasons at the club. In August 2008, Lazetić returned to Serbia and joined his parent club

, signing a two-year contract. He captained the side that won the

2009–10 Serbian Cup The 2009–10 Serbian Cup season was the fourth season of the Serbian national football tournament. The competition started on 2 September 2009 and ended with the Final on 5 May 2010. The defending champions are FK Partizan. Red Star Belgrade wo ...

. In June 2010, Lazetić left the club after failing to agree to a contract extension. In August 2010, Lazetić signed a one-year deal with his former club

. He helped the team reach the

2010–11 Serbian Cup The 2010–11 Serbian Cup season is fifth season of the Serbian national football tournament. The competition started on 1 September 2010 and concluded with the Final on 11 May 2011. FK Partizan won the title 2–1 over FK Vojvodina in controversi ...

final, before leaving at the end of his contract.

International career

At international level, Lazetić was capped 25 times and scored once for

Serbia and Montenegro 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 Yu ...

(formerly known as FR Yugoslavia) between 1998 and 2003.

Post-playing career

In June 2019, Lazetić was appointed as

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

Personal life

Lazetić is the older brother of fellow former footballer

Žarko Lazetić Žarko Lazetić (; born 22 February 1982) is a Serbian football manager and former player. Playing career In December 2006, it was announced that Lazetić agreed to join Partizan from Bežanija in the January transfer window, along with his tea ...

. He appeared as the main protagonist in popular Serbian folk singer Svetlana Ceca Ražnatović's video 'Red' in which he portrayed a mobster.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

;Red Star Belgrade *

FR Yugoslavia Cup The Serbia and Montenegro Cup was an association football knockout cup tournament of Serbia and Montenegro played between 1992 and 2006, after which Serbia and Montenegro became separate nations. The competition was the continuation of the old M ...

: 1996–97 *

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 ...

: 2009–10 ;Fenerbahçe *

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

: 2000–01

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 ...

: 2009–10

Notes

References

External links