Ognjen Ožegović ( sr-cyr, Огњен Ожеговић, ; born 9 June 1994) is a Serbian 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 le ...

who plays as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

club Volos.

Club career

Born in Gradiška, Ožegović made his first football steps with the local club Kozara and later he moved to

Borac Banja Luka Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Бopaц Бања Лука, ) is a Bosnian professional association football club, based in the city of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is the major part of th ...

. Subsequently, Ožegović went through the youth setup at Red Star Belgrade, where captained a team for a period. He was initially sent out on loan to

Banat Zrenjanin FK Banat Zrenjanin () was a Association football, football club based in Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, Serbia. History The club was founded in June 2006 by the merger of FK Budućnost Banatski Dvor, Budućnost Banatski Dvor and FK Proleter Zrenjanin, Pro ...

(

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

), and then to Voždovac (

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 ...

), in order to gain experience. In early 2014, Ožegović terminated his contract with Red Star. He subsequently signed a six-month deal with

Rad RAD or Rad may refer to: People * Robert Anthony Rad Dougall (born 1951), South African former racing driver * Rad Hourani, Canadian fashion designer and artist * Nickname of Leonardus Rad Kortenhorst (1886–1963), Dutch politician * Radley R ...

, helping them avoid relegation from the top flight in the 2013–14 campaign. In the 2014–15 season, Ožegović played for Jagodina (fall) and

Borac Čačak Borac may refer to: * FK Borac Banja Luka, a football club from Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina ** RK Borac Banja Luka, an affiliated team handball club ** OK Borac, an affiliated volleyball club * FK Borac Čačak, a football club from Čačak ...

(spring). He scored six times for the latter side, including a long-range volley in a 3–1 win over his former club Jagodina, securing him the Goal of the Season award. In July 2015, Ožegović signed a three-year contract with Vojvodina. He netted seven league goals for the side, including a bicycle kick in a 2–0 win against

Javor Ivanjica Fk Javor Matis () is a professional football club based in Ivanjica, Serbia. They compete in the Serbian SuperLiga, the top tier of the national league system. History In 1912, a student named Milan Radojević brought the first football ball to ...

that earned him the Goal of the Season award for the second time in a row. He also scored a twice in the first leg of the third qualifying round for UEFA Europa League, in 4–0 away victory over

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

. In early 2016, Ožegović moved abroad to China and joined

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

club

Changchun Yatai Changchun Yatai Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Changchun, Jilin and their home stadi ...

. He failed to score in nine games for the side, before returning to Serbia. On 31 August 2016, Ožegović signed a one-year contract with Čukarički. He scored a total of 16 goals in 25 league appearances over the course of the 2016-17 season. In addition to the regular season, Ožegović was prolific in Čukarički's

2016–17 Serbian Cup The 2016–17 Serbian Cup season was the eleventh season of the Serbian national football tournament. The competition started in September 2016, and ended in May 2017. The winner of the competition qualified for the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League ...

campaign, scoring in the

second round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...

against

Javor Javor ("maple" in Slavic languages) may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places *Javor, Albania, a settlement in Albania *Javor, Busovača, a village in Bosnia and Herzegovina *Javor (Kakanj), a village in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Javor (Klatovy District), a m ...

and in the second leg of the semi-final against Red Star Belgrade.

Partizan

On 31 August 2017, Ožegović joined

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

. He signed a three-year contract and was given the number 51 shirt. He made his debut for the club on 9 September 2017, against Mladost Lučani. He scored his first goal for Partizan on 17 September 2017 against Radnički Niš in a 3–1 home league victory. On 28 September 2017, he recorded his first European goals after found the back of the net in a 2–3 home loss to Dynamo Kyiv in

2017–18 UEFA Europa League group stage The 2017–18 UEFA Europa League group stage began on 14 September and ended on 7 December 2017. A total of 48 teams competed in the group stage to decide 24 of the 32 places in the knockout phase of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League. Draw The draw ...

second match. He also scored goal in 2–1 home victory over Young Boys, on 26 November, as Partizan advanced to the knockout stage after 13 years. On 14 April 2018, Ožegović scored his first goal in Eternal Derby, converting a penalty kick in a 2–1 defeat.

Arsenal Tula (loan)

On 4 September 2018, he joined Russian Premier League club FC Arsenal Tula on loan.

Partizan return

Ožegović returned to Partizan for the 2019–20 season. He scored his first Super Liga goal on 4 August 2019, in a 4–0 win over Mačva.

Darmstadt 98

On 2 September 2019, Ožegović joined

Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was briefly known as ''Rasen-Sp ...

on a two-year deal. In July 2020, after making just five appearances as a substitute, he agreed the termination of his contract.

Manisa

On 20 January 2022, Ožegović signed a 1.5-year contract with Manisa.

Volos

Ožegović made his debut for the team on September 11 2022 at the Karaiskakis Stadium against

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

, scoring a goal in the 29th minute after an assist from

Paolo Fernandes Paolo Fernandes Cantin (born 19 August 1998) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Greek Super League club AEK Athens. Mainly a left winger, he also plays as an attacking midfielder. Club career Manchester City Born in Zaragoza, Ar ...

. A week later, in the fifth round of the

, Ožegović scored his second goal for Volos against Ionikos.

International career

Ožegović made his official debut for the Serbia U17s at the

2011 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2011 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the tenth edition of UEFA's European Under-17 Football Championship. Serbia hosted the tournament between the 3 and 15 May. 6 Teams also qualified for the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Players born aft ...

. He subsequently represented Serbia at the

2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, since its reclassification from an under-18 tournament in 2002, and the 62nd since the tournament was created in 1948. It was hosted in Li ...

, as the team won the tournament. Four years later, Ožegović was named in the final 23-man squad for the

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2017) was the 21st edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, a biennial international youth football championship organised by UEFA for the men's under-21 na ...

. In September 2016, Ožegović appeared in Serbia's friendly match against Qatar.

Controversy

In an interview for mondo.rs in summer 2017, he said that his dream was to win a title with Red Star and celebrate it in front of the north stand with

Delije Delije ( sr-cyr, Делије) is a name referring to the supporters of various sports clubs that compete under the Red Star Belgrade multi-sport club banner. The plural of the singular form ''delija'' (делија)—which in Serbian general ...

. He also said that his dream did not come truth because of club policy at time, which, in his words, favoured "players from Ghana and Uganda over Red Star children." When he became a potential transfer target of

in late August that summer, many Partizan supporters were against their club signing him. Finally, Ožegović signed with Partizan on last day of the summer transfer window. During the official promotion at new club, sports director

Ivica Iliev Ivica Iliev (, ; born 27 October 1979) is a Serbs , Serbian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Club career After starting out as a youngster at FK Rad, Rad, Iliev joined ...

revealed that Ožegović started playing football with Partizan. Several days later in interview for Sportski žurnal, Ožegović explained that he spent three months training with the club at the age of 13.

Personal life

Ožegović is religious

Orthodox Christian Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churche ...

. He was born as the only child in the family. His father, Marinko, is a retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper for

and

Rudar Velenje Nogometni klub Rudar Velenje ( en, Rudar Velenje Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Rudar Velenje or simply Rudar Velenje, is a Slovenian football club from Velenje which competes in the Slovenian Second League. History The club was fo ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Red Star Belgrade * Serbian Cup: 2011–12 Partizan * Serbian Cup: 2017–18 Serbia * UEFA Under-19 Championship:

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ozegovic, Ognjen 1994 births People from Gradiška, Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Living people Members of the Serbian Orthodox Church Serbian footballers Serbia youth international footballers Serbia under-21 international footballers Serbia international footballers Association football forwards Red Star Belgrade footballers FK Banat Zrenjanin players FK Voždovac players FK Rad players FK Jagodina players FK Borac Čačak players FK Vojvodina players Changchun Yatai F.C. players FK Čukarički players FK Partizan players FC Arsenal Tula players SV Darmstadt 98 players Adanaspor footballers Manisa FK footballers Volos N.F.C. players Serbian SuperLiga players Serbian First League players Chinese Super League players Russian Premier League players 2. Bundesliga players TFF First League players Super League Greece players Serbian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in China Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Greece Serbian expatriate sportspeople in China Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Greece