Ranko Despotović ( sr-Cyrl, Ранко Деспотовић, ; born 21 January 1983) 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 le ...
who played as a
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
.
Club career
Born in
Loznica,
Serbia,
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Despotović made his professional debuts with local
FK Loznica aged only 17, and proceeded to score almost 30 goals overall in his first three years, subsequently being acquired by
FK Vojvodina.
After parts of seasons loaned to lowly
FK Mačva Šabac, he returned, having a stellar
2006–07 season and helping the team to the third place in
the league and
coming up second in
the domestic cup; to help achieve this, he topped the nation's goal charts by netting 17 times.
In January 2008, Despotović signed with
FC Rapid București
Fotbal Club Rapid 1923, commonly known as Rapid București () or simply as Rapid, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1923 by employees of the Grivița workshops as ''Asoc ...
in Romania, and continued abroad for the ensuing summer as he joined Spain's
Real Murcia for three years and
€
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...
1.5 million. He was brought to the club by head coach
Javier Clemente, who became aware of the player while coaching the
Serbia national team.
For the
2009–10 campaign, Despotović stayed in the country and
its second division, moving on a season-long loan to
UD Salamanca.
The following year, still in that level, he led
Girona FC
Girona Futbol Club, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, it plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 Segunda División play-offs.
Girona holds its home matches at ...
with 18 goals (seventh-best in the competition) as the
Catalans finished comfortably in mid-table.
On 1 July 2011, Despotović signed for Japan's
Urawa Red Diamonds. In late 2013, following an unsuccessful trial at former club Girona, he moved to
Sydney FC
Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...
, after being convinced to join by former Vojvodina teammate
Nikola Petković. He made his debut for his new team against
Wellington Phoenix FC, coming on as a
substitute and scoring the 2–1 winner in
injury time
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
.
Despotović returned to Spain on 7 July 2014, joining second-level side
Deportivo Alavés. He subsequently competed in the country's lower leagues, with
Cádiz CF
Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., known simply as Cádiz, is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia.
Founded in 1910, the club competes in the La Liga, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20 ...
and
Marbella FC
Marbella Fútbol Club, formerly known as Unión Deportiva Marbella, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Marbella, the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1997 it currently plays in Tercera Federación, Te ...
.
International career
Despotović made his debut for
Serbia in a
UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier against
Kazakhstan, a 1–0 home success on 24 November 2007.
Career statistics
References
External links
*
Early career stats at Srbijafudbal
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Despotovic, Ranko
1983 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Loznica
Serbian footballers
Men's association football forwards
Serbian SuperLiga players
FK Loznica players
FK Vojvodina players
FK Mačva Šabac players
Liga I players
FC Rapid București players
Segunda División players
Segunda División B players
Real Murcia players
UD Salamanca players
Girona FC players
Deportivo Alavés players
Cádiz CF players
Marbella FC players
J1 League players
Urawa Red Diamonds players
A-League Men players
Sydney FC players
Serbia men's international footballers
Serbian expatriate footballers
Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Romania
Expatriate footballers in Romania
Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Japan
Expatriate footballers in Japan
Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Australia
Expatriate soccer players in Australia