Saša Zorić (; born 2 September 1974) is a

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n 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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Born in

Gornji Milanovac Gornji Milanovac ( sr-Cyrl, Гoрњи Милановац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Moravica District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 24,216, while the population of the municipality is 44,406. The town was foun ...

, Zorić started out at local club

Takovo Takovo ( sr-cyr, Таково) is a village in the municipality of Gornji Milanovac, Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the village has a population of 458 people.Popis stanovništva, domaćinstava i Stanova 2002. Knjiga 1: Nacionalna ili etnič ...

, before joining the youth system of

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 ...

. He would make his senior debut with

First League of FR Yugoslavia The First League of Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Прва савезна лига / Prva savezna liga) was the top football league of Serbia and Montenegro, before the country's dissolution in 2006. The league was formed following the breakup of Yu ...

newcomers Jastrebac Niš during the 1993–94 season. Between 1994 and 1996, Zorić spent two seasons with

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 late 1996, Zorić moved to the United States to play

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor socc ...

by signing with the

Baltimore Spirit The Baltimore Blast is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The team is a part of the Major Arena Soccer League. The team has won 10 championships since it was founded in 1980. Beginning with ...

on a two-year contract. He totaled 75 appearances and scored 67 goals over his two seasons in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). In 1997, Zorić briefly played for the

Hershey Wildcats Hershey Wildcats were a professional soccer team, based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States, that played in the USL A-League between 1997 and 2001. The team was owned by Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company. The team played in Hersheypar ...

of the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

. In 1998, Zorić returned to his homeland and rejoined

. He spent two seasons with the club, scoring 14 goals in 49 league games over the next two seasons. In July 2000, Zorić was transferred to his parent club

. He helped them win the championship title in the 2000–01 season, before returning to Obilić. From 2003 to 2006, Zorić played three seasons for

Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, Belgrade. According to ...

, formerly known as Sartid. In 2006, Zorić moved abroad for the second time and joined Chinese club

Nanjing Yoyo Nanjing Yoyo Football Club () was a Chinese football club which played in the China Jia League from 2003 to 2010. Founded in 2002 as the Liaoning Xingguang F.C., it was based on the youth team of Liaoning FC. In 2003, they were bought by SVT Gro ...

. He also played for

Changsha Ginde Guangzhou City Football Club (广州城) is a Chinese professional Association football, football club that competes in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Guangzhou, Guangdon ...

and

Xiamen Lanshi Xiamen Blue Lions Football Club () is a defunct Chinese football club, which was located in Xiamen, Fujian. It was founded in the 1996 league season and their nickname was the "Blue Lions" while they played in the Xiamen Stadium. Throughout their ...

, before returning to Serbia and joining

Kolubara The Kolubara ( sr-cyr, Колубара, ) is a long river in western Serbia; it is an eastern, right tributary to the Sava river. General overview Kolubara is formed by the two small rivers Obnica and Jablanica. ''Obnica'' is the river in W ...

in early 2008. After brief stints with

Srem Syrmia ( sh, Srem/Срем or sh, Srijem/Сријем, label=none) is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia and Croatia. Most of the region is flat, with the exce ...

and

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 ...

, Zorić retired from the game.

International career

At international level, Zorić represented

FR Yugoslavia 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 A relationship breakup, breakup, or ...

at the 2001

Kirin Cup The is an association football tournament organised in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 then known as Japan Cup (International competition which national ...

, appearing in both of his team's matches in the tournament.

Honours

Red Star Belgrade *

: 2000–01 Kolubara *

Serbian League Belgrade Serbian League Belgrade ( Serbian: Српска лига Београд / Srpska liga Beograd) is one of four sections of the Serbian League, the third national tier. The other three sections are Serbian League East, Serbian League Vojvodina and ...

: 2007–08

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zoric, Sasa 1974 births Living people People from Gornji Milanovac Serbia and Montenegro footballers Serbian footballers Association football midfielders Serbia and Montenegro international footballers FK Jastrebac Niš players FK Obilić players Baltimore Spirit players Hershey Wildcats players Red Star Belgrade footballers FK Smederevo players Nanjing Yoyo players Changsha Ginde players Xiamen Blue Lions players FK Kolubara players FK Srem players FK Banat Zrenjanin players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players A-League (1995–2004) players China League One players Chinese Super League players Serbian First League players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate footballers Serbian expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in China Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in the United States Serbian expatriate sportspeople in China