Slobodan Branković (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Слободан Бранковић; born 9 December 1963) is a Serbian retired

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 ...

Football career

Beginnings

Branković, born in the

Banovo Brdo Banovo Brdo ( sr-cyrl, Баново брдо, ) is a neighbourhood of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Čukarica. Location Banovo Brdo is bounded by the neighborhoods of Čukarica and Čukarička Padina in the west ...

neighborhood of

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, began his footballing career with

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 ...

's youth academy in 1978 where he played alongside the late Čava Dimitrijević and former Partizan head coach

Vladimir Vermezović Vladimir Vermezović (Serbian Cyrillic: Владимир Вермезовић; born 30 June 1963) is a Serbian football manager and former player who is the head coach of Slovenian PrvaLiga club Mura. Playing career Vermezović started playing ...

. Here he got the nickname of Kengur, the

Serbian language Serbian (, ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and Kos ...

word for

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

. He remained in Partizan's youth academy until 1985 when he signed with FK Rad who was then in the

Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to: * Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name: ** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918–1 ...

. Upon signing for Rad however, he was immediately released by

Milan Živadinović Milan Živadinović ( sr-cyr, Милан Живадиновић, ; 15 December 1944 – 17 July 2021) was a Serbian football player and coach. He was also the scout for Ghanaian footballers for Southeast Europe. In his homeland he was nicknamed ...

Austria

After his departure from Rad, Branković did not play anywhere for two months until he arrived in Austria for a try-out with

First Vienna FC First Vienna FC is an Austrian association football club based in the Döbling district of Vienna. Established on 22 August 1894, it is the country's oldest team and has played a notable role in the history of the game there. It is familiarly k ...

. The try-out was arranged by well-known Serbian sports commentator Vladanko Stojaković.Vladan Slavković, ''

Tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

'' (1992-05-06). "Issue #1367, pg. 7" (in Serbo-Croatian).

First Vienna First Vienna FC is an Austrian association football club based in the Döbling district of Vienna. Established on 22 August 1894, it is the country's oldest team and has played a notable role in the history of the game there. It is familiarly k ...

had just signed

Argentinian Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

great

Mario Kempes Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi (; born 15 July 1954) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker or attacking midfielder. A prolific goalscorer, he finished as La Liga's top goalscorer twice with Valencia and amassed 11 ...

. Branković was signed (this being his first professional contract with a fully professional club) and formed a formidable tandem with Kempes. Branković even earned the nickname of the Serbian Mario Kempes due to their similar playing style and similar physique.

References

External links

* * 1963 births Living people Footballers from Belgrade Serbian footballers Expatriate footballers in Austria Association football forwards First Vienna FC players SKN St. Pölten players SK Vorwärts Steyr players FC Admira Wacker Mödling players {{Serbia-footy-forward-stub