Sasa Ognenovski ( mk, Саша Огненовски, Saša Ognenovski; born 3 April 1979) is an Australian soccer player who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, who represented the Australia national team on 22 occasions, and who last played for Sydney FC in the A-League. He is currently the assistant coach of the NPL Victoria 3 team

Preston Lions Preston Lions Football Club (formerly Preston Makedonia Soccer Club) is a soccer club from Preston, a northern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club was established in 1947 to play non-professional soccer matches against other t ...

. In 2010, he was named Asian Footballer of the Year, won a position in the K-League Best XI, and won the AFC Champions League with Seongnam. These achievements led to his inclusion in the Australian squad for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. Alongside Robert Cornthwaite and

Eli Babalj Eli Babalj (born 21 February 1992) is an Australian footballer who plays as a striker. Alongside Robert Cornthwaite and Sasa Ognenovski, Babalj, at 1.95 m is the joint third tallest player to have represented the Australia national associatio ...

, Ognenovski, at 1.95 m, is the joint third tallest player to have represented the Australia national soccer team, behind

Zeljko Kalac Zeljko Kalac (born 16 December 1972) is an Australian former soccer goalkeeper, who is currently the manager of NK Urania Baška Voda, who play in the Croatian third division. Nicknamed "Spider" due to his tall, gangly figure, standing at 2.02& ...

(2.02 m) and

Harry Souttar Harry James Souttar (born 22 October 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Leicester City and the Australia national team. Born in Scotland, Souttar began his senior career there with Dundee Unite ...

(1.98 m).

Club career

He previously played with

in the 1997–2000 and 2003–2004 seasons, then with

Melbourne Knights Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league ...

in the 2000–2001 and 2001–2002 seasons, and in the 2002–2003 season with Greek side

Panahaiki Panachaiki F.C. (Greek: Παναχαϊκή ΓΕ ΠΑΕ ) is a Greek professional football club based in Patras, Greece and they play in Super League Greece 2, the second tier of greek football. Founded in 1891, they have reached the Greek Cup s ...

, and then with

Queensland Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisb ...

until transferring to

Adelaide United FC Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to f ...

in February 2008 to play in the Asian Champions League, starting in March 2008. Ognenovski played his 50th A-League match against Sydney FC on 22 November 2008 scoring the opening goal, his first for Adelaide, in the 2–0 win at

Hindmarsh Stadium Hindmarsh Stadium (currently known as Coopers Stadium due to sponsorship from Adelaide-based company Coopers Brewery) is a multi-purpose stadium in Hindmarsh, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the home of the Austral ...

. He followed this up a week later scoring a dramatic equaliser in Adelaide's 1–1 draw with

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...

heading in from another

set piece In film production, a set piece is a scene or sequence of scenes whose execution requires complex logistical planning and considerable expenditure of money. The term is often also used more broadly to describe a sequence in which the film-maker's ...

. In January 2009 it was revealed that Ognenovski was a target for

K-League K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2. History Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National ...

club

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential city ...

but the initial bid of A$285,000 was rejected with Adelaide asking for a transfer fee of $570,000. He was also a transfer target of another K-League side, FC Seoul, who sent officials to negotiate the fee with Adelaide. The transfer saga was resolved on Tuesday 13 January 2009 when Adelaide United revealed Ognenovski would join Seongnam at the end of the

A-League 2008-09 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 ...

season on a two-year deal. The defender gave a glowing tribute to the club upon the announcement saying, "I’ve met some great people, the owners Nick and

Dario Dario is a masculine given name, etymologically related to Darius. Given name *Dario Allevi (born 1965), Italian politician *Dario Argento (born 1940), Italian film director * Dario Badinelli (born 1946), Italian triple jumper *Dario Bellezza (1 ...

are probably the best people I’ve met in football so it is a tough decision but obviously I have to secure my future and look after my family so that was the main reason that I took up the offer". Ognenovski was voted the second best Macedonian footballer of 2008, behind Inter Milan's

Goran Pandev Goran Pandev ( mk, Горан Пандев, ; born 27 July 1983) is a Macedonian former professional footballer who played as a forward. After establishing himself at Lazio, Pandev moved to Inter Milan in early 2010. While playing for the ''Ne ...

. In 2010, in his second season with

, Ognenovski captained the team to victory in the AFC Champions League. He scored the opening goal of the match as Seongnam defeated Zob Ahan 3–1 in the final. Ognenovski was named the Man of the Match and the tournament's Most Valuable Player. On 7 July 2012, Ognenovski moved to

Umm-Salal Sports Club Umm Salal Sport Club ( ar, نادي أم صلال الرياضي) is a Qatari professional football club based in Umm Salal, that competes in the Qatar Stars League, the highest tier of Qatari football. It used to be known as Al-Tadamun Sport ...

in the Qatar Stars League after an outstanding three-year spell at Seongnam. Ognenovski made his debut for Umm-Salal Sports Club on 21 October 2012 in the 1–1 away draw to Al Kharitiyath. On 4 February 2014, Ognenovski moved back to the A-League to sign with Sydney FC. He scored his first goal against

assisted by Italian marquee

Alessandro Del Piero Alessandro Del Piero (; born 9 November 1974) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a deep-lying forward, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. Since 2015, he has worked as a pundit ...

. On 8 October 2014, Ogenovski, along with Nikola Petković were appointed Sydney FC's vice-captains for 2014. His first goal for the 2014–15 A-league season came in Rd 2 against Western Sydney Wanderers won by Sydney 3–2. Ogenovski appeared to score a goal, but it was ruled an

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

Romeo Castelen Romeo Erwin Marius Castelen (born 3 May 1983) is a Dutch former footballer who played as a right winger. Club career ADO Den Haag Born in Paramaribo, Suriname, Castelen started his professional career with ADO Den Haag, playing two full season ...

. However, Ogenovski was suspended following the match for striking Vítor Saba in the head. Ognenovski was released by Sydney on 3 June 2015.

International career

Ognenovski was eligible to represent Australia, but after not being selected in A-League based Australian squads for

Asian Cup Qualifiers Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

against Indonesia and Kuwait, Ognenovski expressed his disappointment and put himself up for selection for the country of his heritage, Macedonia. Although not available to play for Macedonia (due to not having yet received FIFA clearance) he was called by Srečko Katanec to play for the

Republic of Macedonia national football team The North Macedonia national football team ( mk, Фудбалска репрезентација на Северна Македонија, Fudbalska reprezentacija na Severna Makedonija) represents North Macedonia in men's international footbal ...

in the match against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

on 11 February 2009, although he did not feature due to issues with his eligibility. After dashing his hopes for playing for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

under former coach

Pim Verbeek Peter Tim Dirk "Pim" Verbeek (12 March 1956 – 28 November 2019) was a Dutch football manager who last coached the Oman national football team. Playing career As a player, Verbeek was a defender or a midfielder and spent his entire career at S ...

, new Socceroos manager

Holger Osieck Holger Osieck (born 31 August 1948) is a German football manager who last managed the Australia national team. Prior to the Australian role, he most recently managed J. League club Urawa Red Diamonds, where he won the 2007 AFC Champions League ...

called him up for a friendly against

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

in Cairo, Egypt, and he was subsequently named in the 23-man 2011 AFC Asian Cup squad. Throughout the AFC Asian cup, he started every match and developed a solid defensive partnership with Lucas Neill, and scored the second goal in Australia's 6–0 defeat of Uzbekistan in the semi-finals.

Managers career

He is first coaching of the

NPL Victoria The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer lea ...

team

Dandenong City Dandenong City Soccer Club, formerly known as Chelsea Hajduk, is an Australian soccer club based in the South-East region of Melbourne, Victoria. The club's home is at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex in the suburb of Endeavour Hills. They compete ...

Honours

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma * AFC Champions League: 2010 *

Korean FA Cup The Korean FA Cup is a national football cup knockout competition of South Korea, held annually by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Before the FA Cup was established in 1996, two predecessor competitions named All Joseon Football Tournament ...

: 2011 International * AFC Asian Cup runner-up: 2011 Individual * AFC Asian Footballer of the Year: 2010 * AFC Champions League Most Valuable Player: 2010 *

K-League Best XI The K League Best XI is an award for the best eleven players in a K League season. K League 1 award (1983–present) Winners Players marked bold won the Most Valuable Player award in that respective year. Appearances by player Appeara ...

: 2010

Career statistics

Club statistics

¹ – includes A-League final series statistics;

playoff statistics
² – includes

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

statistics
³ – includes FIFA Club World Cup statistics; AFC Champions League statistics are included in season commencing after group stages (i.e. 2008 ACL in 2008–09 A-League season etc.)

International statistics

References

External links

Adelaide United profile

*
soccerway.com
*
worldfootball.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ognenovski, Sasa 1979 births Australian people of Macedonian descent Australia international soccer players A-League Men players National Soccer League (Australia) players K League 1 players Qatar Stars League players Adelaide United FC players Sydney FC players Melbourne Knights FC players Panachaiki F.C. players Brisbane Roar FC players Seongnam FC players Umm Salal SC players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players Preston Lions FC players Asian Footballer of the Year winners Australian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Australian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate footballers in Qatar Australian expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in South Korea Soccer players from Melbourne Living people Association football defenders Australian soccer players Australian soccer coaches Australian Macedonian soccer managers Australian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate footballers in Greece