Vrbica Stefanov ( mk, Врбица Стефанов, ; born December 19, 1973) is a retired Macedonian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and later was a head coach of Macedonian basketball team Kožuv.

Professional career

After starting his basketball career with Tikveš, Stefanov played six seasons with MZT Aerodrom (1992–1998), then passed to Rabotnički (1998–1999), Karsiyaka Izmir (1999–2000,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in Nea ...

(2000–2001, Greece). He then remained for four years in Italy, in the

Montepaschi Siena Mens Sana 1871 Basket is an Italian professional basketball club based in Siena. It is a section of the sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871. Under the name Montepaschi Siena, derived from sponsor Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, t ...

(2001–2005), where he reached a

Euroleague Final Four The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, f ...

. He has won the 1998–99 Macedonian National Championship with Rabotnički, the 2001 Greek National Cup with AEK Athens, the 2002

Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA E ...

with Montepaschi Siena, the 2003–04 Italian National Championship with Montepaschi Siena, and the 2005-06 Turkish National Championship with Ülkerspor. He was also the captain of the Macedonian national team and played at the 1999 European Championship and the 2007 European Championship qualification. After he signed with

KK Crvena zvezda Košarkaški klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Црвена звезда, ), commonly referred to as KK Crvena zvezda mts for sponsorship reasons or simply Crvena zvezda, is a men's professional basketball Sports club, ...

, he played only one game, in October 2006 and said that would retire from playing basketball. In February 2007 he signed for the ACB's ViveMenorca in Spain, for all the remaining season and the following one. On 23 March 2009, Vrbica Stefanov was awarded the Medal for Service to the Country by the then-

president of the Republic of Macedonia The President of the Republic of North Macedonia ( mk, Претседател на Република Северна Македонија; sq, Presidenti i Republikës së Maqedonisë së Veriut) is the head of state of North Macedonia. The off ...

Branko Crvenkovski Branko Crvenkovski ( mk, Бранко Црвенковски, pronounced ; born 12 October 1962) is a Macedonian politician who served as Prime Minister of Macedonia from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2002 to 2004, and as President of Macedonia f ...

in acknowledgement of his sport achievements and his contribution to developing and popularizing sport in Macedonia as well as promoting the country abroad.

Honors

*Club honors **Macedonian League - 1999 with Rabotnicki **Greek Cup - 2001 with AEK **

- 2002 with Montepaschi **Italian League - 2004, 2007 with Montepaschi **Turkish League - 2006 with Ülker *Individual honors **Macedonian Sportspersonality of the year - 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 **Greek All Star - 2001 **Italian All Star - 2005

References

External links

Vrbica Stefanov
at euroleague.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Stefanov, Vrbica 1973 births Living people ABA League players AEK B.C. players Karşıyaka basketball players KK Crvena zvezda players Liga ACB players Macedonian expatriate basketball people in Serbia Macedonian expatriate basketball people in Spain Macedonian men's basketball players Menorca Bàsquet players Mens Sana Basket players Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi S.K. players Olympiacos B.C. players Sportspeople from Kavadarci Ülker G.S.K. basketball players Point guards