Veljko Paunović ( sr-Cyrl, Вељко Пауновић, ; born 21 August 1977) is a Serbian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and former player who is the current manager of

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

club

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

. A versatile attacking unit, he could operate as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

or a striker, and spent most of his professional career in Spain where he represented eight clubs, amassing

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

totals of 212 matches and 38 goals over 11 seasons and having several spells with

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

. Other than in his own country, he also played in Germany, Russia and the United States. Paunović began working as a manager in 2012, starting with

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 ...

's youth teams and later being in charge of Chicago Fire and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Playing career

Club

Born in

Strumica Strumica ( mk, Струмица, ) is the largest city2002 census results
in English and Macedon ...

Socialist Republic of Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалистичка Република Македонија, Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia or Yugoslav Macedonia, was ...

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

, Paunović made his professional debut at 17 with

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...

. The following summer he moved to Spain, where he would stay for most of the following decade playing for a host of clubs, starting in the 1995–96 season with modest

CA Marbella Club Atlético Marbella were a Spanish football team based in Marbella, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1947 and dissolved in 1997, it was also the reserve team of CD Málaga for a time. History Atlético Marbella had its he ...

and reaching the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final with

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

(with whom he scored five league goals in that campaign, to help the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

team finish third), as well as having three separate stints with

. Paunović had his best year in 2002–03 with

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1912, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez Lóp ...

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

, netting 18 times in 38 appearances although the insular side could only rank eighth. After a return to Atlético and a brief stay in Germany with

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

, he joined

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and op ...

for 2005–06's top flight, enjoying his finest season in

by scoring ten goals in 30 league matches to help the

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

outskirts club to the ninth place. Due to the years spent in the country, he received a

Spanish passport Spanish passports ( es, Pasaporte español) are issued to Spanish citizens with right of abode in the Iberian mainland, Ceuta, Melilla, Balearic Islands and Canary Islands, for the purpose of travel outside Spain. Every Spanish citizen is also a ...

in 2006. Paunović was signed by

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

FC Rubin Kazan FC Rubin Kazan (russian: Футбо́льный клуб Руби́н Каза́нь, ''Futbolny klub Rubin Kazan'' , Tatar language, Tatar: Рубин Казан) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in the city o ...

in March 2007, after falling out of favour with Getafe coach

Bernd Schuster Bernd Schuster (born 22 December 1959) is a German former professional footballer of the late 1970s through early 1990s, who won club titles playing for the Spanish sides FC Barcelona (1980–1987) and Real Madrid (1988–1990). He played as a m ...

. The following year, he agreed a two and a half-year deal with

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

in January. His debut was a sour one, playing 20 minutes off the bench against

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...

in a 1–0 away defeat, while also receiving two yellow cards in one minute (with the consequent dismissal). He would score on two occasions towards the season's end, in a 4–2 away loss to former team Getafe and in the last matchday, a 3–1 victory at

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

. On 12 July 2008, Paunović signed a two-year deal with his former club Partizan. On 13 August, he scored in a 2–2 draw with Turkey's Fenerbahçe SK in the

third qualifying round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. Before the end of the year, however, he announced his decision to retire from the game. On 29 June 2009, Paunović went on trial with the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

, but eventually turned down the one-year contract offer. In June 2011, after nearly three years out of football, the 33-year-old signed a deal with another North American club,

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

, after a trial stint. He scored his first goal with his new team late in the month, in a 3–2 win over

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guada ...

. Paunović officially announced his retirement for the second time on 19 January 2012.

International

Paunović made his debut for

Serbia and Montenegro 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 of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

in a 2–1 friendly win with

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, on 13 February 2002. His only other

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

came two years later against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, another exhibition match, and he scored in the 1–1 draw in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Coaching career

Serbia NT

Paunović earned a UEFA PRO coaching licence and a

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

degree from the

Royal Spanish Football Federation The Royal Spanish Football Federation ( es, Real Federación Española de Fútbol; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. It is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. It was founded on 14 October 1909 ...

. For nine months, he was a

analyst for

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service know ...

in Spain. Paunović began working as a manager with the Serbian national team, being of charge of their under-18, under-19 and under-20 sides. While with the latter, he won the 2015 FIFA World Cup.

Chicago Fire

CINvCHI 2017-06-28 - Veljko Paunovic (39394134540)

On 24 November 2015, Paunović was appointed head coach of

Chicago Fire FC (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. He led the team to the playoffs in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, which happened for the first time in five years. In the same year, he coached in the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. Paunović also reached the semi-finals of the U.S. Open Cup in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. He and the Fire parted ways on 13 November 2019.

Reading

Paunović replaced Mark Bowen as manager of

on 29 August 2020. On his

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

debut on 12 September, the team won 2–0 at

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

; he ended September as the division's Manager of the Month for winning all three games. They missed out on a playoff place with two games remaining, after a 2–2 draw against Swansea City at the

Madejski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Reading. It is the home of Reading Football Club, who play in the EFL Championship. It also provides the finish for the Rea ...

. In November 2021, during Paunović's second season, the team received a six-point deduction for breaching profitability and sustainability rules across the previous three seasons. The following January, the Royals were knocked out of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

in the

third round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

side

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

. Following a 3–2 away victory over Preston North End on 19 February 2022, Reading announced that Paunović had left his role by mutual consent.

Guadalajara

On 31 October 2022, Paunović was named at

club

C.D. Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara (); often simply known as Guadalajara () and their nickname ''Chivas'' (), is a Mexican professional football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Guadalajara is one of the ten founding members of the Mexican First Divi ...

Personal life

Paunović experienced hardships while training for football, such as walking for hours to practice and sometimes going without food. His father,

Blagoje Blagoje ( sr-Cyrl, Благоје, ) is a masculine Slavic name derived from the roots ''blag'' ("gentle, mild") and ''-oje''. It is recorded in Serbia since the Middle Ages. It may refer to: * Blagoje Adžić (1932–2012), the acting minister of ...

, was also a footballer. A defender who inspired him, he too played for Partizan and represented Yugoslavia at

UEFA Euro 1968 The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the third UEFA European Championship, an event held every four years and organised by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 5 and 10 June 1968. It ...

, later embarking in a managerial career. Paunović is married and has four children. He is fluent in six languages:

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, Serbian, Macedonian,

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Serbia and Montenegro's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Paunović goal.''

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Serbia *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Individual * EFL Championship Manager of the Month: September 2020

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paunovic, Veljko 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Strumica Serbian footballers Serbia and Montenegro footballers Association football midfielders Association football forwards First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Serbian SuperLiga players FK Partizan players La Liga players Segunda División players CA Marbella footballers Atlético Madrid B players Atlético Madrid footballers RCD Mallorca players Real Oviedo players CD Tenerife players Getafe CF footballers UD Almería players Bundesliga players Hannover 96 players Russian Premier League players FC Rubin Kazan players Major League Soccer players Philadelphia Union players Serbia and Montenegro international footballers Serbian expatriate footballers Serbia and Montenegro expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate soccer players in the United States Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Serbian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Germany Serbian football managers Major League Soccer coaches Chicago Fire FC coaches English Football League managers Reading F.C. managers Liga MX managers C.D. Guadalajara managers Serbia national under-20 football team managers Serbian expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer managers in the United States Expatriate football managers in England Expatriate football managers in Mexico Serbian expatriate sportspeople in England Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico