Albert Nađ (, ; born 29 October 1974) is a Serbian professional football manager and a former player who played as a
defensive 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 boundari ...
. He is the assistant manager at
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 ...
UEFA Euro 2000
The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe.
The finals tournament wa ...
(as FR Yugoslavia) and
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...
.
Club career
Born in
Zemun
Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; hu, Zimony) is a municipality in the city of Belgrade. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown Belgrade. The developme ...
, Nađ started out at his local club Teleoptik. He later joined the youth system of
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 ...
, making his senior debut in the title-winning 1992–93 campaign. Subsequently, Nađ was one of the team's most regular players in the 1993–94 season, as they won the double. He spent another two years in the country, collecting one more domestic league title in 1996, while captaining the side. In total, Nađ made 111 league appearances and scored eight goals for Partizan under manager
Ljubiša Tumbaković
Ljubiša Tumbaković (, ; born 2 September 1952) is a Serbian professional football manager.
He is the most successful coach in the history of Serbian powerhouse Partizan which he led to six national championship titles and three national cup w ...
between 1992 and 1996.
In July 1996, Nađ moved abroad to Spain and signed with Betis. He made 30 league appearances in his debut season in
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' ...
, as the club finished in fourth place. Nađ stayed at Betis for one more season, before moving on loan to Oviedo in the summer of 1998. He was eventually acquired by Oviedo in July 1999. However, Nađ made only 16 appearances in the 1999–2000 season. He was later loaned to Segunda División club
Elche
Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,2000–01 campaign. After returning from loan, Nađ spent another season with Oviedo, before leaving the club due to unpaid wages in August 2002.
In September 2002, Nađ officially returned to his parent club Partizan, penning a one-year deal. He won the national league in his comeback season. In early 2004, Nađ signed an 18-month extension to his contract with the club. He was also a member of the squad that won the title with an unbeaten record in 2005. Shortly after, Nađ signed a three-year extension to his contract with Partizan. He eventually left the club by mutual agreement in July 2007.
In August 2007, Nađ went abroad again and joined Russian side
Rostov
Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population:
While ...
, together with Ivica Kralj. They failed to help the club avoid relegation from the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
, finishing bottom of the table. Eventually, Nađ left Rostov in December 2007, alongside Kralj and some other players.
In January 2008, Nađ signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Čukarički. He played his last career match for Čukarički in the final league fixture of the 2008–09 season, against his parent club Partizan on 30 May 2009. After being cheered by the
Grobari
Grobari (Serbian Cyrillic: Гробари, English: ''Gravediggers'' or ''Undertakers'') are the organized supporters group of the Serbian football club Partizan Belgrade. They are one of two major football fan groups in Serbia. They generally s ...
in the 68th minute, Nađ responded by lifting his Čukarički jersey to reveal Partizan's jersey underneath. He was substituted in the 76 minute, eventually ending his active playing career.
International career
Nađ made his international debut for
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 of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yug ...
in a 0–2 loss to
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
on 23 December 1994. He scored his first national team goal in his second game, a 3–1 win over
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
on 31 January 1995. After missing out on the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Nađ was named by
Vujadin Boškov
Vujadin Boškov ( sr-cyr, Вујадин Бошков, ; 16 May 1931 – 27 April 2014) was a Serbian footballer and manager.
A midfielder, he played 57 matches for the Yugoslav national team. He experienced his greatest success as a coach in 1 ...
in the country's final
UEFA Euro 2000
The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe.
The finals tournament wa ...
squad. He made two appearances in the group stage of the tournament, as they were eventually eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Almost four years later, Nađ made a comeback to the national team, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 friendly draw 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 ...
on 28 April 2004. He was also selected by
Ilija Petković
Ilija Petković ( sr-Cyrl, Илија Петковић, ; 22 September 1945 – 27 June 2020) was a Serbian footballer and manager.
Petković was capped 43 times for Yugoslavia, participating in the 1968 European Football Championship, and in ...
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...
. Subsequently, Nađ made two appearances in
Group C
Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs.
It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...
, including his last game for the national team on 21 June 2006. He came off the bench early into the match and received two yellow cards by the end of the first half of an eventual 2–3 loss to Ivory Coast.
Post-playing career
In December 2009, Nađ was named as the sports coordinator at his parent club Partizan. He was also responsible for the club's transfer windows between 2010 and 2012. In May 2013, Nađ was officially appointed as
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 ...
of Partizan. He left the position at the end of his contract in May 2014.
In early 2017, Nađ became sporting director of
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 ...
side Rakovica while simultaneously taking over the managerial role at the club.
In August 2019, Nađ returned to Partizan and joined
Savo Milošević
Savo Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Саво Милошевић, ; born 2 September 1973) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player.
A former forward, he signed for English club Aston Villa after making a name for himself at Partiza ...
's staff as an assistant. He performed the role for less than three months, before replacing
Žarko Lazetić
Žarko Lazetić (; born 22 February 1982) is a Serbian football manager and former player.
Playing career
In December 2006, it was announced that Lazetić agreed to join Partizan from Bežanija in the January transfer window, along with his tea ...
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 ...
:
1992–93
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...
FR Yugoslavia Cup
The Serbia and Montenegro Cup was an association football knockout cup tournament of Serbia and Montenegro played between 1992 and 2006, after which Serbia and Montenegro became separate nations. The competition was the continuation of the old ...
Copa del Rey
The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...