Aleksandar Kolarov (; born 10 November 1985) is a Serbian former professional

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 ...

. Although primarily a

left-back 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 ...

, Kolarov could also operate as a centre-back and anywhere along the left flank and was known for his overlapping attacking runs on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

, his powerful ball-striking ability with his left foot, and his accuracy from free kicks. He was named Serbian Player of the Year in 2011. Kolarov began his career at

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

, but he did not break through and moved onto Čukarički in 2004. Two years later, he joined

OFK Beograd OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club'') is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, more precisely in Karaburm ...

before moving abroad for the first time by signing for

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

, where he won the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

and Supercoppa Italiana in 2009. In 2010, he joined Manchester City, with which he won two

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 ...

titles, 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 ...

and the

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 ...

. Kolarov made his senior international debut for Serbia in 2008 and earned 94 caps. Kolarov was a member of Serbia's squads for the 2008 Olympics,

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Kolarov's football career started in the

youth system. He later joined the youth system of

Obilić Obiliq, ) or Obilić ( sr-cyr, Обилић, ), also referred to as Kastriot ( sq-definite, Kastrioti, ) is a List of cities and towns in Kosovo, town and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality in Kosovo. According to the Kosovo Agency of Statist ...

Čukarički

In 2004, 18-year-old Kolarov moved across Belgrade to Čukarički, which played in the top-tier Serbia-Montenegro League. Signing a three-year contract, he finished the 2003–04 season in the club's youth setup and during the summer of 2004 was introduced to the first-team squad. Making 27 league appearances in his debut season, the youngster left a good impression but could not help the beleaguered team avoid relegation. Kolarov started the 2005–06 campaign for Čukarički in the second-tier league competition, but during the winter break controversially transferred to top-tier league club

OFK Beograd

Kolarov joined OFK Beograd in February 2006 and finished out the season with them, scoring his first league goal.

Lazio

In the summer of 2007, OFK Beograd sold Kolarov to Italian side

(the third placed team in previous season's Serie A standings) for a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

925,000 transfer fee. Kolarov's first goal for Lazio came at the Stadio Oreste Granillo in Reggio Calabria on 30 September 2007, as he hit a rocket from 38 metres to secure a draw against lowly Reggina. During his first season in Rome, the 21-year-old Serb also participated in 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 competi ...

for the first time, making his debut on 24 October 2007 away at

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

in a 2–1 victory. In his second season in Italy, Kolarov established himself as Lazio's first choice at left back, scoring a spectacular goal against Lecce at the Stadio Via del Mare. It got even better for the Serbian in the second ''

Derby della Capitale The Derby della Capitale ( en, Derby of the capital city), also known as Derby Capitolino and Derby del Cupolone, as well as The Rome Derby in English and Derby di Roma in Italian, is the football local derby in Rome, Italy, between Lazio and Ro ...

'' of the season, against city rivals Roma. With Lazio 3–2 up, Kolarov received the ball in defence from goalkeeper Fernando Muslera and proceeded to run the length of the pitch virtually unopposed. Having run 85 metres, Kolarov then slotted the ball past a helpless Doni in the Roma goal. On 13 May 2009, Kolarov played in the 2009 Coppa Italia Final against Sampdoria. The match finished 1–1 after extra time, and Kolarov scored one of Lazio's penalties in the resultant penalty shoot-out, helping Lazio win the trophy and capping a great season for the Serbian. Lazio and 2008–09 Serie A champions

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

travelled to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

in August 2009 to play the

2009 Supercoppa Italiana The 2009 Supercoppa Italiana was a match played by the 2008–09 Serie A winners Internazionale and 2008–09 Coppa Italia winners Lazio. It took place on 8 August 2009 at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), al ...

. Kolarov picked up his second winner's medal, with Lazio defeating Inter 2–1. As the 2009–10 season drew to an end, Kolarov was instantly linked with a move away from Lazio, with Manchester City and Real Madrid supposedly interested.

Manchester City

On 24 July 2010, it was announced that Kolarov had signed for Manchester City for a reported £16 million transfer fee. On 14 August, Kolarov made his

debut in the 0–0 draw against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition. ...

. On 18 January 2011, Kolarov scored his first goal for the club in a 4–2 victory over

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

in the

, while on 2 February 2011, Kolarov recorded his first Premier League goal from a free kick in a 2–2 draw against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

. He played the full 90 minutes as City won the

2011 FA Cup Final The 2011 FA Cup Final was the 130th final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest domestic football cup competition. The final took place on 14 May 2011 at Wembley Stadium in London in front of 88,643 spectators and a British television audience of m ...

. The summer 2011 arrival of Gaël Clichy to the club marginalized Kolarov's role in the squad and he saw his first team opportunities greatly reduced. On 14 September 2011, he scored an equaliser for City in the 1–1 draw against

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in their first 2011–12 Champions League

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

match. On 1 October 2011, he started and played the full 90 minutes in the left-back slot against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

at Ewood Park in a 0–4 away victory in the

. On 31 March 2012, he added another with a long-range swing which earned City a point against Sunderland at home, after coming back from 3–1 down. He ended that season with 12 league appearances, enough for a medal, as Manchester City won the 2011–12 Premier League title in dramatic circumstances on the last day of the season. On 18 September 2012, he scored a free kick in a 3–2 Champions League defeat at Real Madrid. He went on to score in the

loss to Aston Villa, while in their match against Sunderland, he scored another free-kick just five minutes into the match. Kolarov scored from the penalty spot in City's 3–2 comeback victory over Bayern Munich in the final match of their Champions League

on 10 December 2013, securing his side a spot in the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time in club history. He scored his only league goal of the 2013–14 season on 1 January 2014, netting past goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel as City defeated Swansea City by a score of 3–2. On 11 May, he won his second Premier League trophy with Manchester City after making 30 appearances in the league, and 44 in all competitions. In June 2014, Kolarov signed a new three-year deal with City, keeping him at the club until 2017.

Roma

On 22 July 2017, Roma confirmed they had signed Kolarov on a three-year deal for a fee of €5 million. Kolarov scored on his debut for the club on 20 August, scoring the winning goal in a 1–0 win over

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology ...

. On 18 October, in the

, he scored in a 3–3 draw with

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. Four days later, he scored the winning goal in a 1–0 win over

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

. On 26 September, Kolarov scored his first goal of the 2018–19 season in a 4–0 win over

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the ...

. On 29 September, he scored against his former club and city rivals

in a 3–1 win, becoming just the second player in history to have scored for both clubs in a Rome derby.

Inter Milan

On 8 September 2020, Kolarov joined

on a reported one-year deal, with an option to extend for a further year, for a fee of €1.5 million.

Retirement

On 19 June 2022, Kolarov announced his retirement from professional football.

International career

Kolarov was a part of the successful Serbia under-21 side which reached the final of the 2007 U-21 Championships held in the Netherlands. As a key member of that side, Kolarov was named in the UEFA Team of the tournament. In the semi-final clash with

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, he scored a free-kick from long range. In June 2010, he was selected in Serbia's squad for the

, where he appeared in group stage matches against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Kolarov played a major roles in

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

qualifiers and friendlies. Kolarov was eventually rewarded for an impressive 2011 with the Serbian Footballer of the Year award. On 11 September 2012, Kolarov scored his first goal for Serbia during a 6–1 win against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in a

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

qualifier. On 7 June 2013, he scored from a free kick against

in a 2014 World Cup qualifier. On 7 September 2014, he scored the equalizer in a 1–1 draw with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Having helped Serbia qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, their first international tournament for eight years, he was also included in the final 23-man squad for that competition. Kolarov scored the only goal of their opening match against Costa Rica from a free kick. He captained Serbia in all three group stage matches.

Controversy

Kolarov's switch from Čukarički to OFK Beograd in February 2006, during the 2005–06 season winter break, was highly controversial. Under contract with Čukarički at the time, Kolarov filed a request to be released dated 31 January 2006 on the grounds of "contract expiry" despite the contract being valid until January 2007. Soon after handing in his request, Kolarov publicly stated his desire to join OFK. Seeing that they had a disgruntled player on their hands, Čukarički set a €300,000 transfer fee for Kolarov due to the fact he still had one more year left on his contract with the club. OFK, for their part, simply ignored this fact and simply signed Kolarov without paying a fee. Over the coming years, Čukarički took the case in front of Football Association of Serbia (FSS), where all of their official complaints were rejected. A year-and-a-half later, during the summer of 2007, when Kolarov was sold by OFK to Lazio for €800,000, Čukarički club president Aleksandar Mihajlović went public with an accusation that Kolarov "was stolen from Čukarički by OFK Beograd". For that, he was punished by the FSS on the verbal offence grounds and given a year-long ban on performing any functions in Serbian football. The entire Kolarov case was featured in early 2008 on B92 television's investigative journalism programme ''Insajder'' which focused on criminal activities in Serbian football. The programme claims that Kolarov's case was part of a wide initiative by FSS president

Zvezdan Terzić Zvezdan Terzić (Serbian Cyrillic: Звездан Терзић; born 21 May 1966) is a Serbian football administrator and former player. He currently serves as the general director for Red Star Belgrade of the Serbian SuperLiga. Immediately af ...

(formerly the president of OFK) who made sure young promising players signed for OFK and then raise their transfer price by making sure they get playing time in the under-21 national team.

In popular culture

In December 2012, Kolarov appeared in a Christmas video uploaded to Manchester City's website, reciting the carol "

Jingle Bells "Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and most commonly sung American songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and published under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in September 1857. It has been claimed t ...

" in a

deadpan Deadpan, dry humour, or dry-wit humour is the deliberate display of emotional neutrality or no emotion, commonly as a form of comedic delivery to contrast with the ridiculousness or absurdity of the subject matter. The delivery is meant to be blun ...

style that went viral on the internet. In December 2013, following the popularity of the previous year's video, Kolarov delivered his rendition of "

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is a Christmas song featuring Santa Claus written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie. The earliest known recorded version of the song was by banjoist Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934. It was then ...

" which also went viral following much anticipation.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Score and results list Serbia's goal tally first.''

Honours

Lazio *

: 2008–09 * Supercoppa Italiana: 2009 Manchester City *

: 2011–12, 2013–14 *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

; runner-up:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

* Football League Cup: 2013–14, 2015–16 * FA Community Shield:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

Inter Milan *

: 2020–21 *

: 2021–22 * Supercoppa Italiana:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

Serbia U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

runner-up: 2007 Individual * Serbian Player of the Year: 2011 *

Serie A Team of the Year The AIC Serie A Team of the Year (in Italian: ''Squadra dell’anno AIC'') is an annual award given to a set of eleven footballers in the top tier of Italian football, the Serie A, who are considered to have performed the best during the previous c ...

: 2018–19 *

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

Team of the Decade: 2010–2020

References

External links

* * * *
Player profile on Serbian National Team pageManchester City F.C. Profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kolarov, Aleksandar 1985 births Living people Footballers from Belgrade Serbian expatriate footballers Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Serbian expatriate sportspeople in England Serbian footballers Olympic footballers of Serbia Serbia international footballers Association football defenders FK Čukarički players OFK Beograd players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Serbian SuperLiga players S.S. Lazio players A.S. Roma players Inter Milan players Serie A players Manchester City F.C. players Premier League players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in England Serbia under-21 international footballers 2018 FIFA World Cup players FA Cup Final players