Dragan Žilić (; born 14 December 1974) is a

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

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 ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for German amateur club SG Knopp/Wiesbach.

Club career

Žilić joined his hometown club OFK Kikinda as a trainee in 1985. He made his senior debut in the

1992–93 First League of FR Yugoslavia The 1992–93 First League of FR Yugoslavia was the first football season in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which was composed of the republics of Serbia and Montenegro, following the breakup of the SFR Yugoslavia. FK Partizan were the champi ...

, as the team finished in the lower half of the standings. In the summer of 1996, Žilić was transferred to

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

. He was a regular member of the team that reached the

1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals were won by Valencia, Werder Bremen, and Bologna. All three teams advanced to the UEFA Cup. The 1998 tournament saw Spanish clubs debut in the competition and also the return of English clubs, since the controve ...

finals, losing 2–1 on aggregate to

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 June 2000, Žilić moved abroad to Bulgaria and signed with

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...

on a three-year contract. He left the club by mutual agreement in February 2001, having played just two official games for the team. In July 2001, Žilić returned to his homeland and joined ambitious Sartid Smederevo. He spent four seasons with the ''Oklopnici'', winning the

Serbia and Montenegro 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 ...

in 2003. In July 2005, Žilić completed a controversial move to Croatian side Rijeka. The transfer caused a minor sensation in the region as it marked the first occasion that a Serbian-born player joined a Croatian club after the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...

. Despite being exposed to severe verbal abuse by the nationalist supporters of Rijeka, Žilić immediately established himself as the first-choice goalkeeper and gradually earned the support of fans with his consistent performances. He played an important role in helping them win the 2005–06 Croatian Cup. On 29 November 2006, Žilić scored a 92nd-minute header against Konavljanin that pushed Rijeka into the 2006–07 Croatian Cup semi-finals. He would lose his place in the first team by the fall of 2008, being demoted to as low as training with the youth team. In the 2009 winter transfer window, Žilić signed with Slovenian club Gorica on a free transfer. He retired from professional football after the 2009–10 season. In early 2015, at the age of 40, Žilić came out of retirement to play for German amateur club Gençlerbirliği Homburg in the

Bezirksliga The Bezirksliga ( en, County League) is commonly a medium set of amateur divisions set at steps 7, 8 or 9 in the German football league system. Structure Depending on the structural organisation within each of the 21 state football associations ...

. He became

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

of Landesliga club SpVgg Einöd-Ingweiler in October of the same year.

International career

Žilić 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 1–1 away friendly draw against

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 September 1998. He came on as a second-half substitute for Ivica Kralj and kept a clean sheet in the process. After nearly four years of absence, Žilić returned to the squad in a 2–1 friendly win over

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 ...

Bank One Ballpark Chase Field, formerly Bank One Ballpark, is a retractable roof stadium in Downtown Phoenix, Arizona. It is the home of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. It opened in 1998 Arizona Diamondbacks season, 1998, the year the Diamondbacks ...

on 13 February 2002. He earned a total of eight caps for the national team between 1998 and 2003.

Post-playing career

Following his initial retirement in 2010, Žilić served as president of his parent club OFK Kikinda.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Sartid Smederevo *

: 2002–03 Rijeka * Croatian Cup: 2005–06

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zilic, Dragan Association football goalkeepers Croatian Football League players Expatriate footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate footballers in Croatia Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Slovenia First League of Serbia and Montenegro players FK Smederevo players FK Vojvodina players HNK Rijeka players Landesliga players ND Gorica players OFK Kikinda players PFC CSKA Sofia players Second League of Serbia and Montenegro players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate footballers Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Serbia and Montenegro footballers Serbia and Montenegro international footballers Serbian expatriate footballers Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Serbian footballers Slovenian PrvaLiga players Sportspeople from Kikinda 1974 births Living people