Milan Smiljanić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Лола Смиљанић, ; born 19 November 1986) is a Serbian 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 le ...

who plays as a

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 boundarie ...

for Mornar.

Early life

Smiljanić was born in

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...

, Sweden, as his father

Branko Branko (Cyrillic script: Бранко; ) is a South Slavic male given name found in all of the former Yugoslavia. It is related to the names Branimir and Branislav, and the female equivalent is Branka. People named Branko include: * Branko Babić ...

, who was also a professional footballer, was playing for

Kalmar AIK FK Kalmar Allmänna Idrottsklubb Fotbollsklubb (Kalmar Common Athletic Club Football Club) is a Swedish football club located in Kalmar. They play at Fredriksskans Fredriksskans is a multi-purpose stadium in Kalmar, Sweden. It served as the hom ...

at the time.

Club career

Partizan

Smiljanić subsequently returned to Serbia and joined

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 ...

youth ranks. Under head coach

Vladimir Vermezović Vladimir Vermezović (Serbian Cyrillic: Владимир Вермезовић; born 30 June 1963) is a Serbian football manager and former player who is the head coach of Slovenian PrvaLiga club Mura. Playing career Vermezović started playing ...

, he made his debut for the first team in a

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

match against

FK Sutjeska Nikšić Fudbalski klub Sutjeska (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Сутјеска) is football club from Nikšić, Montenegro, currently competing in the Montenegrin First League. The club was established in 1920, and has been known by its ...

, during the second part of 2004–05. Smiljanić also spent some time playing for

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

FK Teleoptik FK Teleoptik () is a professional football club based in Zemun, Belgrade, Serbia. They compete in the Serbian League Belgrade, the third tier of the national league system. History Founded by the manufacturing company of the same name in 1952, t ...

and, in little more than two professional seasons, he amassed more than 50 official appearances with the club, and eventually gained club captaincy despite his age.

Espanyol

On 18 July 2007, Spain's

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 ...

agreed with Partizan for the transfer of Smiljanić for an undisclosed fee, in a five-year contract. He made his

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 ...

debut against

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

on 26 August, in a 0–1 home loss; most of his first two seasons in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

were spent mainly appearing from the bench, even though one of his main competitors in the team,

Iván de la Peña Iván de la Peña López (; born 6 May 1976) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. During his career, he earned the nicknames ''Pequeño Buddha'' ( ''Little Buddha'') and ''Lo Pelat'' (''The Shaven One' ...

, was often injured. After the club's initial unsuccessful attempts to loan him out for 2009–10, Smiljanić spent the first months of the new campaign only training, not having been given any squad number. However, such a move was arranged in late January 2010, as he joined

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, P ...

until June.

Partizan return

In the summer of 2010, Smiljanić was loaned to his former club Partizan. After his loan expired he returned to Spain and agreed the contract termination with the

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

-based club. Smiljanić signed a permanent contract with Partizan on 16 August 2011, penning a two-year deal.

Gençlerbirliği

On 29 May 2013, it was announced that

Gençlerbirliği S.K. Gençlerbirliği Spor Kulübü (pronounced ), commonly known as Gençlerbirliği, is a Turkish sports club based in Ankara. Formed in 1923, Gençlerbirliği are nicknamed ''Ankara Rüzgârı'' (The Wind of Ankara) or simply ''Gençler'' (The You ...

had agreed terms with Smiljanić to sign him as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He appeared in only four competitive games during his spell, his

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

debut coming on 19 October 2013 in a 1–3 home loss against

Kasımpaşa SK Kasımpaşa may refer to: *Kasımpaşa, Beyoğlu Kasımpaşa () is a working-class neighbourhood on the northern shore of the Golden Horn within the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European side of the city. Once best known for i ...

. Smiljanić was released on 30 June 2015.

Later years

On 30 July 2015, Smiljanić joined

Maccabi Netanya F.C. Maccabi (sports), Maccabi Netanya F.C. ( he, מועדון כדורגל מכבי נתניה, ''Football Club Maccabi Netanya'') is an Israeli association football, football club based in Netanya. Established in 1934, the club was a founding memb ...

on a 1+1 contract. He left Israel the following 9 August, moving alongside countryman

Nebojša Marinković Nebojša Marinković (; born 19 June 1986) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. He is the older brother of fellow footballer Nenad Marinković. Club career Early years Born in Knjaževac, Marinković made ...

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

club

Perth Glory FC Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 199 ...

. On 16 February 2017, he left the latter via mutual termination of his contract to explore opportunities in Asia. On 15 June 2017, Smiljanić returned to the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

and signed with newly promoted Hapoel Ashkelon FC.

Partizan, Take Three

In June 2018, Smiljanić returned to his original club for the third time, committing to a two-year contract. In June 2019, he was appointed

Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, link ...

Vice-captain.

International career

After the 2006–07 season, Smiljanić was called up by Serbia under-21 coach

Miroslav Đukić Miroslav Đukić ( sr-cyr, Мирослав Ђукић, ; born 19 February 1966) is a Serbian former footballer who played as a sweeper, and a manager. He spent 14 years of his professional career in Spain, notably at the service of Deportivo ...

to be part of his squad for the 2007 UEFA European Championships. He helped the national side finish runner-up in the tournament, to hosts

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Smiljanić made his full debut on 22 August 2007, in a 2–3 loss against

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 ...

in Brussels for the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

qualifiers. In July of the following year he was picked to the 18-man squad for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, with Đukić again as manager – Serbia ranked last in its group. Next year, Smiljanić appeared in the 2009 European Under-21 Championship as captain, but could not help repeat the previous edition's feat as the nation did not progress through the group stages in his country of birth, Sweden.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

References

External links

*
National team data
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smiljanic, Milan 1986 births Living people People from Kalmar Swedish people of Serbian descent Serbian footballers Association football midfielders Serbian SuperLiga players FK Partizan players La Liga players RCD Espanyol footballers Sporting de Gijón players Süper Lig players Gençlerbirliği S.K. footballers Israeli Premier League players Maccabi Netanya F.C. players Hapoel Ashkelon F.C. players A-League Men players Perth Glory FC players Serbia under-21 international footballers Serbia international footballers Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Serbia Serbian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Israel Expatriate soccer players in Australia Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Australia