Željko Tadić (born 9 June 1974) is a Montenegrin 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 lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

Club career

He was born in

Nikšić Nikšić (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Никшић, ), is the second largest city in Montenegro, with a total population of 32,046 (2023 census) located in the west of the country, in the centre of the spacious Nikšić field at the foot of Trebjesa ...

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

, and was one of the Yugoslav players who moved to Brazil in 2001, when

Dejan Petković Dejan Petković ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Петковић, ; born 10 September 1972) is a Serbian football pundit and retired footballer. In his native country he is widely known under the nickname Rambo while in Brazil he is known as Pet. He playe ...

was in good form. He played with Petković in 2001, when they were part of Radnički Niš' squad. Tadić moved from Partizan to

XV de Piracicaba Esporte Clube XV de Novembro, commonly referred to as XV de Piracicaba, is a professional association football club based in Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil. The club competes in the Série D, the fourth tier of the Brazilian football league sys ...

in 2001. He then moved in the same year to

Londrina Londrina (, literally "Little London") is a city located in the north of the state of Paraná (state), Paraná, South Region, Brazil, and is 388 km (241 miles) away from the state capital, Curitiba. It is the second largest city in the state and f ...

. His name was misspelled as ''Tandic'' by the Brazilian press. He defended

Bragantino Red Bull Bragantino () is a Brazilian football club based in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo. It competes in the Série A, the top tier of the Brazilian football league system, as well as in the Campeonato Paulista Série A1, the highest level ...

in 2002 and German club

Weinheim Weinheim (; ) is a town with about 43,000 inhabitants in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is in the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, approximately north of Heidelberg and northeast of Mannheim. Weinheim is known as the "Zwei-Burgen-Sta ...

in 2003. The goalkeeper left

Uberaba Uberaba () is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Highlands at an elevation of 823 metres (2,700 ft) above sea level on the Uberaba River, and is situated 418 kilometres (260 mi) from the state c ...

and joined

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

in 2004, after a suggestion by the club's main star Dejan Petković. His performance in the Rio de Janeiro club was poor, he played seven Série A games and conceded 14 goals. He later sued the club for failing to pay his wages. After leaving Vasco, he joined Guarani of

Divinópolis Divinópolis is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the centre-west of Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The estimated population in 2020 was 240,408 inhabitants. The total area of the municipality is 709 km2 and the elevation is 712 metres ...

. He then retired and worked as Dejan Petković's agent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tadic, Zeljko 1974 births Living people Footballers from Nikšić Men's association football goalkeepers Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers FK Radnički Niš players FK Budućnost Podgorica players FK Partizan players Esporte Clube XV de Novembro (Piracicaba) players Londrina Esporte Clube players Clube Atlético Bragantino players Uberaba Sport Club players CR Vasco da Gama players Guarani Esporte Clube (MG) players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Germany