Blagoje Paunović (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Благоје Пауновић; 4 June 1947 – 9 December 2014) was a

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defender and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Playing career

Born in

Pusto Šilovo Pusto Šilovo ( sr-cyr, Пусто Шилово) is a village in the Municipalities of Serbia, municipality of Medveđa, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the village has a population of 74 people.Popis stanovništva, domaćinstava i Stanova 2 ...

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

, he started his youth career in

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; ), often referred to in English as Partizan Belgrade, is a Serbian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Belgrade. It forms ...

as a nine-year-old, although minimum age required to start playing for Partizan youths was ten. He was spotted by Partizan coach Virgil Popescu who insisted in bringing him over. Apart from short spell abroad, Blagoje spent most of his time in Partizan and, as a player or coach, he was part of Partizan for almost half a century. Paunović played for ten seasons with

, amassing nearly 300 official appearances with the

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

club. During the 70's, he formed an efficient backline alongside Dragan Holcer and Miroslav Pavlović. At 28, in 1975, Paunović joined

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. After two seasons abroad he returned home for a spell with OFK Kikinda, played briefly in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

by representing the

Oakland Stompers The Oakland Stompers were a soccer team based out of Oakland, California that played the 1978 season in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League (NASL). The Stompers played in the Western Division of the Amer ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

and closed out his career also in his country's capital, with lowly FK Sinđelić; whilst in North America, he played under the name Paki Paunovich. On the international level, Paunović played a total of 39 matches for

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, making his debut on 12 November 1967 in a 4–0 home win against

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

for the

UEFA Euro 1968 The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the third UEFA European Championship, an event held every four years and organised by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 5 and 10 June 1968. It ...

qualifiers, and participating at the final stages in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Coaching career

In the 1994–95 campaign Paunović, already a coach, was one of five managers in charge of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

CD Logroñés Club Deportivo Logroñés, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 1940, it last played in '' Regional Preferente de La Rioja''. Due to financial problems, since 2009 the club ha ...

, which ranked last in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

with an all-time low 13 points. In 2009, after a long spell with Partizan's youth teams, he signed with Serbian first division side

FK Smederevo Fudbalski klub Smederevo 1924 ( sr-cyr, Фудбалски клуб Смедерево 1924), commonly known as Smederevo, is a Serbian professional football club based in Smederevo. At the beginning of the 2000s, the club (then known as Sartid S ...

Personal life

Paunović's son, Veljko, was also a footballer and later manager of Chicago Fire,

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, and the Serbian U18, U19, and U20 teams. He too started his extensive career with Partizan, but played mainly in Spain.

References

External links

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NASL stats
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paunovic, Blagoje 1947 births 2014 deaths People from Medveđa Sportspeople from Jablanica District Men's association football defenders Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1968 players FK Partizan players FC Utrecht players OFK Kikinda players Oakland Stompers players FK Sinđelić Beograd players Yugoslav First League players Eredivisie players Yugoslav Second League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States Serbia and Montenegro football managers CD Logroñés managers FK Teleoptik managers Serbian football managers FK Smederevo 1924 managers La Liga managers Serbian SuperLiga managers Serbian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Spain Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Spain FK Partizan non-playing staff Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery