Boris Živković (; born 15 November 1975) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a full-back and

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Živković began his professional career with Marsonia and Hrvatski Dragovoljac in his native country before spending six seasons with

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

. Following shorter stints at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

, and 1. FC Köln, he returned to Croatia to play for Hajduk Split. At the international level, Živković represented the Croatia national team, making 39 appearances, 18 of which as the team's captain.

Club career

Early career

Živković started his career at

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

as a youth player, before being signed by Marsonia (from

Slavonski Brod Slavonski Brod (, ), commonly shortened to simply Brod, is a city in eastern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Being one of the principal cities in the historical regions of Slavonia and Posavina, Slavonski Brod is the 7th lar ...

). He gained a good reputation at Marsonia, first appearing in the 1994–95 season, during which he made 13 appearances. The following season, he played 31 games before transferring to Hrvatski Dragovoljac (from Siget,

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

). However, he only spent one season at his new club before impressive performances persuaded German club

to sign him.

Bayer Leverkusen

Živković played six seasons for the German club, playing over 150 times, including the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final. Following his contract expiring in the summer of 2003, Živković stated his desire to play in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, and was signed later that summer by

Portsmouth and Stuttgart

Živković started his Pompey career well, instantly claiming a regular starting place. However, in December, a public fall-out with manager

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Portsmouth F.C., ...

led to him being released, having played only 18 times for the club.

stepped in to bring Živković back to Germany, and the Croatian joined them in January.

Hajduk Split

In August 2006, he moved to Hajduk Split.

International career

Živković was a regular for the Croatia national team, making 39 appearances and scoring twice. He was part of the squad at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, but in his first game against Mexico, he caused a penalty in the 59th minute, after which he was sent off and the Mexicans went on to score from the penalty mark and win the game by 1-0. He was no longer on the team for the remaining two games Croatia played in the tournament before being eliminated — Italy and Mexico progressed from the group to the playoffs. He also played two games at Euro 2004. Boris was out of favour for

Zlatko Kranjčar Zlatko "Cico" Kranjčar (; 15 November 1956 – 1 March 2021) was a Croatian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. Kranjčar started his career as a player with GNK Dinam ...

's World Cup 2006 campaign, but many defender injuries forced Slaven Bilić to give him a call for the Euro 2008 spring qualifying games. His final international was a February 2007

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first, and the score column indicates the score after each Živković goal.''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zivkovic, Boris 1975 births Living people People from Živinice Footballers from Tuzla Canton Men's association football defenders Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's international footballers 2002 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players FK Sarajevo players NK Marsonia players NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Portsmouth F.C. players VfB Stuttgart players 1. FC Köln players HNK Hajduk Split players Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina players Croatian Football League players Bundesliga players Premier League players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in England Croatian expatriate sportspeople in England 21st-century Croatian sportsmen