Dušan Kerkez (

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 ...

: Душан Керкез; born 1 May 1976) is a Bosnian professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

In the 2001–02 season, Kerkez played regularly for Radnički Obrenovac and helped the club earn promotion to the

First League of FR Yugoslavia The First League of Serbia and Montenegro () was the top football league of Serbia and Montenegro, before the country's dissolution in 2006. The league was formed as the First League of FR Yugoslavia following the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, ef ...

for the first time in history. He then moved to Bosnia and Herzegovina and joined Leotar in the summer of 2002, helping them win the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

in their debut appearance in the top flight. After two years at Leotar, Kerkez switched to fellow Bosnian side Zrinjski Mostar in the summer of 2004, celebrating his second league title in his only season at the club. He subsequently moved to Croatia and signed with

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

, winning the

national cup The English National Cup is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the National Basketball League (England), National Basketball League. For most of th ...

in his first year. In the summer of 2007, Kerkez was transferred to Cypriot side

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou () is a Cyprus, Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL Limassol also maintains a AEL Limassol B.C., men's and AEL Limassol B.C. (women), women's basketball teams, a wom ...

. He spent four seasons with the club, before switching to cross-town rivals

Aris Limassol Aris Limassol (Greek: ''Άρης Λεμεσού'') is a professional Cypriot football club based in Limassol and one of the founder members of Cyprus Football Association. The club's colours are green, black and white, and their home is the A ...

in the summer of 2011.

International career

Kerkez received his first call-up to the Bosnia and Herzegovina squad by manager

Blaž Slišković Blaž "Baka" Slišković (; born 30 May 1959) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the most successful Bosnian football managers. As a player, Slišković was capped 26 times for Yugoslavia in th ...

and made his debut for them in a February 2004

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 ...

away against

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

. He has earned a total of four. He also played in an unofficial game against Iran in 2005. His final international was a September 2006 European Championship qualification against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Personal life

Kerkez's son Strahinja Kerkez is also a professional footballer, and is a youth international for Cyprus.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

;Leotar *

Bosnian Premier League The Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ; sr-Cyrl, Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), officially known as the Wwin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina for sponsorship purposes, is the top tier football leagu ...

: 2002–03 ;Zrinjski Mostar * Bosnian Premier League: 2004–05 ;Rijeka * Croatian Cup: 2005–06

Manager

;AEL Limassol *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup, formally known as the Cypriot Coca-Cola Cup of First and Second Division () for sponsorship purposes, is a Cypriot knockout football club competition, hosted annually by the Cyprus Football Association. First held in 1934, it i ...

: 2018–19 ;Čukarički *

Serbian Cup The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије / Kup Srbije), also known as Mozzart Serbian Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. ...

runner-up: 2022–23 ;Botev Plovdiv *

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup () is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament's format is ''single-elimination'', with all matche ...

: 2023–24 Individual *

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League (), also known as Mozzart SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Serbia and the highest level of the Serbian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a sys ...

Manager of the Month: September 2022

References

External links