Duško Tošić ( sr-Cyrl, Душко Тошић, ; born 19 January 1985) is a Serbian 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 defender. He represented Serbia at the

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

and

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Zrenjanin Zrenjanin ( sr-Cyrl, Зрењанин, ; ; ; ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Central Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The city urban area has a population of 67,129 inh ...

, Tošić began his career in his native

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 ...

playing for

OFK Beograd OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English language, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club''), also known in English as OFK Belgrade and currently referred to as OFK ...

before moving to French club

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...

in the winter of 2006 but only spent one and a half seasons with the club as other European clubs from Italy, Germany and Spain were expressing an interest. During his time at Sochaux, they won the 2006–07 Coupe de France.

Werder Bremen

He transferred to

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

for the 2007–08 season, where he signed a contract until 2011. On 1 February 2010, his contract with Bremen was dissolved.

Portsmouth

Tošić signed for

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 ...

on 12 February 2010, but as a result of Portsmouth's financial situation Tošić's registration with the Premier League was withheld and he was forced to leave the club within a month of signing for them. Tošić was an unused substitute in Portsmouth's 4–1

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

fifth-round win at Southampton in February, and failed to get on the pitch that season. He signed a loan deal to play for QPR until the end of the season on 25 March 2010.

Red Star Belgrade

On 7 July 2010, he joined

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

, signing a three-year contract, rejecting the interest of some English clubs. On 31 August 2011, it was announced he would join

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

on a two-year loan with an option of Betis buying the player afterwards. He returned to Red Star in January 2012.

Gençlerbirliği

On 21 June 2012, it was announced that Tošić will leave Red Star Belgrade and join Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

side Gençlerbirliği. He played for three seasons there and was one of the best players in the team.

Beşiktaş

On 2 June 2015, Tošić signed a three-year contract for

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

. Beşiktaş won the title in the Süper Lig in 2015–16, as well as in 2016–17, with Tošić mainly occupying the left central defender position.

Guangzhou R&F

On 18 May 2018, Beşiktaş have announced that Tošić is set to sign for Guangzhou R&F, with a €5 million fee mooted. He signed two and a half year long contract worth €5.8 million per season.

International career

Tošić made his national debut 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 ...

on 15 November 2006, a friendly which ended in a 1–1 draw. In June 2018, Mladen Krstajić included Tošić in Serbia's final 23-man squad for the

, where he appeared in two matches against

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Personal life

Born in

, Tošić grew up in the nearby

Orlovat Orlovat (; ) is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Zrenjanin municipality, in the Central Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority (95.52%) and its population numbering 1,789 people (2002 census). Name I ...

village. He married Serbian pop singer

Jelena Karleuša Jelena Karleuša ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Карлеуша; born 17 August 1978) is a Serbian singer and media personality. Born and raised in Belgrade, she began her music career by releasing her debut album ''Ogledalce'' (1995) at the age of 16 ...

in June 2008. The couple has two daughters, Atina and Nika. In September 2024, both Karleuša and Tošić confirmed in separate statements that they were filing for a divorce after years of separation. Prior to the 2023 Serbian parliamentary election, Tošić pledged support to

Aleksandar Vučić Aleksandar Vučić, (born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as President of Serbia since 2017. A founding member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he previously served as President of the SNS from 2012 to 2023, Deputy Prim ...

and his campaign.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Serbia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tošić goal.''

Honours

Sochaux *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

: 2006–07 Werder Bremen *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 2008–09 *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

Runner-up: 2008–09 Red Star Belgrade *

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. ...

: 2011–12 Beşiktaş *

: 2015–16, 2016–17 Serbia * UEFA Under-21 Championship: runner-up

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Individual *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

Team of the Tournament:

* Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season: 2010–11, 2011–12

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tosic, Dusko 1985 births Living people Footballers from Zrenjanin Serbian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Serbia men's international footballers Serbia men's under-21 international footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's under-21 international footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Olympic footballers for Serbia Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics 2018 FIFA World Cup players Serbian SuperLiga players Ligue 1 players Bundesliga players English Football League players La Liga players Süper Lig players Chinese Super League players OFK Beograd players Red Star Belgrade footballers FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players SV Werder Bremen players Portsmouth F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Real Betis players Gençlerbirliği S.K. footballers Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Guangzhou City F.C. players Kasımpaşa S.K. footballers Serbian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in China Serbian expatriate sportspeople in France Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Serbian expatriate sportspeople in England Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Serbian expatriate sportspeople in China