Kojo Matić (born 7 November 1995) is a 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 plays 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 ...

for Zvijezda 09.

Career

Early tenure in Slovakia

Matić arrived in Slovakia in the winter of 2017. He spent his first two years in three clubs in 3. Liga West –

Nové Zámky Nové Zámky (; ) is a town in Nové Zámky District in the Nitra Region of southwestern Slovakia. Geography The town is located on the Danubian Lowland, on the Nitra River, at an altitude of 119 metres. It is located around 100 km fr ...

, Družstevník Veľké Ludince,

Gabčíkovo Gabčíkovo (, ) is a town and municipality in the Dunajská Streda District, in the Trnava Region of southwestern Slovakia. It has 5,232 inhabitants of whom approximately 80% are Hungarians. After the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia, the ...

. Across two calendar years, he scored over 20 goals in almost 100 games in the league.

FK Pohronie

Matić joined Pohronie in January 2020. It was his first top-division football club. He transferred into the club from the third division club of

. Upon his transfer he became a third player named Matić to feature in the league, following brothers Nemanja and

Uroš __NOTOC__ Uroš ( sr-Cyrl, Урош) is a South Slavic masculine given name used primarily by Slovenes and Serbs. This noun has been interpreted as "lords", because it usually appears in conjunction with ''velmõžie'' () "magnates", as in the phra ...

. They are not related. Upon his arrival, Matić had commented on the professionalism in the club and the satisfying winter preparation. Matić was congratulated on this transfer by the

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

star

Luka Jović Luka Jović ( sr-Cyrl, Лука Јовић; born 23 December 1997) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a striker for the Serbia national team. Early life Jović was born in Loznica, FR Yugoslavia. He was raised in the small vil ...

, via

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

, who was his neighbour and with whom he remains a close friend. Matić was first nominated for a Fortuna Liga fixture in a goal-less tie against

Nitra Nitra (; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra (river), Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of ...

at pod Zoborom on 15 February 2020. He did not appear in the match though. He scored two goals in two friendly matches against

Ružomberok Ružomberok (; ; ; ) is a town in northern Slovakia, in the historical Liptov region. It has a population of approximately 27,000. Etymology The name of the initial settlement located on today's Makovický street was ''Revúca'' ( Slovak "roaring ...

in late May 2020, as Fortuna Liga sides had prepared for a league restart. First, on 25 May, at pod Čebraťom, he equalised the game to the final score of 1–1, following earlier goal from Rastislav Kružliak. Few days later he scored the opening goal of the match in a 3–1 win over the same opponent on home

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

. Pohronie scored two more through James Weir and

Patrik Abrahám Patrik Abrahám (born 10 December 1991) is a Slovak footballer who currently plays for Hamsik Academy in 3. Liga as a midfielder. Career Spartak Myjava Abrahám made his Fortuna Liga debut for Spartak Myjava against ViOn Zlaté Moravce on 16 ...

. He departed from the club in January 2021, with a single Slovnaft Cup goal against

Dunajská Lužná Dunajská Lužná () is a municipality (village) in the Bratislava Region of western Slovakia in Senec District. Dunajská Lužná lies approximately 15 km from the capital city of Bratislava towards Dunajská Streda and Komárno. It was fou ...

External links

Futbalnet profileFieldoo profile

References