Ljubiša Ranković (; born 10 December 1973) is 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 ...

n former

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

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 ...

who is the assistant manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Fayha.

Playing career

After playing for Rad in 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 ...

over one and a half seasons, Ranković was transferred abroad to South Korean club

Ilhwa Chunma Seongnam Football Club () is a South Korean professional football (soccer), football club based in Seongnam that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. It is one of the most successful clubs in South Korea and the ...

in October 1995, helping the team win the

K League K League () is South Korea's professional football league. It includes the first division K League 1 and the second division K League 2. Clubs competing in the K League have won a record total of twelve AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions ...

November November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days. November was the ninth month of the calendar of Romulus . November retained its name (from the Latin ''novem'' meaning " ...

and the Asian Club Championship in December of that year. He later made 12 appearances in the 1996 K League and five appearances in the 1996 Korean League Cup. Following his stint in Asia, Ranković joined Partizan in early

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. He spent seven seasons with the ''Crno-beli'', including loan spells to Chinese club Sichuan Dahe in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, as well as to fellow Serbian club

Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. Subsequently, Ranković moved abroad to France and joined

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

side

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

. He helped them earn promotion to

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

in his first season at the club. However, as they immediately suffered relegation from the top flight, Ranković left the country and signed for Ukrainian club Metalurh Zaporizhzhia in the summer of 2005. He returned to French football six months later and joined Ligue 2 club Sète, before hanging up his boots in 2006.

Post-playing career

After retiring from the game, Ranković was a member of technical staff at his former club Partizan for seven years until December 2014, before joining Belarusian side Dinamo Minsk as assistant manager to Dušan Uhrin Jr. ahead of the 2015 season. He was brought to the club by newly appointed director of football

Vuk Rašović Vuk Rašović (Serbian Cyrillic: Вук Рашовић; born 3 January 1973) is a Serbian football manager and former player who played as a defender. He is the currently head coach of UAE Pro League club Kalba FC. Playing career Rašović s ...

. After Rašović replaced Uhrin as manager, Ranković remained serving as an assistant. He returned to Partizan in August 2016, becoming assistant manager to Marko Nikolić. In June 2017, Ranković joined

Aleksandar Stanojević Aleksandar Stanojević ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Станојевић, ; born 28 October 1973) is a Serbian football manager and player. Playing career Stanojević started his playing career in Partizan youth squad. From 1992 until 1997 ...

in Greece as his assistant at

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

. He rejoined Partizan in October 2017 to assist Miroslav Đukić. In April 2018, Ranković became assistant manager to Mladen Krstajić with the Serbia national team, less than two months ahead of the 2018 World Cup. He also continued to assist Đukić at Partizan until the end of the season. In June 2018, it was announced that Ranković would be joining

as an assistant at Emirati club Al Dhafra.

Honours

;Ilhwa Chunma *

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

* Asian Club Championship:

;Partizan *

: 1996–97, 1998–99 *

FR Yugoslavia Cup The Serbia and Montenegro Cup was an association football knockout cup tournament of Serbia and Montenegro played between 1992 and 2006, after which Serbia and Montenegro became separate nations. The competition was the continuation of the old ...

: 1997–98, 2000–01

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rankovic, Ljubisa 1973 births Living people Footballers from Valjevo Men's association football midfielders Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers FK Rad players Seongnam FC players FK Partizan players Sichuan First City F.C. players FK Zemun players Stade Malherbe Caen players FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia players FC Sète 34 players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players K League 1 players Chinese Super League players Ligue 1 players Ukrainian Premier League players Ligue 2 players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in China Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate men's footballers in France Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Serbian football managers Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Belarus Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Serbian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates FK Partizan non-playing staff PAOK FC non-playing staff