Ljubiša Tumbaković (, ; born 2 September 1952) is a Serbian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager. He is the most successful coach in the history of Serbian powerhouse Partizan which he led to six national championship titles and three national cup wins during his two spells at the club between 1993 and 2001. He was most recently the manager in the Serbia national team.

Playing career

Born in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

's urban neighborhood of Dorćol, Tumbaković started out in the youth categories of Radnički Beograd in 1962. Two years later, he joined the youth ranks of Partizan. In 1970, with Tumbaković turning 18, he joined the senior squad. Although he didn't appear in any domestic league matches for Partizan, he did appear in 45 friendlies, scoring 6 goals.

Managerial career

Partizan

Tumbaković started his management career with Partizan in 1992. Partizan were in the doldrums when Tumbaković took control, however he immediately brought success to Partizan by winning the league with them in his debut season.Tumbakovic resigns from Partizan
/ref> This was a feat that he would repeat five times during his first time with Partizan as well as winning three FR Yugoslavia Cups. These achievements caught the eye of AEK Athens F.C. who finished third in the league under Tumbaković's management.

Return to Partizan

Tumbaković returned to Partizan at the beginning of the 2000/01 league season after a season away from the club and with the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

attacks on

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

firmly behind the league, Tumbaković would continue establishing Partizan as one of the strongest teams in the league. However, despite more domestic success with Partizan where they won the 2001/02 league title European success was far more difficult to achieve. He would stand down from his position after almost a decade in charge of FK Partizan where he was one of the most successful coaches in Yugoslavian football history.

Shandong Luneng

In 2003, he would coach Saudi team Al Nassr for a short period. However, he quickly moved to Chinese team Shandong Luneng at the beginning of their 2004 league season. Tumbaković who was the second Serbian to manage Shandong after Slobodan Santrač, was to make a quick impression at the club when he won the Chinese FA Cup and took them second in league. Ljubiša would continue to establish Shandong as genuine title contenders throughout the 2005 league season despite them coming third within the league and being unable to retain their FA Cup. It was within the 2006 league season which established Shandong as a significant force within the Chinese Super League when they won the league by 17 points and FA cup. Their dominance was repeated when they again won the league title in 2008.

Montenegro

Tumbaković was appointed head coach of the Montenegro national team on 19 January 2016 and was sacked on 7 June 2019 after refusing to take charge of a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying game against

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

and abandoning the staff on the match day.Montenegro sack Ljubisa Tumbakovic for missing Kosovo match
BBC Sport. 8 June 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2019.

Serbia

He was appointed as the manager of the Serbia national team on 1 July 2019. After Serbia finished third in their UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying group, he left the position in December 2020 after not qualifying for Euro 2020, being eliminated by

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on penalties in the qualifying play-offs, after star striker Aleksandar Mitrović failed to convert his spot kick in the shootout.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

;Partizan * FR Yugoslavia First League: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2001–02 * FR Yugoslavia Cup: 1993–94, 1997–98, 2000–01 ;Shandong Luneng * Chinese Super League: 2006, 2008 * Chinese FA Cup:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, 2006 ;Individual * Serbian Coach of the Year: 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tumbakovic, Ljubisa 1952 births Living people Sportspeople from Belgrade Yugoslav men's footballers FK Partizan players FK Vardar players FK Radnički Sombor players Men's association football midfielders Serbian football managers FK Obilić managers FK Partizan managers AEK Athens F.C. managers Al-Nassr FC managers Shandong Taishan F.C. managers Montenegro national football team managers Serbian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Greece Expatriate football managers in China Expatriate football managers in Iran Wuhan Yangtze River F.C. managers Chinese Super League managers Persian Gulf Pro League managers