Marko Seufatu Nikola Stamenić ( sr-Cyrl, Марко Сеуфату Никола Стаменић; born 19 February 2002) is a New Zealand 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 club

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, and the New Zealand national team. Born in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and raised in

Stokes Valley Stokes Valley, a major suburb of the city of Lower Hutt in the North Island of New Zealand, lies at the edge of the city, seven kilometres northeast of the city centre. It occupies the valley of a small tributary of the Hutt River, called Sto ...

, Stamenić graduated from the

Olé Football Academy The Olé Football Academy, commonly referred to as Olé, is a national association football centre based in the city of Porirua in the Wellington Region, New Zealand. Considered the premier football academy in New Zealand, Olé are currently repr ...

and signed for

FC Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen (, ), commonly known as F.C. København, F.C. Copenhagen, Copenhagen, or simply FCK, is a Danish professional football club based in Copenhagen. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on top of Kjøbenhavns Boldklu ...

in September 2020 following extended trials. Following sporadic appearances for the club, including in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, Stamenić departed to join

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 ...

in 2023.

Club career

Western Suburbs

Born in Wellington, Stamenić attended St Patrick's College, Silverstream, Wellington. and came through the ranks of the

. During this time, Stamenić played for Olé-affiliated club Western Suburbs in the

Central Premier League The Central League, known as the Dettol Central League for sponsorship reasons, is a competition run by the Capital Football for association football clubs located in the southern and central parts of the North Island. It is a New Zealand top-t ...

, making his debut in 2017 and reaching the final of the 2018 Chatham Cup.

Team Wellington

Following Olé's affiliation with ISPS Handa Premiership side

Team Wellington Team Wellington Football Club was an association football club based in the suburb of Miramar in Wellington, New Zealand. They competed in the ISPS Handa Premiership. Team Wellington had traditionally been one of the most successful football c ...

, Stamenić signed for them on 2 October 2019. He made seven league appearances, scoring one goal on 15 December 2019 against Southern United.

Copenhagen

Following his standout performances for

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in the

2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 18th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was ...

, and despite interest from Brazilian Série A club

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

, Stamenić was invited for a three-week trial at

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

side

in March 2020. However, following an order from the

New Zealand Government The New Zealand Government () is the central government through which political authority is exercised in New Zealand. As in most other parliamentary democracies, the term "Government" refers chiefly to the executive branch, and more specifica ...

for all foreign-based New Zealand citizens to urgently return to the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was forced to abort the trial. FC Copenhagen retained their interest, and Stamenić eventually returned to Denmark, signing for the club's under-19 team on 1 September 2020. Stamenić made his debut for the first team on 23 November 2020, starting in a 2–1 Superliga loss to

Randers FC Randers FC () is a professional association football, football club based in Randers, East Jutland metropolitan area, East Jutland, that plays in the Danish Superliga, the top flight of the Danish football league system. Founded on 1 January 200 ...

. On 9 January 2023, Copenhagen announced they would not be extending his contract, which expired in June 2023, as Stamenić had elected to explore other opportunities.

Red Star Belgrade

On 6 February 2023,

(Crvena zvezda) announced that they had signed Stamenić on a four-year deal beginning the next season.

Nottingham Forest

On 21 June 2024, Stamenić signed for English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

on a five-year deal, immediately joining

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

side

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

on a season-long loan deal.

International career

Under-17

Stamenić made his first appearance for the New Zealand U-17 team coming off the bench in their 0–5 loss to the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

at the 2018 OFC U-16 Championship. He then followed that up starting in New Zealand's next matches against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

in the last pool game,

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

in the semi-finals and in the final which saw a rematch against the Solomon Islands that New Zealand won 5–4 on penalties. Stamenić played all three games for

in their

campaign, finishing third in their group.

Senior

On 25 June 2021, Stamenić was called up to the New Zealand squad for the delayed

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. Stamenić made his international debut with the senior New Zealand national team in a 2–1 friendly win over

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

on 9 October 2021.

Personal life

Stamenić was born in New Zealand to a Serbian father from

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

and a Samoan mother.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list New Zealand's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Stamenić goal.''

Honours

Western Suburbs *

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League i ...

: 2017, 2019 *

Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout tournament in men's association football. It is held annually, with the final contested in September. The current champions of the Chatham Cup are Wellington Olymp ...

runner-up:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Copenhagen *

: 2022–23 *

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

: 2022–23 Red Star Belgrade *

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 ...

: 2023–24 *

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. ...

: 2023–24 Olympiacos *

: 2024–25 *

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 2024–25

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stamenić, Marko 2002 births Living people Association footballers from Wellington City New Zealand men's association footballers New Zealand men's international footballers New Zealand men's youth international footballers New Zealand people of Serbian descent New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Men's association football midfielders People educated at St Patrick's College, Wellington Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic association footballers for New Zealand Western Suburbs FC players Team Wellington FC players F.C. Copenhagen players HB Køge players Red Star Belgrade footballers Nottingham Forest F.C. players Olympiacos F.C. players New Zealand Football Championship players Danish 1st Division players Serbian SuperLiga players New Zealand expatriate men's association footballers New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece New Zealand men's under-23 international footballers 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen