Marko Šćepović ( sr-cyr, Марко Шћеповић, ; born 23 May 1991) is a Serbian 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 striker.

Club career

Early 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 ...

, Šćepović graduated from

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; ), often referred to in English as Partizan Belgrade, is a Serbian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Belgrade. It forms ...

's youth setup, after stints at Spanish

CP Mérida Club Polideportivo Mérida was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Mérida, Spain, Mérida, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Having played twice in La Liga (1995–96 La Liga, 1995–96 and 1997–98 La Li ...

and

FK Rad FK Rad () is a football club based in Banjica, Belgrade, Serbia. They compete in the Belgrade Zone League, the fourth tier of the national league system. Founded in 1958, the club spent a total of 30 seasons in the top flight between 1987 and 2 ...

. He made his debuts as a senior with

FK Teleoptik FK Teleoptik () is a football club based in Zemun, Belgrade, Serbia. They compete in the Serbian League Belgrade, the third tier of the national league system. History The club was founded by the manufacturing company of the same name in 1952. Th ...

, the former's

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

, scoring regularly in his second campaign.

Partizan

In the summer of 2010 Šćepović was promoted to the main squad, and signed his first professional contract. In his first season under

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 ...

, he split appearances with fellow forwards,

Lamine Diarra Lamine Diarra (born 20 December 1983) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was capped once for Senegal at full level besides representing the country at the under-23 level. Nicknamed ''Black Mamba'' and '' ...

, Eduardo Pacheco, and

Lazar Marković Lazar Marković ( sr-Cyrl, Лазар Марковић, ; born 2 March 1994) is a Serbian professional association football, footballer who plays as a winger (association football), winger for UAE Pro League club Baniyas Club, Baniyas. He start ...

. Šćepović scored his first professional goal on 4 September 2010, netting the last of a 2–0 home success against

FK Hajduk Kula FK Hajduk Kula (Serbian Cyrillic: ФК Хајдук Кула) was a Serbian football club based in Kula. The club was named after a Hajduk, a much celebrated hero figure in the Serbian epic poetry. On 30 July 2013, just eleven days before start ...

. On 29 October of the following year, after netting the second in a 3–1 win against

FK Smederevo Fudbalski klub Smederevo 1924 ( sr-cyr, Фудбалски клуб Смедерево 1924), commonly known as Smederevo, is a Serbian professional football club based in Smederevo. At the beginning of the 2000s, the club (then known as Sartid S ...

, he gestured with his finger on his lips to "hush" some spectators in the east tribune of

Partizan Stadium The Partizan Stadium ( Serbian: Стадион Партизан / ''Stadion Partizan'') is a football and track-and-field stadium in Autokomanda, Belgrade, Serbia. The home ground of FK Partizan, it was formerly known as JNA Stadium (Stadion J ...

which had provoked him during the match. He also scored in Partizan's 2–0 win in the Eternal Derby against

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 ...

on 26 November, being also given the ''Man of the Match'' award by Serbian newspaper

Sportal Sportal was a company of the dotcom boom at the end of the 1990s. Founded by Rob Hersov, and backed by BSkyB and Silvio Berlusconi's Fininvest among others, the company, originally called Pangolin, acquired rights to host a many official websit ...

Armband affair

On 6 August 2013, after captaining Partizan in a 0–1

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 ...

home loss to

Ludogorets Razgrad Professional Football Club Ludogorets 1945 (), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad or simply Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Razgrad, which currently competes in the First Professional Football League ...

( 1-3 aggregate loss), a

Grobari Grobari ( sr-cyr, Гробари, ) are the organized supporters group of the Serbian football club Partizan. They are one of two major football fan groups in Serbia. They generally support all clubs within the Partizan multi-sports club, and m ...

leader named Miloš "Kimi" Radisavljević jumped down onto the pitch and removed the armband of Šćepović's arm. On 7 August, the scandal became even more controversial when a media conference was held with Radisavljević and Šćepović, with the former claiming to the press that he did not "aggressively" take the armband, and that he and the latter were "friends". In spite of the bizarre media conference and Šćepović passively agreeing with Radisavljević in the conference,

criminologist Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

Zlatko Nikolić of Serbia's Criminal and Social Research Institute gave voice to a widespread public suspicion that the conference was staged and that Šćepović was humiliated and may have been threatened to agree with the latter in the conference. Despite the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs promising to investigate the matter thoroughly, Radisavljević was released after a 90-minute interrogation by the police. About the incident,

Milutin Šoškić Milutin Šoškić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милутин Шошкић; 31 December 1937 – 27 August 2022) was a Serbian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is considered one of FK Partizan's greatest players. Biography He was ...

said, "We have imported

hooliganism Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, often in connection with crowds at sporting events. A hooligan is a person that engages in illicit reckless behaviors and is a public nuisance. Etymology ...

from England, but we don't have a

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

to neutralize it."

Olympiacos

On 2 September 2013, Šćepović signed a four-year deal with

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, ...

, for a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

3.5 million fee. On 22 February 2014, he scored his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in his career, in a 4–0 away win against

OFI Crete OFI Football Club (, ''Heraklion Sportsmen Club 1925 FC''), commonly referred to as OFI, is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. It is part of the O.F.I. (sports club), OFI mul ...

. Despite scoring four goals for the Greek outfit, Šćepović only started in seven matches during the whole campaign, totalling 650 minutes of action.

Mallorca (loan)

On 20 August 2014, Šćepović was loaned to Spanish

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

side

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

in a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

-long deal. An undisputed starter during the beginning of the campaign, he scored braces against

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

and

CD Lugo Club Deportivo Lugo is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lugo, in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. Founded on 8 July 1953, it plays in Primera Federación, holding home games at ''Estadio Anxo ...

Terek Grozny (loan)

On 25 February 2015, Šćepović joined

FC Terek Grozny Republican Football Club Akhmat (; ), commonly known as Akhmat Grozny, and formerly as Terek Grozny from 1958 to 2017, is a Russian professional football club based in Grozny that plays in the Russian Premier League. History The club was foun ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2014–15 season.

Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz (loan)

In August 2015 Šćepović joined

Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz Royal Excel Mouscron (, ), commonly known as Mouscron or familiarly as REM, was a Belgian professional football club based in Mouscron. The team was formed as ''Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz'' in the spring of 2010 as a result of the merging between ...

on loan from Olympiakos.

Fehérvár

On 30 August 2016, Šćepović signed a three-year contract with Videoton, later named MOL Vidi.

Later career

On 30 August 2019, Šćepović signed a three-year contract with 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 ...

club

Çaykur Rizespor Çaykur Rizespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional Association football, football club based in Rize, a city on the eastern Black Sea region, Black Sea coast. The team competes in the Süper Lig, the top tier of Football in Turkey, Turkish footba ...

. He subsequently played for Thai club Buriram United in 2020, and for Cypriot side Omonia during the 2021–22 season. On 6 February 2023, after more than six months without a club, Šćepović signed a short-term deal with

Lugo Lugo (, ) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 100,060 in 2024, ...

in the Spanish second division.

International career

On 12 October 2012, Šćepović made his debut for the Serbia national team in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Šćepović started the game against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in a FIFA World Cup qualifier.

Personal life

Šćepović is the son of former Partizan striker

Slađan Šćepović Slađan Šćepović (Serbian Cyrillic: Слађан Шћеповић; born 5 December 1965) is a Serbian former football manager and player. Career Born in Priboj, SR Serbia within SFR Yugoslavia, he played most of his career with FK Partizan in ...

, and the younger brother of another professional football striker,

Stefan Šćepović Stefan Šćepović ( sr-cyr, Стефан Шћеповић, ; born 10 January 1990) is a Serbian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for OFK Beograd. Formerly an Serbia national un ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Partizan *

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 ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2011–12, 2012–13 *

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. ...

Olympiacos *

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 ...

: 2013–14 Videoton *

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...

: 2017–18 *

Magyar Kupa The Hungarian Cup (, ), officially known as MOL Magyar Kupa for sponsorship reasons, is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association'','' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of ...

: 2018–19 Omonia *

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

: 2020–21 *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup, formally known as the Cypriot Coca-Cola Cup of First and Second Division () for sponsorship purposes, is a Cypriot knockout football club competition, hosted annually by the Cyprus Football Association. First held in 1934, it i ...

: 2021–22 *

Cypriot Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Notes and references

External links