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Mihael Kovačević (born 6 March 1988) is a
Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...
former 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 ...
.


Club career

Of Croatian descent, Kovačević was born in
Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
, Switzerland, and began his career with spells across Europe, playing for
BSC Old Boys Basler Sportclub Old Boys, commonly known as BSC Old Boys, Old Boys Basel or simply Old Boys or when written just OB, is a Swiss sports club based in Basel, Switzerland. The club is mainly known for its football but it also has track, swimming ...
in Switzerland,
Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...
in Croatia and
FC Koper Football Club Koper, commonly referred to as FC Koper or simply Koper, is a Slovenian football club based in Koper that competes in the Slovenian First League, the top flight of Slovenian football. The club was founded in 1920. They won the Sl ...
in Slovenia. Following a trial period at Scottish club
Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...
, Kovačević signed for the club during the January 2008 transfer window. He made his debut a month later in a 0–0 draw with
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
at
Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...
. He won a runners-up medal in the 2008 Scottish League Cup Final, his second match for the club, after the narrow defeat to
Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
at
Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...
. Kovačević made a further three first team starts before the end of the 2007–08 season. The following season Kovačević shared the right back position with
Seán Dillon Seán Dillon (born 30 July 1983) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Montrose, where he is a player-coach. He previously played for Dundee United and Irish teams Longford Town and Shelbourne in the League o ...
, both playing approximately the same number of matches throughout the season. Kovačević suffered a broken cheekbone during the season, which resulted in him wearing a specially-fitted facemask. The following season, Kovačević scored his first goal, an equaliser in a 3–3 draw against
Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
in the
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Kris Boyd for diving and winning two penalties and hit back on referee Dougie McDonald for his role during the match. Kovačević was part of the team that went on to finish third in the
2009–10 Scottish Premier League The 2009–10 Scottish Premier League season was the twelfth season of the Scottish Premier League. Rangers were the defending champions and they retained the championship with three games to spare by winning 1–0 against Hibernian at Easter ...
and won the 2009–10 Scottish Cup. In another match against Rangers that season, Kovačević was sent off after deliberately kicking away the legs of
Kyle Lafferty Kyle Joseph George Lafferty (born 16 September 1987) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for side Johnstone Burgh. Lafferty began his professional career with English side Burnley, where he made 89 appearances ...
. After the match, Manager Peter Houston said that Kovačević deserved to be sent-off. Towards the end of the season, Kovačević suffered another injury. Eventually, Kovačević made a return, just in time for the final. Ahead of a new season, Kovačević suffered another injury during a trip to visit his family in Switzerland, which left him out for four months, as a result Dundee United sought an operation for Mihael. His injury led to the questioning of his future in Dundee as his contract was set to expire in just a few months. Eventually, Kovačević signed a new contract, that kept him until the end of the season. However, his injury was put out again and shortly making a recovery, Kovačević expected to make a comeback. Towards the end of the season, Kovačević received a red card once again in a 4–0 defeat to Rangers. He was released from the club after spending most of the 2010–11 season out injured. After not being offered a new deal with
Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...
in summer of 2011, he signed for
NK Zadar Nogometni klub Zadar (), commonly referred to as NK Zadar or simply Zadar, was a Croatian football club based in Zadar, a city on the Adriatic coast, best known for playing in the top flight of Croatian football for almost twenty years. Histor ...
as a free agent in October 2011. Kovačević made his debut with NK Zadar in
Croatian First League The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...
against his former club
Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...
, in a game which Zadar surprisingly won against Champions League contestant. Kovačević then returned to Scotland in July 2012, signing for Ross County, having previously went on the trial with the club. Having spent time on the bench for the next five games, Kovačević finally made his debut against - his former club in a 1–1 draw, having come on as a substitute for Ross Tokely on 14 September 2012. Due to the absence of Tokely, Kovačević soon took up the right-back and since established himself in the first team. It was confirmed on 21 May 2013 that Kovačević had been handed a contract extension as a reward for the fifth-placed finish in the SPL. On 22 January 2014, Kovačević was released by Ross County. In July 2014, he signed with Beroe in the
A PFG The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...
. After a move to Hungary in 2015 and then back to his native Switzerland in 2016, Kovačević retired from professional football on 1 July 2017.


International career

He played for both Switzerland and Croatia at Under-21 level. In November 2008, Kovačević received his first call-up to the Switzerland under-21 side.


Personal life

On 31 December 2010, it was announced that Kovačević is to appear in court after being accused of driving at 104 mph in a 40 mph zone, having driven his Audi A8 4-2 Quattro dangerously and at "grossly excessive speeds" on Dundee's East Dock Street, which happened two months ago. After a month of the case, Kovačević was sentenced to carry out the community service and fined him £700 and disqualified him from driving for 14 months. Kovačević admitted driving dangerously and at grossly excessive speeds, having been confused over the speed limit. As to carry out community service, Kovacevic was told by the court that he needed to do the community service in order to an example" to young people. During his time at Dundee United, Kovačević shared a flat with teammates
Andis Shala Andis Shala (; born 15 November 1988) is a Kosovar footballer who most recently played as a forward for Chemnitzer FC. Club career Having begun career in the youth team at Hannover 96, Shala joined VfR Mannheim in January 2008 on a short-term ...
and David Robertson, while Morgaro Gomis, Francisco Sandaza and Prince Buaben live next door in Dundee.


Honours


Dundee United

*
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
*
Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...
Runner-up: 1 :: 2007–08


References


External links


Profile
at Dundee United official site *
Stats from Slovenia
at PrvaLiga * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacevic, Mihael 1988 births Living people Footballers from Basel-Stadt Swiss people of Croatian descent Swiss men's footballers Swiss expatriate men's footballers Men's association football defenders Croatia men's under-21 international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria BSC Old Boys players Slovenian PrvaLiga players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players FC Koper players Dundee United F.C. players NK Zadar players Ross County F.C. players PFC Beroe Stara Zagora players Nyíregyháza Spartacus FC players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players Croatian Football League players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players 21st-century Swiss sportsmen