Milan Biševac ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Бишевац; born 31 August 1983) is a Serbian 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. In international competition, he has played for the Serbia national team.

Club career

Early career

Biševac started his football career when he was at

BASK Bask may refer to: * to bask, or to sunbathe * Bask, Gilan, Iran; a village * Kalle Bask, a Finnish sailor * Bask (horse) (1956–1979), an Arabian stallion * Bask Om, a fictional character from Zeta Gundam * A fictional king (and the area he ...

in 2001. Biševac had been at

OFK Beograd OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English language, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club''), also known in English as OFK Belgrade and currently referred to as OFK ...

, but the club let him go because it was not impressed with his talent. At BASK, he established himself in the starting XI, scoring five goals in 52 appearances. In 2003, he left BASK for

FK Bežanija FK Bežanija () is a football club based in Bežanija, Belgrade, Serbia. They compete in the Belgrade Zone League, the fourth tier of the national league system. History Founded in 1921, the club changed its name several times in its early stag ...

, where he scored once in 15 appearances. After half a season at Bežanija, he joined

FK Železnik FK Železnik 1930 () is a Association football, football club based in Železnik, Belgrade, Serbia. They compete in the Belgrade Intermunicipal League, the sixth tier of the Serbian football league system, national league system. The club compet ...

after their coach was impressed by his play and decided to sign him. At Železnik, Biševac helped the club to a third place finish in the league.

Red Star Belgrade

In the summer transfer window, Biševac joined Serbian

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 ...

for a reported fee of €500,000. He made his European debut when he came on as a late substitute in a 2–2 draw against Swiss side Young Boys in the first leg. In the second leg, Red Star Belgrade advanced to the next round, winning 3–0, where Biševac played the full 90 minutes. With Red Star's elimination from 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 ...

, he also made his

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

debut in a first-round loss against Russian side

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (, ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, according to some Russian sources), the club plays in the Russian Pr ...

. At Red Star, he won his place in the first team in defence and scored once in 24 appearances. The club, however, was unable to win the title, losing to rivals Partizan, though in the following

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 ...

, the team won the title. In the UEFA Cup campaign, Biševac played all the club's matches. He continued to be in the first team for the club until he left Serbia for France.

Lens

In the summer transfer window, Biševac joined

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

; he remained, however, at Red Star until January due to remaining issues in Serbia. After his move, he joined up his Serbian national teammate

Nenad Kovačević Nenad Kovačević ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Ковачевић; born 11 November 1980) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Club career Kovačević captained Red Star Belgrade and joined French top-tier ...

. On 3 February 2007, Biševac played his first

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 ...

match for Lens against

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

. In the second half of the season, Biševac played only a handful of matches after suffering from a back injury. The following season, Biševac established himself in the first team. On 21 January 2008, he scored his first goal in his French career in a 3–0 win over his future club

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. In a 1–1 draw against

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, he also set up a goal for striker Loïc Rémy. During the season, the club would play in European games, where Biševac featured regularly. Lens, however, were relegated at the end of the season.

Valenciennes

On 4 July 2008, Biševac signed a four-year contract with

for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of €3 million. On his move, he was seen a replacement for central defenders

Éric Chelle Éric Sékou Chelle (born 11 November 1977) is a professional football manager, head coach of the Nigeria national football team and a former player who played as a centre-back. Born in Ivory Coast to a French father and a Malian mother, he made ...

and

Abdeslam Ouaddou Abdeslam Ouaddou (; born 1 November 1978) is a Moroccan former professional footballer who played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder. He also holds the French nationality. Club career Ouaddou was born in Alnif, Morocco. He started his fo ...

. In the opening game of the domestic season, Biševac made his debut in a 1–0 win over

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

. In his first season, he went on to make 37 appearances, where his one absence was due to a suspension after picking up a fifth league yellow card. The following season, Biševac was named captain of the team, replacing Rafael Schmitz, who was his partner in central defence partnership during the season. On 26 September 2009, he scored his first goal in a 3–2 win over

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. In a match against

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

on 7 November 2009, Biševac suffered an injury on his foot, forcing him to miss two weeks of action. Several weeks later, he made his return in a 3–1 win over

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

on 4 December 2009. On 10 April 2010, he scored his second goal of the season in a 2–1 loss against Monaco. During the summer transfer window, Biševac was linked a move away from Valenciennes, with the likes of

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

and Fenerbahçe,

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

and other European clubs all tracking him; no offers were ever made. The next season, he maintained his captaincy and his first team place as he stayed for another season at Valenciennes. On 29 January 2011, he scored his first goal of the season in a 2–1 win over Lyon, scoring from the penalty spot and his second came in a 3–0 win over Brest. On 9 April 2011, Biševac received a red card after receiving second booking offence in a 1–1 draw against Nancy. At the end of the season, the club finished 12th place in the league.

Paris Saint-Germain

In the summer transfer window,

renewed their interests in signing Biševac. On 25 July 2011, he signed a three-year contract with PSG for an undisclosed fee. On his move, he spoke out about feeling under pressure and said, "I got to know this at Red Star Belgrade, where fans could enter the dressing room to demand us to win. I'm not afraid of pressure. I prefer for there to be pressure, I am more focused and I perform better." In the opening game of the season, Biševac made his debut in a 1–0 loss against

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

, playing 90 minutes. He soon became a regular player in the team, playing the first four games to start the season. After the arrival of centre back

Diego Lugano Diego Alfredo Lugano Morena (; born 2 November 1980) is a Uruguayan former professional association football, footballer who played as a central defender. Nicknamed ''Tota'', Lugano played for a number of clubs in South America and Europe, inc ...

, however, he lost his first team status. Incoming manager

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti (; born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Brazil national team. Nicknamed "Carletto" in Italy and "Don Carlo" in Spain, he is regarded as one of the greatest ...

then shifted Biševac from central defence to right back, finding himself competing with natural right backs Christophe Jallet and

Ceará Ceará (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It is the List of Brazilian states by population, eighth-largest Brazilian State by ...

. The arrival of

Alex Alex is a given name. Similar names are Alexander, Alexandra, Alexey or Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Cook (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Forsyth (disambiguation), multiple people * Al ...

from Chelsea sent Biševac further down the pecking order at centre back. On 28 January 2012, Biševac opened his goalscoring account for PSG, netting the only goal in a 0–1 victory away to Brest. In the same month, he was awarded UNFP Player of the Month due to his impressive performances. He went on to make more appearances for the club, reverting to his nature centre back position towards the end of the season. At the start of the following season, PSG signed centre back

Thiago Silva Thiago Emiliano da Silva (born 22 September 1984) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Fluminense. Regarded as one of the best defenders of all time, he is known ...

from

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, leading to speculation that Biševac would leave the club, with Lyon confirming their interest in signing him. After rumours of the bid spread, PSG initially agreed only to sell him if Lyon agreed to send right back

Anthony Réveillère Anthony Guy Marie Réveillère (born 10 November 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played as a right-back. He spent most of his professional career with Rennes and Lyon, amassing Ligue 1 totals of 426 matches and five goals du ...

in the opposite direction. PSG were motivated to sell him in order to free up one of the four prohibited non-EU spots after the club signed Brazilian winger

Lucas Lucas or LUCAS may refer to: People * Lucas (surname) * Lucas (given name) Arts and entertainment * Luca Family Singers, or the Lucas, a 19th-century African-American singing group * Lucas, a 1960s Swedish pop group formed by Janne Lucas Perss ...

from

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. Just days after Biševac joined Lyon, league rivals

stated their intent to sign him, but owner Margarita Louis-Dreyfus refused, stating the club didn't have enough money.

Lyon

In the summer of 2012, Biševac joined Lyon for a transfer fee of €2.75 million plus bonuses on a four-year contract. He made his debut coming on as a substitute in a 4–1 win over

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

. He then played the full 90 minutes in the next game in a 1–1 draw against

Evian Evian (, ; , stylized as evian) is a French brand that bottles mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. Evian is owned by Danone, a French multinational corporation. In addition to the miner ...

. Since then, Biševac has formed a central defence partnership with Bakary Koné in the starting XI. He acquired

French nationality French nationality law is historically based on the principles of ''jus soli'' (Latin for "right of soil") and ''jus sanguinis'', (Latin for "right of blood") according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nat ...

by naturalization in 2012.

Lazio

On 6 January 2016, Biševac was signed by

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

S.S. Lazio (; ; ''Lazio Sport Club'') is an Italian professional sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, plays in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian footba ...

on a free transfer.

Metz

On 24 August 2016, Biševac returned to France, agreeing to a two-year contract with

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

F91 Dudelange

On 31 July 2018, Biševac moved to Luxembourgish club

F91 Dudelange F91 Dudelange (; , ) is a Luxembourgish professional Association football, football club based in Dudelange which plays in the Luxembourg National Division. It was formed in 1991 as a merger between three teams in the town: Alliance Dudelange, ...

Swift Hesperange

Ahead of the 2019/20 season, Biševac joined

FC Swift Hesperange Football Club Swift Hesperange (, ) is a association football, football football club, club, based in Hesperange, in southern Luxembourg. History *1916: Club founded as ''FC Swift Hesperange'' *1940: Club renamed as ''FV Rot-Weiß Hesperingen'' ...

International career

Biševac won a silver medal with the

Serbia and Montenegro national under-21 football team The Serbia national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Serbia and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia. Both FIFA and UEFA consider the Serbia national team to be the direct and sole successor of the ...

at the

2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 14th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Germany between 27 May and 8 June 2004. Italy won the competition for the fifth time. Italy's Alberto ...

. Subsequently, he played for the Serbian and Montenegrin

2004 Olympic The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

football team which exited in the first round, finishing fourth in Group C behind gold-medal winners

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. Biševac made his senior team debut for

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 ...

in a friendly against

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, 16 August 2006.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

Red Star Belgrade *

First League of Serbia and Montenegro The First League of Serbia and Montenegro () was the top Association football, 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 ...

: 2005–06 *

Serbia and Montenegro 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 ...

: 2005–06

International

Serbia and Montenegro U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

runner-up:

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 ...

Individual

* Ligue 1 Player of the Month: January 2012

References

External links

Profile, stats and pictures of Milan Bisevac
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bisevac, Milan 1983 births Living people Footballers from Mitrovica, Kosovo Kosovo Serbs Naturalized citizens of France Men's association football defenders Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's under-21 international footballers Olympic footballers for Serbia and Montenegro Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Serbian men's footballers Serbia men's international footballers French men's footballers FK BASK players FK Bežanija players FK Železnik players Red Star Belgrade footballers RC Lens players Valenciennes FC players Paris Saint-Germain FC players Olympique Lyonnais players SS Lazio players FC Metz players F91 Dudelange players FC Swift Hesperange players Second League of Serbia and Montenegro players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Serbian SuperLiga players Ligue 1 players Serie A players Luxembourg National Division players Serbian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Serbian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Luxembourg Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Luxembourg 21st-century French sportsmen