Milan Jovanović ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Јовановић; born 18 April 1981) is a Serbian 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 ...

who played as a forward or winger. He began his career with FK Vojvodina and had brief spells at Shakhtar Donetsk and

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

before joining

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

, where he was named

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

player of the year in 2008 and Belgian Golden Shoe the following year. In 2010–11, he spent the season at

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

before returning to Belgium afterwards to spend the rest of his career at

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

. Jovanović earned 44 caps for the Serbia national team from his debut in 2007, and scored 11 international goals. Coach Radomir Antić created a wing-tandem with Jovanović and Miloš Krasić which is remembered as the best wing-partnership in the modern history of the Serbia national team. He represented

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 ...

at the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. He is commonly referred to by his nickname Lane.

Early life

Son of Stamenko and Gordana, Jovanović was born and raised in Bajina Bašta before moving to

Valjevo Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 56,145 while the city admini ...

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

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 ...

in pursuit of a football career. He played in the youth teams of FK Kosmos Bajina Bašta and FK Budućnost Valjevo.

Club career

Early career

Jovanović came to make his debut with FK Vojvodina during the 1999–2000 season. He then played at Shakhtar Donetsk and

, before arriving at Standard Liège in 2006.

Standard Liège

At Standard Liège, Jovanović quickly became a fan favourite, scoring 14 goals in his first season and earning the nickname "the snake" for his fast movement. Another two highly successful seasons in Belgium followed, with Jovanović turning down a move to Spanish giants

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in 2009 because he was worried he would not play regularly. Jovanović was hugely successful in Belgium and on 13 January 2010, was named as the Jupiler League's Player of the Year. However, the year after, Standard Liege ended the season at the 8th position, with Jovanović managing to score 10 goals in his last season in Belgium.

Liverpool

Jovanović joined 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 ...

club

on 8 July 2010 on a free transfer. There had been speculation he would renege on the pre-contract agreement that he had signed after Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez resigned in June 2010: Benítez was reported to be anxious to bring the player to his new club

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

, but Jovanović confirmed his intention to honour his contract, and was given squad number 14. On 29 July 2010, Jovanović made his competitive debut for Roy Hodgson's Liverpool, starting in a 2–0 away win against FK Rabotnički in the Europa League and made his home debut in the second leg. He went on to make his Premier League debut on 15 August 2010, against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in a 1–1 draw at Anfield. He scored his first goal for Liverpool in the League Cup tie against League Two side Northampton Town at Anfield on 22 September. After

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time as well as one of Celtic's, Liv ...

took over as Liverpool manager in early 2011, Jovanović was rarely called upon, occasionally not even being named to the bench.

Anderlecht

In August 2011, Jovanović moved to Belgian club

, signing a two-year contract. On 17 March 2013 Jovanović scored a stunning goal against KAA Gent, where he chested the ball forward before kicking the airborne ball from over 20 meters out into the upper right corner of the goal. In his time at Anderlecht, he scored 23 goals in 69 league games. In the summer of 2013, he did not renew his contract with Anderlecht. He returned to

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 ...

that summer and trained in

, prompting journalists to speculate a Bosman move to FK Vojvodina. However, he did not sign a contract with Vojvodina and remained off the radar of professional football after his departure from Anderlecht.

International career

Jovanović made his debut for the Serbia national team against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

on 2 June 2007. Serbia won the match 2–0, with Jovanović scoring Serbia's second goal. Jovanović was Serbia's top scorer in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying. On 21 May 2010, he was included by coach Radomir Antić in Serbia's initial 23-man squad for the

. On 18 June 2010, Jovanović scored his first goal in the FIFA World Cup, against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in a Group D match, which Serbia won 1–0. In the same match, Jovanović allegedly had a humorous exchange with Marko Marin, who was born in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

; Marin admitted that when he substituted

Thomas Müller Thomas Müller (; born 13 September 1989) is a German professional Association football, footballer who plays for club FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich. He primarily plays as an attacking midfielder or a second striker. Widely regarded as one o ...

in the 70th minute, Jovanović told him jokingly to "run slower" so as to let Serbia hold on to the 1–0 lead.

In popular culture

In October 2011, Jovanović was mentioned in the Australian soap opera ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

'', where he was described by Andrew Robinson as "one of the greatest soccer players in the world." Several commentators in the English-speaking football community expressed surprise at this statement.

Personal life

He is married to Nataša and has three children named Lazar, Dušan and Miloš.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Serbia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Jovanović goal''.

Honours

Shakhtar Donetsk *

Ukrainian Cup The Ukrainian Cup ( ) is an association football national knockout cup competition run by the Ukrainian Association of Football. The competition is conducted almost exclusively among professional clubs. Since the 2003–04 season, the Cup winner qu ...

: 2003–04 Lokomotiv Moscow *

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

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 ...

Standard Liège *

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

: 2007–08, 2008–09 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Anderlecht *

: 2011–12, 2012–13 * Belgian Super Cup:

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Individual * Belgian Footballer of the Year: 2007–08 * Belgian Golden Shoe: 2009

References

External links

*
LFChistory.net player profile
* * *

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jovanovic, Milan 1981 births Living people Footballers from Bajina Bašta Serbian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Men's association football forwards Men's association football wingers Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbian men's footballers Serbia men's international footballers 2010 FIFA World Cup players FK Vojvodina players FC Shakhtar Donetsk players FC Shakhtar-2 Donetsk players FC Lokomotiv Moscow players Standard Liège players Liverpool F.C. players R.S.C. Anderlecht players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Ukrainian Premier League players Ukrainian First League players Russian Premier League players Belgian Pro League players Premier League players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Russia Serbian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in England Serbian expatriate sportspeople in England