Milinko Pantić (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Милинко Пантић; born 5 September 1966) is a Serbian retired

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 ...

and current manager.

Playing career

Pantić spent the first six seasons of his professional career with

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 ...

between 1985 and 1991. He then moved on to Greek

Alpha Ethniki 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 ...

league where he played until 1995 for

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

side Panionios. At almost 29 years of age, he was brought to

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

by their new coach Radomir Antić who knew Pantić well from his Partizan days. The move turned out to be a hit as Pantić's creative midfield presence provided the extra edge to Atlético side that won the double (

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

and

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

) in the 1995–96 season. Pantić contributed with 10 goals in 41 appearances, including the winner in the 1996 Copa del Rey Final, and countless assists. In the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League he scored five goals, finishing as the top-scorer of the tournament (to this date he is the only

player to achieve this). He spent two more seasons in Madrid with a total of 18 goals in 106 matches in his career there. He moved to Le Havre AC during summer 1998 for a season. In the summer of 1999, Pantić transferred back to Panionios where he spent the last year of his playing career.

International

He earned two caps for the FR Yugoslavia national team in World Cup qualificaton matches in 1996.

Coaching career

Pantić went back to

as a coach in Atletico's youth system, working with kids 3 to 9 years of age in the club's training facility in

Majadahonda Majadahonda () is a municipality in Spain, situated northwest of Madrid, in the Community of Madrid. It lies alongside the motorway A6 Madrid- A Coruña. The Puerta de Hierro university (public) hospital was relocated to Majadahonda from the ...

. From there he moved up the ranks coaching different youth squads. He became head of the youth and developing squads at the club while managing certain squads at the same time. During the summer of 2011 Pantić became coach of Atlético Madrid B (Atlético Madrid reserve squad) after his great success with the youth and developing squads at the club and after just about missing out on being coach of the first team. He also plays for Atlético Madrid's Indoor-Soccer team, competing in the veteran league which comprises nine clubs that have won the La Liga title throughout history. Pantić was appointed as manager of

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League (), also known as Misli Premyer Liqası for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Azerbaijan and the highest level of the Azerbaijani football league system. It is contested by twelve ...

team FC Baku in June 2013, little over a year later, 24 July 2014, Pantić left the club by mutual consent. On 5 July 2016, Pantić was announced as the head coach of China League One team Dalian Yifang.

Accolades

Paul Lambert in naming the best one to eleven he played against named Pantic as the direct opponent who gave him his most difficult time during Lambert's playing career.

Honours

Partizan *

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

: 1985-86, 1986-87 *

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...

: 1988-89 * Yugoslav Super Cup: 1989 Atlético de Madrid *

: 1995–96 *

: 1995–96 Individual * UEFA Champions League Top Scorer: 1996–97

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pantic, Milinko 1966 births Living people Footballers from Loznica Men's association football midfielders Yugoslav men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's international footballers FK Partizan players NK Olimpija Ljubljana (1945–2005) players Panionios F.C. players Atlético Madrid footballers Le Havre AC players Yugoslav First League players Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players La Liga players Ligue 1 players UEFA Champions League top scorers Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Greece Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in France Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in France Serbian football managers Atlético Madrid B managers FC Baku managers Dalian Professional F.C. managers Azerbaijan Premier League managers China League One managers Serbian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Spain Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate football managers in Azerbaijan Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Expatriate football managers in China Serbian expatriate sportspeople in China