Mirko Ivanić (, ; born 13 September 1993) is a 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 an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for Serbian club

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 ...

. Born in Serbia, he plays for the Montenegro national team.

Club career

Vojvodina

Born in Bački Jarak, Ivanić came through the youth academy of

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

, before being loaned to Proleter Novi Sad in order to get senior football experience. He made 24 appearances and scored five goals in the

2012–13 Serbian First League The 2012–13 Serbian First League was the eighth season of the league under its current name. It started on 11 August 2012 and concluded on 5 June 2013. Napredak Kruševac won the title and Čukarički finished as runners-up, with both clubs e ...

. In the summer of 2013, Ivanić returned to Vojvodina, appearing in a 2–0 home win over Budapest Honvéd in the first leg of the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

second qualifying round. He was sent on loan again to Proleter Novi Sad, before returning to Vojvodina in the 2014 winter transfer window. Upon his return to the club, Ivanić played regularly under manager

Branko Babić Branko "Sosa" Babić (; born 11 September 1950) is a Serbian former football manager and player. Playing career Babić made his senior debut with Yugoslav Second League club Osijek in the 1969–70 season. He also played abroad for Beringen (Be ...

, helping his team win the

2013–14 Serbian Cup The 2013–14 Serbian Cup season is the eighth season of the Serbian national football tournament. The competition will start on 4 September 2013 and concludes with the final on 7 May 2014. Vojvodina, the winner of the competition, qualified for ...

. In the 2014–15 season, Ivanić became one of the team's most influential players, making 26 league appearances and scoring 10 goals, one less than

Mijat Gaćinović Mijat Gaćinović (, ; born 8 February 1995) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Greek Super League club AEK Athens and the Serbia national team. Club career Vojvodina Gaćinović was born in Novi Sad while his f ...

. During the final days of the summer 2015 transfer window, Partizan offered Vojvodina €1.5 million for Ivanić, but Ivanić rejected it, as he insisted on refusing offers from Vojvodina's rivals Partizan and

BATE Borisov

On 2 February 2016, Ivanić signed a contract with BATE Borisov. On 26 November 2017, in the last game of the season BATE Borisov were 3-2 down against

FC Gorodeya FC Gorodeya (, ''FK Haradzeya'') was a Belarusian football club based in Gorodeya, Nesvizh Raion, Minsk Oblast. History The team was founded in 2004 as a futsal club. They played in the Minsk Oblast championship and later in the Belarusian ...

, Mirko scored the last minute equaliser against them to make it 3-3 which was enough to see them win the league on goal difference against league rivals Dinamo Minsk. During his three-year stint in Borisov, Ivanić won the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

three times, as well as featuring in the

group stage two consecutive seasons.

Red Star Belgrade

On 8 February 2019,

officially announced the signing of Ivanić in a €1.3 million transfer. He chose the number 8 jersey, previously worn by former teammate at Vojvodina,

Dejan Meleg Dejan Meleg ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Мелег; born 1 October 1994) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder Club career Vojvodina Meleg made his professional debut with FK Vojvodina in a 0–3 loss against FK Pa ...

, who was sent out on loan to Greek side

Levadiakos Levadiakos Football Club (officially romanized: ''Levadeiakos'' ) is a Greek professional football club that plays in the Super League Greece. Based in Livadeia, Greece, the club was promoted to the Alpha Ethniki, forerunner of the Super League, ...

. Before his transfer to BATE Borisov, Ivanić declined offers from both Red Star and Partizan, stating that "it wouldn't work as the captain of Vojvodina to move to Partizan or Red Star".

International career

Ivanić made his debut for the Serbian national under-21 team in a friendly against Italy U21 on 30 March 2015. He was subsequently selected to represent his country at the

2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 20th edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, a biennial international association football, football competition for men's under-21 national teams organised by UEFA. The final tourn ...

, but failed to make an appearance. On 14 March 2017, however, Ivanić received a call-up to the Montenegro national team in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

on March 26, 2017. In the match against Poland, which Montenegro lost 1-2, Ivanić made his debut coming on the field as a substitute for Damir Kojašević in the 80th minute. On 27 March 2018 he scored his first goal in the national team in a 2–2 draw against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Despite being called up in June 2019, Ivanić (along with Filip Stojković and Serbian manager

Ljubiša Tumbaković Ljubiša Tumbaković (, ; born 2 September 1952) is a Serbian professional football manager. He is the most successful coach in the history of Serbian powerhouse Partizan which he led to six national championship titles and three national cup w ...

) refused to play for the national team against

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. Tumbaković was sacked for his actions the next day. As of April 2022, Ivanić has not been called up since.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Montenegro's goal tally first.''

Honours

Vojvodina *

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. ...

: 2013–14 BATE Borisov *

Belarusian Premier League The Belarusian Premier League (, ''Vyšejšaja Liha'' or ''Vysheyshaya Liga''; ; "Top League"), also called the BETERA Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Belarus and the highest level of the B ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Belarusian Super Cup The Belarusian Super Cup () is an annual one-match association football competition in Belarus organized by the Football Federation of Belarus. This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the Belarusian Premier League Champi ...

Red Star Belgrade *

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 ...

: 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25 *

: 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24 Individual *

Player of the Week: 2020–21 (Round 36), 2021–22 (Round 32), 2022–23 (Round 6), 2023–24 (Round 11) *

Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season The Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season is an annual award given to a set of 11 footballers in the top tier of Football in Serbia, Serbian football, the Serbian SuperLiga, SuperLiga, who are seen to be the best 11 players of the calendar season. S ...

: 2023–24

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivanic, Mirko 1993 births Living people People from Bački Jarak Footballers from South Bačka District Serbian people of Montenegrin descent Men's association football midfielders Serbian men's footballers Serbia men's under-21 international footballers Montenegrin men's footballers Montenegro men's international footballers FK Proleter Novi Sad players FK Vojvodina players FC BATE Borisov players Red Star Belgrade footballers Serbian First League players Serbian SuperLiga players Belarusian Premier League players Serbian expatriate men's footballers Montenegrin expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belarus Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Belarus Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Belarus