Niša Saveljić (; born 27 March 1970) is a Montenegrin 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 a defender. At international level, Saveljić represented

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

in one

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

(

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

) and one European Championship (

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Club career

Born in

Titograd Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

, Saveljić made his senior debut with Budućnost in the 1988–89 campaign. He spent five seasons at the club, before surprisingly moving to Hajduk Kula in the summer of 1993. Due to his consistent performances with the club, Saveljić secured a transfer to Partizan in the 1995 winter transfer window. He won back-to-back championship titles in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. In the summer of 1997, Saveljić moved to France and signed with

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. He won the league title in his second season at the club. Afterwards, Saveljić spent another two years with Bordeaux, while also being loaned to his former club Partizan in the 2001 winter transfer window. He helped them win the

2000–01 FR Yugoslavia Cup The 2000–01 FR Yugoslavia Cup was the ninth season of the FR Yugoslavia's annual football cup. The cup defenders was Red Star Belgrade, but was defeated by FK Partizan in the final. First round Thirty-two teams entered in the first round. The ma ...

, before returning to France. Over the next four years, Saveljić went on to play for

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...

Bastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...

, Guingamp and Istres. In July 2005, Saveljić made another return to Partizan, signing a two-year deal. He was suspended in May 2006 for confronting with his teammate Danko Lazović after a training session. Eventually, Saveljić left the club by mutual agreement in August 2006.

International career

Saveljić made his debut for

in a 3–1 win against

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

on 31 January 1995. He earned 32 caps and scored one goal for the national team, having represented the country at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

and

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

Post-playing career

In August 2017, Saveljić was appointed CEO of the newly founded Girondins de Bordeaux USA, as a result of a partnership between

and Washington, D.C.–based club Olney Girls 99.

Personal life

Saveljić acquired French nationality by

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

on 15 January 2003. He is the father of

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player Nicolas Saveljić, the older brother of the late Monteniggers member Nebojša Saveljić, and the cousin of Montenegrin international footballer Esteban Saveljich.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

Partizan *

First League of FR Yugoslavia The First League of Serbia and Montenegro () was the top 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 Yugoslavia in 1992, ef ...

: 1995–96, 1996–97 *

FR Yugoslavia 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 ...

: 2000–01 Bordeaux * French Division 1: 1998–99 *

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

: Runner-up 1997–98 *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

: Runner-up

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Sochaux *

: Runner-up 2002–03

International

Yugoslavia * UEFA Under-21 Championship: Runner-up

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saveljic, Nisa 1970 births Living people Footballers from Podgorica Yugoslav men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Montenegrin men's footballers Naturalized citizens of France French men's footballers Men's association football defenders Yugoslavia men's under-21 international footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's international footballers 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players FK Budućnost Podgorica players FK Hajduk Kula players FK Partizan players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players SC Bastia players En Avant Guingamp players Istres FC players Yugoslav First League players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Ligue 1 players Serbian SuperLiga players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in France 20th-century French sportsmen