Rajko Brežančić (; born 21 August 1989) 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

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Club career

After coming through the youth system at Partizan, Brežančić signed his first professional contract with the club on 1 June 2007, penning a five-year deal. He subsequently went on loan to Teleoptik and

Bežanija Bežanija ( sr-Cyrl, Бежанија, ) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Novi Beograd, in the Syrmia region. Location Bežanija is located west of the downtown Belgrade, across the Sa ...

in order to get experience. In January 2009, Brežančić returned to Partizan and made seven league appearances until the end of the 2008–09 season, as the club won the title. He recorded three more during the first part of the 2009–10 season, before moving on loan to Teleoptik again in January 2010. In the summer of 2010, Brežančić signed with

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 ...

club Metalac Gornji Milanovac. He would be loaned to

Serbian First League The Serbian First League (), referred to as the Mozzart Bet First League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier in professional Serbia's football league. The league was formed in 2005, following a reshuffle of the second tier Serbo-Montenegr ...

side

in the 2011 winter transfer window. Six months later, Brežančić signed a permanent contract with Bežanija and stayed there for the next two seasons. In the summer of 2013, Brežančić was transferred to newly promoted SuperLiga club Čukarički. He made 29 league appearances and scored once in the 2013–14 campaign. In the following season, Brežančić again missed only one out of 30 league games and scored one goal, as Čukarički finished in third place. He also helped the team win the

2014–15 Serbian Cup The 2014–15 Serbian Cup season was the ninth season of the Serbian national football tournament. The competition started on 3 September 2014 and concluded with the final on 20 May 2015. The winner of the competition, Čukarički, qualified f ...

. On 4 August 2015, Brežančić signed a three-year contract with Dutch club AZ. He made his official debut for the team in a 3–1 away league win over

De Graafschap Vereniging Betaald Voetbal De Graafschap, simply known as De Graafschap () is a professional association football club based in Doetinchem, Netherlands. The team competes in the , the second level of the Dutch football league system. Founded o ...

on 12 September 2015, scoring the opener early in the game. In August 2016, Brežančić was transferred to Spain and joined

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

club

Huesca Huesca (; ) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon between 1096 and 1118. It is also the capital of the Spanish Huesca (province), ...

. He contributed with 30 appearances during the 2017–18 season, as the club gained promotion to the top flight for the first time ever. On 11 November 2018, Brežančić made his

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 ...

debut in a 2–1 away loss to Alavés, replacing injured Pablo Insua. On 31 January 2019, Brežančić terminated his contract with Huesca and signed an 18-month deal with

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

. On 21 June 2019, Brežančić signed a three-year contract with Partizan, returning to the club after nine years. He made 16 appearances across all competitions in his first season back at the club, scoring a goal in a 2–2 away league draw against

Napredak Kruševac Napredak, which translates from Serbo-Croatian as ''Progress'', may refer to: *HKD Napredak, cultural society of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina *FK Napredak Kruševac, Serbian football club *FK Napredak Aleksinac, Serbian football club *FK Napred ...

. After the appointment of

Aleksandar Stanojević Aleksandar Stanojević ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Станојевић, ; born 28 October 1973) is a Serbian football manager and player. Playing career Stanojević started his playing career in Partizan youth squad. From 1992 until 1997 ...

as manager in September 2020, Brežančić appeared in only two official matches over his last two seasons.

International career

Brežančić represented

Serbia and Montenegro 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 ...

at the 2006 UEFA Under-17 Championship. He also played for Serbia U19 in the team's unsuccessful qualifying campaign for the

2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The final tournament of the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 24th UEFA European Under-19 Championship, UEFA's premier competition for players under the age of 19. The tournament was held in the Czech Republic with matches played fro ...

. In early 2009, Brežančić participated with the under-20 team at the Qatar International Friendship Tournament. Brežančić made his debut for the Serbia national under-21 team in a 4–1 friendly win over the Macedonia U21s on 7 June 2009. He was subsequently a member of the team at the 2009 UEFA Under-21 Championship, but failed to make any appearance at the tournament. Brežančić gained his second cap for the under-21 side in a 1–0 home friendly win over Israel U21 on 11 August 2009. His third and last appearance for the team came in another friendly, a 1–3 loss away to Romania U21 on 26 May 2010.

Career statistics

Honours

Partizan *

: 2008–09 *

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. ...

: 2008–09 Čukarički *

: 2014–15 Individual *

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 ...

: 2014–15

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brezancic, Rajko 1989 births Living people People from Vlasenica Footballers from Vlasenica Region Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbian men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Serbia men's youth international footballers Serbia men's under-21 international footballers Serbian SuperLiga players Serbian First League players Eredivisie players Segunda División players La Liga players FK Partizan players FK Teleoptik players FK Bežanija players FK Metalac Gornji Milanovac players FK Čukarički players AZ Alkmaar players SD Huesca footballers Málaga CF players FK Radnički Beograd players Serbian expatriate men's footballers Serbian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain