Savo Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Саво Милошевић, ; born 2 September 1973) is a Serbian professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

. A former forward, he signed for English club

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

after making a name for himself at Partizan. He would go on to spend the vast majority of his career in Spain, where he amassed

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 ...

totals of 91 goals in 241 games for

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, Espanyol, Celta and

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...

. Over the course of his 16-year professional career, Milošević played for eight clubs and scored over 220 goals in nearly 600 official appearances. At the international level, Milošević played for the national team of FR Yugoslavia (later renamed Serbia and Montenegro) and

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 ...

, making over 100

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for both teams combined. He appeared in two World Cups and one European Championship, at which he earned the Golden Boot at Euro 2000.

Club career

Partizan

Milošević started playing football at the age of six and spent his youth in the Drina Valley. At the age of 14, he was spotted by Partizan scouts, who convinced the club to secure his transfer for 5,000

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; "German mark (currency), mark"), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later of unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it ...

. In 1992, Milošević made his senior debut for Partizan, scoring 14 goals in 31 games during his first season at the club. He went on to score an impressive 21 and 30 league goals in his next two seasons respectively – competition-bests in both years – as the

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 ...

-based club won back-to-back national championships, including the

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

in the 1993–94 season.

Aston Villa

In the summer of 1995, then

manager Brian Little bought Milošević from Partizan for £3.5 million, a club record at the time. His spell in England lasted three seasons, during which time he earned the tabloid nickname "Miss-a-lot-ević" owing to his frequent goalscoring dry spells. However, Milošević did score 33 goals in 117 games for Villa (29 in the

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 ...

), including one in the 1996 Football League Cup final, a 3–0 win against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

Zaragoza

Milošević signed for

club

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

in 1998 for £8.5 million, again recording some impressive goalscoring performances, notably netting 21 in the 1999–2000 season as the team secured fourth place.

Parma

After rediscovering his form in Spain, Milošević joined

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

in the summer of 2000 for €25 million. He was a regular starter in his first season in Italy, playing in 21 out of 34 Serie A matches and scoring 8 goals; in the next season, however, he was sparingly used. Milošević was loaned back to Spain in January 2002, re-joining his former club Zaragoza to replace Blackburn Rovers-bound Yordi. He scored six times during his second spell, finishing as the club's joint top scorer – alongside Yordi and Roberto Acuña. His second spell at Zaragoza ended unsuccessfully, with the club eventually relegated. In the 2002–03 campaign, Milošević played for Espanyol on loan, again finishing as his team's top scorer but narrowly escaping relegation, a fate that would befall him the following year with

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

. Milošević was able to help Celta reach the round-of-16 in their first ever appearance in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, with his one goal in seven appearances in the competition coming in a 3–2 group stage home win against

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

Later years

In mid-July 2004, aged 30, Milošević signed a three-year contract with another Spanish top flight club,

. In his second season with the

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

se, he scored 11 goals in 32 games to help the team qualify for the Champions League. Though Milošević failed to score in ten appearances in the subsequent

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

semi-final run, he did provide two assists in a 3–0 away win against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

in the first leg of the quarter-final (which Osasuna won 4–0 on aggregate). In the summer of 2007, Milošević's contract expired and he left Osasuna after three seasons at the club. He took an eight-month break from competitive football, during which – in October 2007 – he had a trial with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

with a view of signing with them for the 2008 season. The deal fell through and, on 8 March 2008, he agreed terms with Rubin Kazan prior to the start of the

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 ...

campaign. On 2 November 2008, Milošević scored the decisive goal for Rubin in a game against Saturn Ramenskoye, securing the team their first ever national championship. He retired shortly afterwards, aged 35.

International career

Milošević represented the Yugoslavia under-21 national team at the 1992 Toulon Tournament, reaching the final with the team. He later earned 102

for

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 ...

, making his international debut for the nation (then named Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) on 23 December 1994, in a 2–0 friendly loss to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Milošević scored 37 goals for his country over the course of a 14-year international career. After appearing in two games 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 ...

, Milošević scored five goals at

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 ...

, earning him the Golden Boot, an award he shared with Dutch forward

Patrick Kluivert Patrick Stephan Kluivert (; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch football coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the Indonesia national team. As a player, he played as a striker for Ajax, Barcelona and the Netherlands national te ...

. Milošević made his 100th international appearance on 16 June 2006 during the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

in Germany, in a 6–0 group stage loss against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, becoming the first Serbian player to reach this milestone. As a formal farewell from international football, he was called up for a friendly with

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

on 19 November 2008, scoring twice and missing two penalties in a 6–1 win before being replaced by Dragan Mrđa.

Managerial career

Montenegro (assistant)

From 2011 to 2012, Milošević was an assistant manager to Branko Brnović at the Montenegro national team.

Partizan

On 27 March 2019, Milošević was named by the board of directors at Partizan as the club's new manager. His first win as Partizan manager came on 3 April 2019, beating Čukarički 3–2 at home. In Milošević's first Eternal derby as manager of Partizan, his team suffered a 2–1 away loss to

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 ...

, with

Ricardo Gomes Ricardo Gomes Raymundo (born 13 December 1964) is a Brazilian retired professional footballer and manager. As a player, he played as a central defender, in a 14-year professional career, for Fluminense (six years), Benfica (four) and Par ...

's 90th-minute strike proving only a consolation. At the end of his first season in charge, Milošević succeeded in qualifying Partizan for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds, and on 23 May 2019, won his first managerial trophy as his side beat Red Star Belgrade 1–0 in the 2018–19 Serbian Cup final, courtesy of a Bojan Ostojić goal. In July and August 2019, Partizan secured their ninth participation in the group stages of the

UEFA 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 ...

. Under Milošević's leadership, Partizan knocked-out Connah's Quay Nomads,

Yeni Malatyaspor Yeni Malatyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club based in Malatya. The club plays in the TFF First League, which is the second tier of football in the country. History Founded in 1986 as Malatya Belediyespor. Its primary colo ...

and

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

in the qualifiers. On 30 August, Partizan was drawn in to Group L of the

2019–20 UEFA Europa League The 2019–20 UEFA Europa League was the 49th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 11th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Sevilla FC, Sevill ...

, alongside

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

and

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

Olimpija Ljubljana

On 16 June 2021, Milošević was named new manager of

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

side Olimpija Ljubljana. He left the club less than four months later, on 10 October 2021.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

On 29 September 2023, Milošević was appointed as the new head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. He was victorious in his first game in charge against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

in a

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2023 to March 2024 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams that would join the automatically qualified host team Germany in the UEFA Eur ...

match on 13 October 2023. Milošević suffered his first defeat against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

on 16 October; Bosnia and Herzegovina lost the game 5–0 at Bilino Polje, the biggest defeat in its history on home ground. Milošević's contract expired on 21 March 2024, following the country's defeat against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

in the

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan ...

. On 16 April 2024, it was officially announced that the contract would not be extended.

Return to Partizan

In late September 2024, Milošević returned to Partizan succeeding

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 ...

Personal life

Milošević was born into an ethnic Serb family in the

Semberija Semberija ( sr-Cyrl, Семберија, ) is a geographical region in north-eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. The main city in the region is Bijeljina. Semberija is located between the Drina and Sava rivers and Majevica mountain. Most of the regi ...

city of

Bijeljina Bijeljina ( sr-cyrl, Бијељина) is a city and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the provincial center of Semberija, a geographic region in the country's northeast. As of 2013, it has a population of 107,715 ...

and was raised in Johovac, both in present-day

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 ...

, the then-

SR Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

, where he lived with a younger brother Andrija (1975–2013) and younger sister Cvijeta "Mira". He also holds Bosnian citizenship. Milošević's mother died in 2000 from cancer; he has paternal ancestry from the large Milošević brotherhood of the

Vasojevići The Vasojevići (Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl, Васојевићи, ) is a historical Tribes of Montenegro#Brda, highland tribe (''pleme'') and region of Montenegro, in the area of the Brda (Montenegro), Brda. It is the largest ...

tribe in northeastern

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

, and was a relative of

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...

. Milošević was a political supporter of the Democratic Party led by

Boris Tadić Boris Tadić, (born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012. Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psychology. He later worked as a journalist ...

, having supported it since 1993 after meeting with

Zoran Đinđić Zoran Đinđić ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Ђинђић, ; 1 August 1952 – 12 March 2003) was a Serbian politician and philosopher who served as the Prime Minister of Serbia, prime minister of Serbia from 2001 until Assassination of Zoran Đinđić, ...

and officially becoming a member in 2003. He took part in the 1996–97 protests and the 5 October overthrow. Milošević was married to Vesna, with whom he has two sons and a daughter. One of his sons,

Nikola Nikola () is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek '' Nikolaos'' (Νικόλαος) and it means "the winner of the people". It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bul ...

, was also a footballer. Since 2017 he has been in a relationship with Serbian cellist Natalija Tipsarević. On 11 June 2011, his father Stevan (1953–2011) was shot in the chest and killed in the family house in Glavičice by his grandfather Savo (1928–2012), after a family row; the latter was later detained.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list FR Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Milošević goal.''

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Partizan * First League of Serbia and Montenegro: 1992–93, 1993–94 *

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 ...

: 1993–94 Aston Villa *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

: 1995–96 Rubin Kazan *

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 ...

Individual *

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 ...

top goalscorer: 1993–94, 1994–95 *

: Golden Boot, Team of the Tournament

Manager

Partizan *

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. ...

: 2018–19

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Milosevic, Savo 1973 births Living people Footballers from Bijeljina Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbian people of Montenegrin descent Naturalized citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina Yugoslav men's footballers Serbian men's footballers Men's association football forwards FK Partizan players Premier League players Aston Villa F.C. players La Liga players Real Zaragoza players RCD Espanyol footballers RC Celta de Vigo players CA Osasuna players Serie A players Parma Calcio 1913 players Russian Premier League players FC Rubin Kazan players Yugoslavia men's international footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's international footballers Serbia men's international footballers 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players Serbian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Italy Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Russia FIFA Men's Century Club Serbian sports executives and administrators Serbian expatriate sportspeople in England Serbian football managers FK Partizan managers NK Olimpija Ljubljana (2005) managers Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team managers Serbian SuperLiga managers Slovenian PrvaLiga managers Serbian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Slovenia Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Expatriate football managers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Club career

Partizan

Aston Villa

Zaragoza

Parma

Later years

International career

Managerial career

Montenegro (assistant)

Partizan

Olimpija Ljubljana

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Return to Partizan

Personal life

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Manager

Notes

See also

References

External links