Vladimir Jugović ( sr-Cyrl, Владимир Југовић, ; born 30 August 1969) 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 ...

. A versatile player, he was usually employed as a

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

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. ...

, but could play anywhere in midfield. He represented

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

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 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 ...

, collecting 41 international appearances between 1991 and 2002, and scoring three goals. Born in Milutovac, a village near Trstenik, Jugović played throughout his career for numerous top European teams. He won the European Cup and Intercontinental Cup with Red Star in 1991 and won both competitions again with Juventus in 1996. He is regarded as one of the finest players that Serbia has ever produced and one of the best

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

s of his generation.

Club career

Red Star Belgrade

Jugović was scouted by Red Star at the age of 15 by former Red Star player Toma Milićević. After making his debut for Red Star, he was loaned to

FK Rad FK Rad () is a football club based in Banjica, Belgrade, Serbia. They compete in the Belgrade Zone League, the fourth tier of the national league system. Founded in 1958, the club spent a total of 30 seasons in the top flight between 1987 and 2 ...

in the second half of the 1989–90 season. When

Ljupko Petrović Ljubomir "Ljupko" Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Љубомир "Љупко" Петровић; born 15 May 1947) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player. He also holds a Bosnian passport. As a manager, Petrović's biggest success wa ...

became coach of Red Star, Jugović was brought back to the starting eleven. In 1991, Jugović played in the

1991 European Cup Final The 1991 European Cup final was a football match held at the Stadio San Nicola in Bari, Italy, on 29 May 1991, that saw Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia defeat Marseille of France in a penalty shoot-out. After normal time and extra time could not ...

, which Red Star won. Subsequently, he won the Intercontinental Cup as Red Star beat

Colo-Colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

3–0, scoring the first two goals. By the end of his career with Red Star, he was awarded the Star of Red Star and became one of the most celebrated footballers in Yugoslavia.

Sampdoria

Sampdoria invited Jugović at the insistence of

Vujadin Boškov Vujadin Boškov ( sr-cyr, Вујадин Бошков, ; 16 May 1931 – 27 April 2014) was a Serbian association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. A midfielder, he played 57 matches for the Yugoslavia nation ...

, who was their coach until 1992. He spent three successful seasons at Sampdoria, during which he helped the team win the

1993–94 Coppa Italia The 1993–94 Coppa Italia, the 47th Coppa Italia was an Italian Football Federation domestic cup competition won by Sampdoria, who defeated Ancona Calcio in the final 6–1 on aggregate. First round Second round ''p=after penalty shoot� ...

. Notably, he scored a brace in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi-final first leg against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, but missed a penalty after overtime in the subsequent leg, after which Arsenal progressed.

Juventus

In 1995 Jugović was purchased from Sampdoria by

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, whose coach at the time was

Marcello Lippi Marcello Romeo Lippi (; born 12 April 1948) is an Italian former professional association football, football player and manager, who led the Italy national football team, Italy national team to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was appoin ...

. In his first season, Juventus finished as runners-up in

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

. In the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final, he came on as a substitute for

Antonio Conte Antonio Conte (; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional Association football, football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Serie A club Napoli. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the wo ...

and scored the decisive penalty for Juventus 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 ...

, following a 1–1 draw after extra-time. In a 2017 interview with '' Goal.com'', he recalled that he felt calm before taking his penalty against Ajax keeper

Edwin van der Sar Edwin van der Sar (; born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch association football, football executive and former professional player who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He was most recently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, A ...

.
Romeo Agresti. Goal.com: ''Jugovic: I entered into Juventus legend with Champions League winner'' . 2 June 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2018. After his role in their Champions League victory, Jugović played for Juventus for one more season, during which he featured in the 1996 Intercontinental Cup, which Juventus won 1–0 over River Plate. That season, Juventus went on to win the

1996–97 Serie A The 1996–97 Serie A title was won by Juventus FC, Juventus, under head coach Marcello Lippi. Cagliari Calcio, Cagliari, A.C. Perugia Calcio, Perugia, Hellas Verona F.C., Hellas Verona and A.C. Reggiana 1919, Reggiana were relegated. Teams Bol ...

title, after which Jugović left for Lazio. In total, he made 77 appearances for the Turin–based club, scoring 10 goals. Looking back at the trainings content and discipline under

he noted: "The way we were training was a thing to watch and analyze. We didn't have time to rest and we would begin our first training in the day with a 40 minute work in the gym succeeded by running sessions, and that was only a warm up. In the afternoon we had a tactical training combined with a football playing and the third drill was around 20:00 p.m. containing mostly stretching. So, none of our success happened by an accident, we deserved everything and i do not like when someone oppugn our achievements. That was maybe a reason why we had such a big amount of injuries. I think that no club today train as hard as we did then."

Later career

In the summer of 1997, he joined

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

spending only one season with the Roman club winning his second Coppa Italia ( 1997–98 Coppa Italia), beating Milan in the two-leg final, also the club reached the 1998 UEFA Cup Final, losing to Inter in the all Italian final. Jugović successively moved 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 ...

for the 1998–99 season before joining Inter the following year, where he spent two seasons. Jugović finished his career at

LR Ahlen Rot Weiss Ahlen is a football in Germany, German football club based in Ahlen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Until 2006 the club was known as ''LR Ahlen'' for its major sponsor, but underwent a name change when the sponsor withdrew its support after th ...

, after stints with

AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional association football, football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco, Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the Frenc ...

and

VfB Admira Wacker Mödling Admira Wacker is an Austrian professional football club based in Maria Enzersdorf, a town in the Mödling District of Lower Austria. The team competes in the 2. Liga, the second tier of the Austrian football league system. The club was forme ...

International career

Jugović made his debut for Yugoslavia's national team against

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

in August 1991, while it still consisted of players from the collapsing

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 ...

. He was included to

UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...

, but the nation would be suspended due to the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

. For the national team, Jugović played primarily as a left winger until the Euro 2000, where coach

deployed him as a central midfielder. He did not miss a single match for Yugoslavia at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. During the final 16 match against the Netherlands, Jugović was fouled by

Jaap Stam Jakob "Jaap" Stam (; born 17 July 1972) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a centre-back and is regarded as one of the best defenders of all-time. Stam was part of the Manchester United team that w ...

, resulting in a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

which

Predrag Mijatović Predrag Mijatović ( sr-cyrl, Предраг Мијатовић; born 19 January 1969) is a Montenegrin Association football, football administrator and former player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. At club level, Mijato ...

missed. Although Jugović missed Yugoslavia's Euro 2000 qualifying campaign due to injury, he was called up by coach Vujadin Boškov for the tournament. He played as a central midfielder in the quarterfinal against the Netherlands, which Yugoslavia lost to by a score of 6–1.

Style of play

A versatile, physically strong, and hard-working right-footed player, Jugović was usually employed as a left-sided or

, but could play anywhere in midfield, including in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, in a holding role, and on the right. Regarded as one of Serbia's greatest players, and as one of the best midfielders of his generation, he was mainly known for his tenacity, energy, generosity, intelligence, and tackling, but was also a talented player, with good technique, who could also exploit spaces by starting attacks with long balls or dictating play in midfield with his range of passing after winning back possession; he also possessed a good shot from any area of the pitch, and was known for his eye for goal. He was also used as a second striker on occasion, and even as a full-back. Despite his ability, however, he often struggled with injuries throughout his career. Beyond his footballing skills, he was also known for his leadership qualities.

Career statistics

Club

:Sources:

International

:Source: *Note: Yugoslavia was banned from international football in 1993, since 1994 FR Yugoslavia became the successor of SFR Yugoslavia national team.

Honours

Red Star Belgrade *

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) ...

: 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92 *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

: 1990–91 * Intercontinental Cup:

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

Sampdoria *

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

: 1993–94 Juventus *

: 1996–97 *

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 ...

: 1995–96 * Intercontinental Cup:

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 ...

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

Lazio *

: 1997–98 Monaco *

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 ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Individual * Intercontinental Cup MVP of the Match Award:

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jugovic, Vladimir 1969 births Living people People from Trstenik, Serbia Footballers from Rasina District Men's association football midfielders Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's international footballers 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players Red Star Belgrade footballers FK Rad players UC Sampdoria players Juventus FC players SS Lazio players Atlético Madrid footballers Inter Milan players AS Monaco FC players Admira Wacker players Rot Weiss Ahlen players Yugoslav First League players Serie A players La Liga players Ligue 1 players Austrian Football Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players UEFA Champions League–winning players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in France Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Monaco Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Germany