Zoran Knežević (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Зоран Кнежевић; born August 15, 1986) is a Serbian

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 ...

who coaches

Scarborough SC Scarborough SC is a Canadian soccer team founded in 2014. The team is currently a member of the Canadian Soccer League. The team plays home games out of Birchmount Stadium in the district of Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario. The team's colours are ...

in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

Club career

Early career

Knežević began playing in 2002 with

FK Budućnost Valjevo FK Budućnost Valjevo () is a defunct football club based in Valjevo, Serbia. History The original club was founded as SK Sloga in 1920. They were, however, banned by the authorities after just a year. In 1925, the club continued its activities a ...

in the

Second League of Serbia and Montenegro The Second League of Serbia and Montenegro was the second tier of the football league system in Serbia and Montenegro, one level below the First League of Serbia and Montenegro. History Formed in 1992 after the breakup of Yugoslavia, it consiste ...

, and in 2005 in the

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 ...

with

FK BSK Borča Fudbalski klub BSK Borča ( sr-cyr, Фудбалски клуб БСК Борча) is a Serbian football club from Borča, City of Belgrade. It is the football club of the Sports Society BSK Borča, ''BSK'' stands for ''Borčanski sportski klub ...

. He would re-sign with Borča for the 2007-08 season.

Russia

In the winter transfer window of 2007-08, he was acquired by

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 ...

side

FC Khimki FC Khimki () was a Russian professional football club based in Khimki. History The team was formed in 1996 by merging two amateur clubs from Khimki, Rodina, and Novator. Khimki entered the amateur league and played their first official match on ...

. He appeared in one match against

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...

on March 23, 2008. His tenure with Khimki lasted a single season and departed from the club after his contract wasn't renewed. After a season in Serbia, he returned to Russia in the winter of 2011 to play in the second tier with Gazovik Orenburg. In total, he would play in 14 matches and score one goal.

Serbia

After his first stint in Russia, he returned to his former club Borca in 2009 where he played for two seasons in the country's top-tier league the

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 ...

. Following his second spell in Russia, he resumes his career in the Serbian top tier by signing with Sloboda Užice for the 2012-13 season. He would re-sign with Sloboda for another season however the club was relegated after the conclusion of the season. In 2015, he returned to the SuperLiga to sign with

FK Jagodina Fudbalski klub Jagodina () is a Serbian professional Association football, football club based in the city of Jagodina, which plays in the Serbian League East, the third tier in Serbia's football league. The club was founded in 1919 under the na ...

. In his debut season with Jagodina, he appeared in 20 matches. Knežević departed from Jagodina after their relegation to the second tier. He returned to Europe in 2017 to play in the

Serbian League West Serbian League West () is one of four sections of the Serbian League, the third tier of professional football in Serbia. The other three sections are Serbian League Belgrade, Serbian League East and Serbian League Vojvodina. It is also the highest ...

with Budućnost Krušik 2014. For the remainder of the 2017-18 season he played in the

Montenegrin First League The Montenegrin First League (Montenegrin language, Montenegrin: ''Prva crnogorska fudbalska liga'' — ''Prva CFL'' — ''1. CFL''; ), referred to as the Meridianbet 1. CFL for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional Association football, ...

with

OFK Grbalj Omladinski fudbalski klub Grbalj (, ) is a Montenegrin professional football club based in the small town of Radanovići, municipality of Kotor. They currently compete in the Montenegrin Second League. History The first football club in Radanov ...

Asia

In 2014, he played abroad in the Iranian top tier the

Persian Gulf Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League (, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Premier League (, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is a professional association football league in Iran and the highest level of the Iranian football league s ...

with Padideh F.C. He would depart from the club the following season due to a pay dispute. He would appear in 25 matches for Padideh. In 2016, he returned to Asia to play in the

Indonesia Soccer Championship Indonesia Soccer Championship (ISC; ), also known as Torabika Soccer Championship for sponsorship reasons, was a temporary professional football competition system in Indonesia, replacing the temporarily-suspended Indonesia League. It only ran fo ...

with Bali United F.C.

Scarborough SC

In 2018, Knežević played abroad in the southern Ontario-based

with

. In his debut season with the Toronto-based club, he contributed a goal in the opening round of the playoffs against Hamilton City which advanced Scarborough to the next round. Scarborough would ultimately reach the

CSL Championship The Canadian Soccer League championship final, or CSL Championship, is the post-season match of the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) and is the successor to the CNSL Championship. The winner is crowned champion as in other North American sports le ...

final where they were defeated in a penalty shootout by

FC Vorkuta FC Continentals is a Canadian soccer club founded in 2008. The team is currently a member of the Canadian Soccer League, a non-FIFA international football, non-FIFA sanctioned league. The club originally played under the name FC Vorkuta and wa ...

. He re-signed with Scarborough for the 2019 season where he assisted in securing the club's first championship title after defeating

FC Ukraine United FC Ukraine United is a Canadian soccer club founded in 2006. The team is currently a member of the Canadian Soccer League a league that is not sanctioned by any FIFA recognized body. Their home venue is located at Centennial Park Stadium in Etob ...

. The following season saw Scarborough claim their first divisional title after finishing first in the First Division. He made his fourth consecutive championship final appearance where Vorkuta defeated Scarborough. In 2021, he re-signed with the eastern Toronto side for his fourth season. Throughout the 2021 campaign, he appeared in the invitational tournament final the ProSound Cup against rivals Vorkuta where Scarborough was defeated in a penalty shootout. He won his second championship title by assisting Scarborough in defeating Vorkuta in the 2021 playoffs. He re-signed with Scarborough for the 2022 season. Throughout the 2022 campaign, the eastern Toronto side would achieve an 18-game undefeated streak and playoff position by finishing third. Knežević made his third championship appearance, which Scarborough lost to

FC Continentals FC Continentals is a Canadian soccer club founded in 2008. The team is currently a member of the Canadian Soccer League, a non-FIFA sanctioned league. The club originally played under the name FC Vorkuta and was renamed FC Continentals in 202 ...

(formerly FC Vorkuta).

International career

Knežević represented the

Serbia national under-21 football team The Serbia national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Serbia and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia. Both FIFA and UEFA consider the Serbia national team to be the direct and sole successor of the ...

Managerial career

In 2023, he transitioned into management as he was named the head coach of his former team

. Knežević would lead the Toronto-based club to a regular season title. In the 2024 season, he led Scarborough to the Royal CSL Cup final where the

Serbian White Eagles Serbian White Eagles Football Club (/''Fudbalski klub Srpski beli orlovi'') is a Canadian semi-professional Association football, soccer team. The team is a member of the Canadian Soccer League, a Non-FIFA international football, non-FIFA sanct ...

defeated them. Throughout the regular season, the club finished as runners-up to the Serbs.

Honours

Player

BSK Borča *

: 2008–09 Scarborough SC *

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

First Division:

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Manager

Scarborough SC *

Regular Season:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Royal CSL Cup runner-up:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knezevic, Zoran 1986 births Living people Footballers from Valjevo Men's association football midfielders Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbian men's footballers FK Budućnost Valjevo players FK BSK Borča players FC Khimki players FC Orenburg players GFK Sloboda Užice players Shahr Khodro F.C. players FK Jagodina players Bali United F.C. players OFK Grbalj players Scarborough SC players Second League of Serbia and Montenegro players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Serbian First League players Russian Premier League players Serbian SuperLiga players Russian First League players Persian Gulf Pro League players Liga 1 (Indonesia) players Montenegrin First League players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Serbian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Iran Expatriate men's footballers in Indonesia Expatriate men's footballers in Montenegro Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Iran Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Montenegro Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Serbian football managers Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) coaches 21st-century Serbian sportsmen