Zoran Njeguš (

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 Његуш; born 25 June 1973) is a

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 ...

n former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and a former manager. Over the course of his career, he played for Sloboda Užice,

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

. He played for Yugoslavia's national football team seven times, although his last international appearance was after Yugoslavia's name was changed to Serbia and Montenegro.

Club career

Red Star Belgrade

Njeguš joined

in the summer of 1995. Over the course of three seasons at Red Star, Njeguš played a total of 103 matches. He played in every match of Red Star's

1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The 1996–97 season of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was won by FC Barcelona, Barcelona after beating holders Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint-Germain in the final. It was the last of four occasions that the Spanish club won the tournament. All ...

campaign up to their elimination against

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in the

second round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

Atlético Madrid

On 8 May 1998, Njeguš joined Spanish club

in a 7.5 million DM transfer from Red Star Belgrade. He was coach

Arrigo Sacchi Arrigo Sacchi (born 1 April 1946) is an Italian former professional football coach, best known for having twice managed AC Milan. Sacchi is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, and his Milan side (1987–1991) is widely regarded ...

's first pick of that year's summer transfer window. He played for three seasons at Atlético Madrid, playing a total of 52 matches.

Sevilla

On 30 July 2001,

officially announced the loaning of Njeguš from Atlético Madrid. His loan to Sevilla was renewed for a season on 27 July 2002. After almost three seasons with Sevilla, a bitter dispute occurred from a drastic punishment given to him after he returned late from the 2003-2004 winter break. During court proceedings on settling the contract dispute between Sevilla and himself, a jurist stated that Njeguš was "depressed, eating compulsively, and gained 8 kilograms" as a result of Sevilla sanctioning him. Njeguš subsequently retired.

International career

Although Njeguš was not called up for a major international competition, he made his debut under for the Yugoslavia national team under coach

Slobodan Santrač Slobodan Santrač (, ; 1 July 1946 – 13 February 2016) was a Serbian football manager and player. He is the all-time top scorer of the Yugoslav First League with a total of 218 goals, as well as the top scorer in the history of OFK Beograd. A ...

on 28 December 1996 in a 3–2 away win 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 ...

. Santrač ultimately preferred

Albert Nađ Albert Nađ (, , ; born 29 October 1974) is a Serbian professional football manager and a former player who played as a defensive midfielder. At international level, Nađ represented Serbia and Montenegro at UEFA Euro 2000 (as FR Yugoslavia) and ...

and

Branko Brnović Branko Brnović (Cyrillic: Бранко Брновић; born 8 August 1967) is a Montenegrin manager and retired professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Club career After making his professional debuts with local club Budu ...

as his defensive midfield picks, with the latter being called up to 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 ...

. Although Njeguš was not called up for that World Cup, he started under coach Milan "Bard" Živadinović in Yugoslavia's first post-World Cup friendly at the Castelão in front of approximately 70,000 people against

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 ...

on 23 September 1998, which Yugoslavia tied 1–1. His final international was a June 2003

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

qualification match away against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

Personal life

In March 2016, Njeguš was arrested for allegedly being involved in real estate fraud in the

Zlatibor Zlatibor ( sr-cyr, Златибoр ) is a List of mountains of Serbia, mountainous region in western Serbia. Among the most popular places in Serbia for tourism, Zlatibor's main attractions include health tourism, skiing, and hiking and the lo ...

region. He was released from custody 10 days later.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Njegus, Zoran 1973 births Living people Footballers from Užice Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's international footballers GFK Sloboda Užice players Red Star Belgrade footballers Atlético Madrid footballers Sevilla FC players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players La Liga players Segunda División players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbian football managers GFK Sloboda Užice managers FK Javor Ivanjica managers FK Spartak Subotica managers FK Borac Čačak managers FK Novi Pazar managers FK Rad managers FK Zlatibor Čajetina managers Serbian SuperLiga managers