Zvonimir Vukić (; born 19 July 1979) is a Serbian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. A former

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 ...

international, Vukić appeared at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

Club career

Vukić started out at his hometown club Proleter Zrenjanin, making his senior debut in the 1996–97 season, aged 17. He became a first-team regular in the following 1997–98 campaign, attracting the attention of numerous domestic and foreign clubs. In the summer of 1998, Vukić was snapped by Spanish club Atlético Madrid. After spending almost two years with Atlético's B team, playing in the

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 ...

, Vukić returned to his homeland and signed with Partizan in April 2000. He made a name for himself over the next four seasons with the ''Crno-beli'', scoring 52 goals across all competitions. In the 2002–03 season, Vukić was the league's top scorer with 22 goals, as Partizan won the title. In June 2003, Vukić signed a five-year contract with Ukrainian runners-up Shakhtar Donetsk. He was their top scorer with 13 goals in all competitions during his debut season. In his second year at the club, Vukić helped the side win the championship despite being scoreless in the process. He also made his

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 ...

debut that

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

against the likes of

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and

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. In August 2005, Vukić was loaned to

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 ...

side

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

until the end of the 2005–06 season. He scored his first goal for Portsmouth in a 4–1 win over

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

on 29 October 2005. However, after the sacking of manager Alain Perrin and reinstatement of former manager Harry Redknapp, Vukić was deemed surplus to requirements. In January 2006, Vukić found himself back in familiar territory, having been loaned to his former club Partizan for the rest of the 2005–06 season. He rejoined the Belgrade side just a few days following Danko Lazović's comeback. Unfortunately, Vukić broke a foot in a friendly game against Ural Yekaterinburg, managing to play just two competitive matches after a long pause. After his contract with Shakhtar Donetsk expired in the summer of 2008, Vukić joined

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. However, the Ukrainian club claimed that they have a valid contract with the player. Eventually,

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

allowed Vukić to play for the Russian club in October 2008. He scored on his debut for the side in a league fixture against Terek Grozny on 2 November 2008. After the club folded in February 2010, Vukić became a free agent.

Third stint at Partizan

In May, and November 2010, after training with the club for several months, Vukić was again linked to Partizan, but no deal was concluded. He eventually signed with his former club on 31 January 2011, penning a one-year deal. Vukić chose the number 80 shirt and was officially presented together with Ghanaian international Prince Tagoe. He helped Partizan win the double, scoring from the penalty spot in the

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. ...

final against

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

. At the start of the 2011–12 campaign, Vukić assumed his old number 10 shirt. He opened the season with a goal against Shkëndija in the second qualifying round of the

. However, after weak form in August 2010, Vukić became the subject of fans' criticism, briefly dropping from the first team. On 21 September 2011, Vukić returned to the lineup and scored a goal in the

first round against

Novi Pazar Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар) is a List of cities in Serbia, city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the urban area has 71,462 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 106,720 inha ...

. He then scored a brace in his first league game after six rounds for a 2–0 victory over Spartak Subotica on 15 October 2011. In the next 30 days, Vukić netted five more, including three league and two cup goals. He also scored the opening goal in a 2–0 away win against arch-rivals on 26 November 2011, becoming a fans favorite again. In the last two rounds of the first half of the season, Vukić scored two more goals to complete his fantastic performances in late 2011. On 24 January 2012, after much speculation, Vukić signed another one-year contract with Partizan. He continued his good performances in the second half of the season, being named in the SuperLiga Team of the Season. However, Vukić was removed from the squad in August 2012, because of disagreements with reappointed manager Vladimir Vermezović.

Career in Greece

On 30 January 2013, Vukić joined

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

on a free transfer, signing a one-and-a-half-year deal. He played three matches in the

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

until the end of the 2012–13 regular season, scoring two goals in his first two appearances for the club against Panionios and Panathinaikos. Vukić also recorded four appearances in the Super League playoffs. On 26 April 2014, Vukić was the only scorer for his team in the Greek Cup final, converting a penalty in the 70th minute of their 4–1 loss to Panathinaikos. He was also one of the team's top scorers in the 2013–14 season, with 15 goals in all competitions, before eventually leaving PAOK at the end of his contract. On 7 September 2014, Vukić joined Veria on a free transfer, signing a one-year contract. He was given the number 99 shirt. On 12 February 2015, Vukić terminated his contract with Veria by mutual consent.

International career

Vukić earned 26 caps for

, making his full international debut in a 2–2 home draw with

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 ...

on 12 February 2003. He scored his first national team goal in a 3–2 win over

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

at Millennium Stadium on 11 October 2003. Vukić was a regular member of the team during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, scoring four goals in the process. He was included in the final 23-man squad for the

, despite having been in the process of convalescence after a long break due to foot injury. Eventually, Vukić made one appearance in the final tournament, coming in from the bench in a 6–0 loss to

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 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Partizan * First League of FR Yugoslavia: 2001–02, 2002–03 * FR Yugoslavia Cup: 2000–01 * Serbian SuperLiga: 2010–11, 2011–12 *

: 2010–11 Shakhtar Donetsk * Ukrainian Premier League: 2004–05, 2007–08 * Ukrainian Cup: 2003–04, 2007–08 * Ukrainian Super Cup:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Individual * FK Partizan Player of the Year: 2002 * First League of Serbia and Montenegro Top Scorer: 2002–03 * Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season: 2011–12

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vukic, Zvonimir 2006 FIFA World Cup players Men's association football midfielders Atlético Madrid B players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine FC Moscow players FC Shakhtar Donetsk players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players FK Partizan players FK Proleter Zrenjanin players PAOK FC players Portsmouth F.C. players Premier League players Russian Premier League players Segunda División players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in England Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's international footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's under-21 international footballers Serbian expatriate men's footballers Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Serbian men's footballers Serbian SuperLiga players Footballers from Zrenjanin Super League Greece players Ukrainian Premier League players Veria F.C. players 1979 births Living people 21st-century Serbian sportsmen