Andrija Novakovich ( sr-Cyrl, Андрија Новаковић, Andrija Novaković; born 21 September 1996) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for Italian club

Venezia Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Career

Youth

Born and raised in

Muskego, Wisconsin Muskego () is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 25,032. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The name Muskego is derived from the Potawatomi Indian name for the ar ...

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

parents, Novakovich spent his youth career with United Serbians, Red Star, and Chicago Magic. He was once named Gatorade Wisconsin Player of the Year after scoring 41 goals

Club

Despite signing a letter of intent to play college soccer at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

, Novakovich agreed to join English

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

in April 2014, signing for the club in June of the same year, the move being made easier due to Novakovich holding a British passport through his mother who was born in England of Serbian descent. On November 26, 2015, Novakovich joined

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

side

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

on loan until January 2, 2016. Novakovich returned to Reading on January 4, 2016, after Cheltenham Town didn't extend his loan deal. On July 2, 2017, Reading announced that Novakovich had signed a new two-year contract with the club, and that he would join

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

side

SC Telstar Sportclub Telstar () is a Dutch professional football club based in the town of Velsen-Zuid, North Holland. The team competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste Divisie in t ...

for the 2017–18 season. A year later, June 20, 2018, Novakovich signed a new two-year contract with Reading and moved to

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; ) is a professional football club from the municipality of Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was establi ...

on a season-long loan deal. On September 2, 2019, it was announced that Novakovich would leave Reading, with

Frosinone Frosinone (; local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lazio, administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is about southeast of Rome, close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of th ...

paying an undisclosed fee for the player. Novakovich signed a contract with Frosinone lasting until 30 June 2022. On July 15, 2022, Novakovich moved to another Italian club

on a four-year contract. On August 23, 2023, he was loaned to

Lecco Lecco (, , ; ) is a city of approximately 47,000 inhabitants in Lombardy, Northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco''). The Bergamasqu ...

for the 2023–24 season. On July 23, 2024, Novakovich moved on a new loan to

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

, with an option to buy and a conditional obligation to buy.

International

In March 2018, Novakovich was called up to the

USMNT The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT), officially recognized as USA by FIFA, represents the United States in men's international soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation, which is a member of FIFA sinc ...

for the first time for their international friendly against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

on March 27, 2018. In the 77' minute, he earned his first cap replacing Bobby Wood, the goalscorer, in

Cary, North Carolina Cary is a town in Wake County, North Carolina, Wake, Chatham County, North Carolina, Chatham, and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh-Cary, NC M ...

WakeMed Soccer Park WakeMed Soccer Park is a Association football, soccer complex in Cary, North Carolina, United States. It consists of a purpose-built, Soccer-specific stadium, soccer-specific main stadium named "First Horizon Stadium", two lighted practice footba ...

. Novakovich holds both British and American passports and remains eligible to represent

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

or the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in a competitive match, as well as

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 ...

, his father's birthplace.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

US Soccer ProfileReading Profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Novakovich, Andrija 1996 births Living people American people of Serbian descent People from Muskego, Wisconsin Sportspeople from Waukesha County, Wisconsin Soccer players from Wisconsin American men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Reading F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players SC Telstar players Fortuna Sittard players Frosinone Calcio players Venezia FC players Calcio Lecco 1912 players SSC Bari players English Football League players National League (English football) players Eerste Divisie players Eredivisie players Serie B players United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in England American expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands American expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Italy 21st-century American sportsmen