Dragan Žilić (; born 14 December 1974) is a Serbian

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 ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for German amateur club FC Bierbach.

Club career

Žilić joined his hometown club OFK Kikinda as a trainee in 1985. He made his senior debut in the

1992–93 First League of FR Yugoslavia The 1992–93 First League of FR Yugoslavia was the first football season in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which was composed of the republics of Serbia and Montenegro, following the breakup of the SFR Yugoslavia. FK Partizan were the champi ...

, as the team finished in the lower half of the standings. In the summer of 1996, Žilić was transferred to

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 ...

. He was a regular member of the team that reached the 1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals, losing 2–1 on aggregate to

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

. In June 2000, Žilić moved abroad to Bulgaria and signed with

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

on a three-year contract. He left the club by mutual agreement in February 2001, having played just two official games for the team. In July 2001, Žilić returned to his homeland and joined ambitious Sartid Smederevo. He spent four seasons with the ''Oklopnici'', winning the

Serbia and Montenegro Cup The Serbia and Montenegro Cup was an association football knockout cup tournament of Serbia and Montenegro played between 1992 and 2006, after which Serbia and Montenegro became separate nations. The competition was the continuation of the old ...

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 ...

. In July 2005, Žilić completed a controversial move to Croatian side

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

. The transfer caused a minor sensation in the region as it marked the first occasion that a Serbian-born player joined a Croatian club after 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 ...

. Despite being exposed to severe verbal abuse by the nationalist supporters of Rijeka, Žilić immediately established himself as the first-choice goalkeeper and gradually earned the support of fans with his consistent performances. He played an important role in helping them win the 2005–06 Croatian Cup. On 29 November 2006, Žilić scored a 92nd-minute header against Konavljanin that pushed Rijeka into the 2006–07 Croatian Cup semi-finals. He would lose his place in the first team by the fall of 2008, being demoted to as low as training with the youth team. In the 2009 winter transfer window, Žilić signed with Slovenian club Gorica on a free transfer. He retired from professional football after the 2009–10 season. In early 2015, at the age of 40, Žilić came out of retirement to play for German amateur club Gençlerbirliği Homburg in the

Bezirksliga The Bezirksliga () is commonly a medium set of amateur divisions set at steps 7, 8 or 9 in the German football league system. Structure Depending on the structural organisation within each of the 21 state football associations of the German Fo ...

. He became

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

Landesliga The Landesliga () is a tier of football in some states of the German football league system. In Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia, Bremen, Lower Saxony and Hamburg, the Landesligas are set right below the Oberliga and therefore are the sixth tier. The r ...

club SpVgg Einöd-Ingweiler in October of the same year.

International career

Žilić made his international debut for

FR Yugoslavia 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 ...

in a 1–1 away friendly draw 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. He came on as a second-half substitute for

Ivica Kralj Ivica Kralj (, ; born 26 March 1973) is a Montenegrin former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. During his playing career, Kralj was best known for his time at FK Partizan ...

and kept a clean sheet in the process. After nearly four years of absence, Žilić returned to the squad in a 2–1 friendly win over

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Bank One Ballpark Chase Field, formerly Bank One Ballpark, is a retractable-roof stadium in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. It opened in 1998, the year the Diamondbacks debuted as an expansion t ...

on 13 February 2002. He earned a total of eight caps for the national team between 1998 and 2003.

Post-playing career

Following his initial retirement in 2010, Žilić served as president of his parent club OFK Kikinda.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Sartid Smederevo *

: 2002–03 Rijeka * Croatian Cup: 2005–06

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zilic, Dragan 1974 births Living people Footballers from Kikinda Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Serbia and Montenegro men's international footballers OFK Kikinda players FK Vojvodina players PFC CSKA Sofia players FK Smederevo 1924 players HNK Rijeka players ND Gorica players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Second League of Serbia and Montenegro players Croatian Football League players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Landesliga players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Serbian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Germany