Ivica Iliev (, ; born 27 October 1979) is a Serbian former professional

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 played as a forward.

Club career

Partizan

After starting out as a youngster at Rad, Iliev joined the youth system of Partizan in January 1996. He made his first-team debut under manager

Ljubiša Tumbaković Ljubiša Tumbaković (, ; born 2 September 1952) is a Serbian professional football manager. He is the most successful coach in the history of Serbian powerhouse Partizan which he led to six national championship titles and three national cup w ...

during the 1997–98 season, recording four league appearances in the process. In the 1998–99 season, Iliev scored his first goals for Partizan, including a header in a 3–2 home loss to

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

in the return leg of the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

second round. He later started playing more regularly, scoring eight league goals in the 1999–2000 season. After the departure of Mateja Kežman that summer, Iliev went on to form a strike partnership with Andrija Delibašić. They became a formidable duo in the following period, as the team won back-to-back championships in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and

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 the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, Iliev scored the only goal in a 1–0 return leg win against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

St James' Park St James' Park is a Association football, football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,305, it is the List of football stadiums in England, 8th la ...

, resulting in a 1–1 draw on aggregate. Partizan would go on to win the match 4–3 on penalties, reaching the competition's group stage for the first time in club history.

Messina

In July 2004, Iliev moved abroad and joined Italian side

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...

on a free transfer. He appeared 29 times and scored once in his debut season in

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

, helping the club to a highest-ever seventh-place finish. In January 2006, after receiving limited playing time, Iliev was loaned to

Serie C1 Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Se ...

side

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

until the end of the season, as the club would manage to earn promotion to

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

via the play-offs. He subsequently returned to Messina, but failed to help the team avoid relegation from the top flight in the 2006–07 campaign, finishing bottom of the table.

Greece, Germany, and Israel

After three years in Italy, Iliev moved to Greece and signed with

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

. He scored only one goal in the 2007–08 season, as the club failed to secure a spot in

UEFA competitions UEFA competitions (), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur association football and futsal. Th ...

. In August 2008, Iliev joined German side

Energie Cottbus FC Energie Cottbus (Lower Sorbian: ''Energija Chóśebuz'') is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Cottbus, Brandenburg. It was founded in 1963 as SC Cottbus in what was East Germany. After the German reunification, reunificatio ...

. He managed to score three

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

goals in 27 games during the 2008–09 season. They were eventually relegated from the top flight after losing in the play-offs. In August 2009, Iliev signed with Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv on a one-year deal. He quickly became an important part of the team, but suffered an injury in January 2010, causing him to miss the remainder of the 2009–10 season.

Return to Partizan

On 21 July 2010, Iliev returned to his parent club Partizan on a one-year deal. He scored one goal in the Champions League preliminary phase, helping the side reach the competition's group stage after seven years. With 13 goals, Iliev was the league's joint top scorer, being named in the competition's Team of the Season, while also collecting the double.

Wisła Kraków

In June 2011, Iliev moved to Poland and signed a two-year contract with Wisła Kraków. He made a career-high 45 appearances across all competitions during his debut season, netting three times. In the 2012–13 campaign, Iliev scored four goals in 24 games, before being released by the Polish side.

International career

Iliev was capped twice for

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 ...

in 2003. He made his international debut on 30 April, coming on as a substitute for

Goran Trobok Goran Trobok (; born 6 September 1974) is a Serbian former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Early life A Bosnian Serb, Trobok was born in Pale, Bosnia and Herzegovina, but moved to Budva, Montenegro at the age of 17 with the o ...

in a 1–0 away friendly loss to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. On 16 November, in his second and final appearance, Iliev replaced

Savo Milošević Savo Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Саво Милошевић, ; born 2 September 1973) is a Serbian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. A former Forward (association football), forward, he ...

and scored a late goal in a 4–3 away friendly loss against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Post-playing career

On 27 October 2015, his 36th birthday, Iliev was appointed as

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

of his parent club Partizan. Some of his most notable signings early on would include

Everton Luiz Everton Luiz Guimarães Bilher (born 24 May 1988), commonly known as Everton Luiz, is a Brazilian professional association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Belgian club S.K. Beveren, Beveren. He is primarily recognize ...

, Leonardo, Léandre Tawamba, and Seydouba Soumah. In March 2019, it was announced that Iliev resigned from his position. He, however, remained in charge for another three years, before resigning for a second time in July 2022. In September 2024, Iliev returned to Partizan to replace

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 ...

as sporting director. Only one month later, Iliev was dismissed from the position by Partizan's newly assembled temporary governing body.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Partizan *

First League of FR Yugoslavia The First League of Serbia and Montenegro () was the top football league of Serbia and Montenegro, before the country's dissolution in 2006. The league was formed as the First League of FR Yugoslavia following the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, ef ...

: 1998–99, 2001–02, 2002–03 *

FR Yugoslavia 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 ...

: 1997–98, 2000–01 *

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 ...

: 2010–11 *

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. ...

: 2010–11 Individual *

top scorer: 2010–11 * Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season: 2010–11

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iliev, Ivica 1979 births Living people Footballers from Belgrade Serbian people of Macedonian descent Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Serbia and Montenegro men's under-21 international footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's international footballers FK Partizan players ACR Messina players Genoa CFC players PAOK FC players FC Energie Cottbus players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Wisła Kraków players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Serie A players Serie C players Super League Greece players Bundesliga players Israeli Premier League players Serbian SuperLiga players Ekstraklasa players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Serbian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Italy Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Poland FK Partizan non-playing staff Serbian sports executives and administrators Association football executives