Marko Baša ( sr-Cyrl, Марко Баша, ; born 29 December 1982) is a Montenegrin retired 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 ...

er who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Club career

Lille

On 23 June 2011, Baša returned to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

after three years in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

with

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

, signing a contract with

2010–11 Ligue 1 The 2010–11 Ligue 1 season was the 73rd since its establishment. Entering the season, Marseille were the defending champions. The fixtures were announced on 21 May 2010 and the season began on 7 August and ended on 29 May 2011. The winter brea ...

champions

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

. He is first choice for centre back. He scored his first goal for

against

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

Trophée des champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

. His team lost 4–5. He scored his first goal in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

for Lille on 23 October, against

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

. His team won 3–1. He scored again in a 3–2 victory over

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...

on 3 December.

International career

U21

Baša won Olympic qualification by finishing runner-up at 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. He was part of the

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 ...

2004 Olympic The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

football team that exited in the first round, finishing fourth in Group C behind gold-medal winners

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

Serbia and Montenegro

Baša capped a total of three times for

in 2005. All were friendlies. In the years after the dissolution of the

state union A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller politics or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal govern ...

, Baša's international loyalty remained unclear. He received a call-up from

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 ...

national team by head coach

Javier Clemente Javier Clemente Lázaro (; born 12 March 1950) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Forced to retire from playing in his early 20s through injury, he embarked on a coaching career with his first managerial ...

for the away friendly against

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

on 16 August 2006 (first match since Montenegro left the state union) but did not show up - apparently because of an injury. Since then, his international loyalty was often a subject of press speculation, but he did not receive any more official call-ups from Serbia.

Montenegro

In March 2007 he was frequently quoted in Montenegrin press (namely ''

Vijesti ''Nezavisni dnevnik Vijesti'' (; English translation: ''News'') is a Montenegrin daily newspaper. The paper is published and managed by an entity called Daily Press d.o.o. - a limited liability company based in Podgorica. The company's ownershi ...

'' daily) saying that he wants to play for

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

, but he made himself unavailable for their inaugural match on 24 March 2007 due to, as he said, "objective circumstances". Then, in late May he apparently did not respond to Montenegrin football officials' attempts to get in touch with him and as a result he wasn't included in the team that went to Japan to play in Kirin Cup. Finally, Baša received a call-up from Montenegro for their friendly against

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

on 22 August 2007 but did not show up. Only in February 2009, new information appeared that Baša is considering appearing for Montenegro again if he gets a call up after Montenegro national team coach

Zoran Filipović Zoran Filipović ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Филиповић, ; born 6 February 1953) is a Montenegrin former football coach and player, best known for his playing stints with Red Star Belgrade and S.L. Benfica. Club career Filipović, born 6 Fe ...

insistence. He received a call-up against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in March 2009, and made his debut as starter. He earned a total of 39 caps, scoring 2 goals. His final international was a June 2017

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Personal life

Marko Baša was born in Trstenik, in central

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 ...

(at the time part of

SR Serbia The Socialist Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Социјалистичка Република Србија, Socijalistička Republika Srbija), previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / " ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

). His father is from

Rijeka Crnojevića Rijeka Crnojevića ( cnr-Cyrl, Ријека Црнојевића, lit=River of Crnojević noble family, Crnojević) is a town in Montenegro on the eponymous Rijeka Crnojevića (river), Rijeka Crnojevića River, near the shore of Lake Skadar lake, ...

References

External links

*
FootballDatabase provides Marko Baša's profile and stats

arhiva.kurir-info.rs
* *
Baša za Srbiju!
, Vecernje novosti, 13 March 2007
Baša ipak Crnogorac
, Vecernje novosti, 15 March 2007 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Basa, Marko 1982 births Living people People from Trstenik, Serbia Footballers from Rasina District Serbian people of Montenegrin descent Montenegrin people of Serbian descent Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's international footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's under-21 international footballers Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Serbia and Montenegro Montenegrin men's footballers Montenegro men's international footballers Dual internationalists (men's football) OFK Beograd players FK Proleter Zrenjanin players Le Mans FC players FC Lokomotiv Moscow players Lille OSC players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Ligue 1 players Russian Premier League players Montenegrin expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Russia Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in France