Milan Stepanov (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Милан Степанов; born 2 April 1983) is a former 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 ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Born in

Kisač Kisač ( sr-cyr, Кисач; Slovak: Kysáč) is a suburban settlement of the city of Novi Sad, Serbia. The settlement has a Slovak ethnic majority. Name In Serbian and Croatian the village is known as ''Kisač'' (Кисач); in Slovak as ' ...

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the P ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...

, Stepanov came up through

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

's ranks, making his first-team debut during the 2000–01 season and becoming

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

five years later. In the 2006 January

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer ...

, he transferred to

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities ...

club

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

. In July 2007, Stepanov moved to

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

in Portugal for a reported

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

3.5 million. Initially on the substitutes bench he gradually made room for himself in the starting eleven but, on 28 November, in a

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

match at

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, his team lost 1–4, with him having a subpar performance and subsequently losing the starting place to veteran

Pedro Emanuel Pedro Emanuel dos Santos Martins Silva (born 11 February 1975), known as Pedro Emanuel, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played mainly as a central defender, currently manager of Saudi Arabian club Khaleej FC. In his 16-year profession ...

; this situation was aggravated in his second year with the signing of

Rolando Rolando may refer to: Entertainment *'' Rolando'', a 2008 puzzle-adventure video game *'' Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid'', a 2009 puzzle-adventure video game *"Rolando", a song by Roland Kirk from the album ''Domino'' People *Rolando (gi ...

(he would only play in the penultimate

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...

game). On 27 July 2009, Stepanov moved on loan to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

's Málaga, with the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

ns having a buying option at the season's end. He only made four

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

appearances in the first half of the campaign, and was left out of the squad for almost three months, only playing again in a 0–0 home draw against

Deportivo La Coruña ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable) Mexicable is a aerial lift line in Ecatepec de M ...

on 7 February 2010, where he started. In late July 2010, Stepanov returned to Turkey, signing for

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği (), commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Bursa. Formed in 1963, the club colours are green and white, with home kits usually featuring both colours in a striped pattern. In th ...

for an undisclosed fee. In May 2012 his contract was terminated, and he joined fellow league side

Mersin İdmanyurdu Mersin Talim Yurdu, formerly Mersin İdman Yurdu, is a Turkish sports club from Mersin, Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean Region. The team played in the Turkish first division for 15 seasons, and after the 1983–84 season the football team pla ...

shortly after. Subsequently, Stepanov represented Omonia and

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajev ...

in quick succession. On 2 January 2016, after almost ten years, he returned to Vojvodina, signing a one-and-a-half-year deal with the club.

International career

Stepanov was part of the Serbian and Montenegrin team that was knocked out in the first round of the 2004 Summer Olympics after finishing fourth in Group C behind eventual winners

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

, Australia and

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. He played against the first and the third teams in two losses. In November 2005, Stepanov appeared in a two-match qualification playoff against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

for the

2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 15th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. In December 2005, Portugal was selected to host the finals of the competition, which took place from 23 May–4 June 2006. The tournament was ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

, and scored in the second leg in a 2–1 away win, netting the winner in the 86th minute (5–2 on aggregate). He eventually helped the national side reach the semifinals in the final stages, with many pundits agreeing he was the team's most consistent performer with a string of confident defensive displays throughout the tournament. Stepanov made his senior team debut in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

on 16 August 2006, in which he was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

. In March 2007, during the nation's

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

qualifying campaign, he started in the 1–2 loss to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...

and was on the bench against

Career statistics

Honours

;Porto *

: 2007–08, 2008–09 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seas ...

: 2008–09

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stepanov, Milan 1983 births Living people Footballers from Novi Sad Serbian footballers Association football defenders Serbian SuperLiga players FK Vojvodina players Süper Lig players Trabzonspor footballers Bursaspor footballers Mersin İdman Yurdu footballers Primeira Liga players FC Porto players La Liga players Málaga CF players Cypriot First Division players AC Omonia players FK Sarajevo players Serbia international footballers Serbia and Montenegro under-21 international footballers Olympic footballers of Serbia and Montenegro Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Serbian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina