Nenad Milijaš ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Милијаш, ; born 30 April 1983) is a retired

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 ...

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 ...

. He represented

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

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. Milijaš rose to prominence in his homeland with his first club

FK Zemun Fudbalski klub Zemun (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Земун) is a Serbian professional football club based in Zemun, Belgrade, that competes in the Serbian First League. History Immediately after the end of the Second Wor ...

before moving to

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

where he won league and cup honours. Decorated with individual awards for his performances at Red Star, he broke into the Serbian national side in 2008. He moved to England in 2009 when he signed for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

but returned to his former club three years later.

Club career

Zemun

Milijaš began his playing career in the youth ranks of Belgrade-based

, where he progressed through to make it into their first team in 2000. He really began to establish himself in the middle of the park during the 2001–02 season and was a vital player for the club over the following seasons. In 2005–06, he had his best goalscoring start to a season, netting eight times by Christmas. This attracted attention from the country's biggest club and local rival,

Red Star Belgrade

Following his continually impressive form for

, Milijaš signed for

in January 2006. He ended his first season with Belgrade by winning both the

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 ...

and

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. ...

with his new club. He won both trophies again with Belgrade the following season. Milijaš found appearances restricted by then manager

Dusan Bajević Dusan may refer to: * Dušan, a Slavic given name * Dusan, a son of Ra's al Ghul * Stefan Dušan (1308–1355), emperor of Serbia See also *Doosan Group Doosan Group () is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation. In 2009, the cor ...

, but the arrival of

Boško Djurovski Boško (Cyrillic script: Бошко) is a Slavic male given name. It may refer to: * Boško Abramović (1951–2021), Serbian chess grandmaster * Boško Anić (born 1968), retired Croatian footballer * Boško Antić (1944–2007), Bosnian Serb foo ...

as the club's new manager saw him gain more playing time and re-discover his form. He then held down a first team spot in central midfield for the following seasons, becoming a vital member of the team as they went close to more domestic honours and regularly competing in European competitions. Milijaš enjoyed his best season so far in 2008–09, finishing Red Star's top goalscorer with 18 league goals, 22 goals in all competitions, making him Serbian football's leading scorer in that season. He also won the league's ''Most Valuable Player Award'', was voted into the ''All Star Team'', named 2008–09 Serbian Superliga Player of the Year and broke into the

Serbia national football team The Serbia men's national football team ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалска репрезентација Србије, translit=Fudbalska reprezentacija Srbije) represents Serbia in men's international Association football, football competition. It is ...

. This form attracted attention from various clubs in Europe.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Newly promoted Premier League side Wolves signed Milijaš on 15 June 2009 in a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £2.6 million. He made his debut in August 2009, in the club's 2–0 opening day defeat to

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

, in which he was voted

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' man of the match. Milijaš scored his first goal for Wolves with a long-distance strike to earn a 2–1 home win against

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

in December 2009; before netting a second and final goal for the season two weeks later, against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. Milijaš made twenty appearances in the Premier League in the 2010–11 season, scoring twice. He also matched that tally in the League Cup, scoring two penalties, against

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

and

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

. In a 3–3 home draw against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

, Milijaš created two goals by assisting Kevin Doyle's opening goal, and then winning a penalty for a second Doyle goal. He also featured in the team's victory at Aston Villa as Wolves narrowly stayed up on the final day of the season. Milijaš made only sporadic appearances during the next season, but during November and December he enjoyed a run of starts in the team. However, this was halted when he was sent off in a 1–1 draw at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

for a challenge on

Mikel Arteta Mikel Arteta Amatriain (born 26 March 1982) is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of club Arsenal F.C., Arsenal. Arteta began his senior club career ...

. Wolves made an appeal to have this red card rescinded, including a unique press conference by then-manager

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional Manager (association football), football manager, pundit and former Association football, footballer. He was most recently the head coach of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool. McCarthy b ...

who showed slow motion replays from a number of angles, but the appeal was unsuccessful and the three-match ban was upheld. Following this dismissal he only made a number of substitute appearances in the final months as the club were relegated under caretaker manager

Terry Connor Terence Fitzroy Connor (born 9 November 1962) is an English football coach and former professional association football, footballer who is currently a coach at Dagenham & Redbridge F.C., Dagenham & Redbridge. He was born in Leeds and was a pupi ...

. Following the appointment of

Ståle Solbakken Ståle Solbakken (born 27 February 1968) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of the Norway national team. During his playing career, Solbakken was named 1995 Norwegian midfielder of the year, an ...

as Wolves manager during the close season, it was announced that Milijaš was available for transfer, having expressed a desire to play more regularly. On 30 August, his contract was cancelled by mutual consent to allow him to find a new club.

Return to Red Star Belgrade

On 31 August 2012, one day after his departure from Wolves, Milijaš rejoined his former club

when he signed a three-year deal. He scored his first goal against Radnički Kragujevac 1923 from a free kick. On 13 April 2013, he scored a hat-trick against

FK Spartak Zlatibor Voda Fudbalski klub Spartak Ždrepčeva Krv () is a professional football club from Subotica, Serbia, that plays in the Serbian SuperLiga. The club was founded in 1945 and was named after Jovan Mikić Spartak, the leader of the Partisans in Subotic ...

Hebei China Fortune

On 16 February 2015, Milijaš transferred to

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

side Hebei China Fortune.

Nei Mongol Zhongyou

On 14 February 2016, Milijaš transferred to fellow

side Nei Mongol Zhongyou.

Red Star Belgrade

On 31 January 2017, Milijaš rejoined his club

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. ...

for a third time. An avid Red Star fan, Milijaš once again proved loyalty to his club and fans. Milijaš signed a one-and-a-half-year deal. On 19 May 2019, he played his last game for

in a 3–0 win over

Napredak Napredak, which translates from Serbo-Croatian as ''Progress'', may refer to: *HKD Napredak, cultural society of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina *FK Napredak Kruševac, Serbian football club *FK Napredak Aleksinac, Serbian football club *FK Napred ...

. During his 9 years altogether in

, Milijas played 170 matches, scored 49 goals and had 38 assists. He also won 4 trophies, all 4 being

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 ...

in 06/07, 13/14, 17/18 and 18/19 seasons.

International career

Milijaš represented Serbia and Montenegro at under-21 level, appearing in the side which made the semi-finals of the 2006 European Under-21 Championship in Portugal. Milijaš made his full international debut for

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 ...

on 6 September 2008, in a 2–0 win over the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

in a World Cup 2010 qualifier. He scored his first international goal in his fourth appearance, in a 6–1 rout of

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

in a friendly on 19 November 2008, then added his first competitive goal when he netted the winner from the penalty spot to defeat

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

1–0 on 6 June 2009. This qualification campaign ultimately saw the nation qualify for the

Finals in South Africa, with Milijaš a regular in central midfield, usually paired with captain

Dejan Stanković Dejan Stanković ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Станковић, , born 11 September 1978) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player. He captained the Serbia national team from 2007 until 2011, when he announced his retirement from ...

. In June 2010, he was selected in Serbia's squad for the

, where he appeared in group stage match against

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

. He earned a total of 25 caps (scoring 4 goals) and his final international was an October 2011 European Championship qualification match away 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 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Serbia's goal tally first.''

Managerial statistics

Honours

;Club *

(5): 2005–06, 2006–07, 2013–14, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

(2): 2005–06, 2006–07 ;Individual *

: Player of the Season 2008–09 *

Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season The Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season is an annual award given to a set of 11 footballers in the top tier of Football in Serbia, Serbian football, the Serbian SuperLiga, SuperLiga, who are seen to be the best 11 players of the calendar season. S ...

: 2008–09

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Milijas, Nenad 1983 births Living people Footballers from Belgrade Men's association football midfielders Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's under-21 international footballers Serbian men's footballers Serbia men's international footballers 2010 FIFA World Cup players FK Zemun players Red Star Belgrade footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Manisaspor footballers Hebei F.C. players Inner Mongolia Zhongyou F.C. players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Serbian SuperLiga players Premier League players TFF 1. Lig players China League One players Serbian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Serbian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in China Serbian expatriate sportspeople in China Red Star Belgrade non-playing staff