Ranko Zirojević ( sr-Cyrl, Ранко Зиројевић; born 1 September 1967) is a former

Montenegrin Montenegrin may refer to: * Adjective for anything related to Montenegro * Demonym referring to the people of Montenegro, see Demographics of Montenegro * Ethnonym, referring to Montenegrins, the ethnic group associated with Montenegro * Monteneg ...

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 midfielder.

Playing career

Club

He played in the juvenile ranks of

FK Sutjeska Nikšić Fudbalski klub Sutjeska (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Сутјеска) is football club from Nikšić, Montenegro, currently competing in the Montenegrin First League. The club was established in 1920, and has been known by its ...

and was about to make a transfer toward First League team

FK Budućnost Podgorica Fudbalski Klub Budućnost Podgorica (Cyrillic: Будућност Подгорица, , lit. "Future") is a Montenegrin football club from Podgorica, Montenegro. It is competing in the Montenegrin First League. Its colours are blue and white ...

, but the deal broke. Zirojević stayed at Second League team Sutjeska where his career didn't prosper with the start of the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...

in which he lost a brother.RANKO ZIROJEVIĆ, BIVŠI POZNATI I PRIZNATI FUDBALER CRNOGORSKOG I JUGOSLOVENSKOG FUDBALA
Pobjeda, 17 July 2007 He scored eleven goals in the 1989/90 campaign and three goals in eighteen matches in the 1990/91 season. In July 1993, Zirojević joined

Greek second division Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: * Greeks, an ethnic group. * Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. ** Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ances ...

side

Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. Ethnikos Piraeus 1923 Football Club ( el, Εθνικός Πειραιώς 1923) is a Greek football club based in Piraeus and its parent sports club is Ethnikos OFPF. The club was officially formed in 1923 as ''Keravnos'' ( en, Lightning), but ...

The club was promoted and he made eight appearances in the

Greek Superleague The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

(1994/95), before returning to

FK Mogren FK Mogren was a football club based in Budva, Montenegro. Founded in 1920, it was two times champion of Montenegrin First League and once winner of Montenegrin Cup. In 2015, following the bankruptcy and debts, FK Mogren was relegated to the lowest ...

in December 1994. The following season, he joined Slovenian side

NK Branik Maribor Nogometni klub Branik Maribor ( en, Branik Maribor Football Club), known as NK Branik or simply Branik, was an association football club based in the city of Maribor. Founded on 29 January 1949 they traced their origin back to 1919 and the estab ...

. He would finish his career with Mogren. He finished his career playing in Serbia with FK Vrbas in the seasons 1997–98 and 1998–99.

International

Zirojević featured in the

Yugoslavia national under-20 football team The Yugoslavia national under-20 football team ( sh, Omladinska reprezentacija Jugoslavije) represented the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia at the FIFA World Youth Championship and various friendly youth tournaments in the period between t ...

that won the title at the

1987 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Chile from 10 to 25 October 1987. The 1987 championship was the 6th contested and won for the first time by Yugoslavia. Remarkably, in the course of the tournament the Yugoslavs defeated each o ...

Post playing

He later became the coach of FK Mogren's youth academy. In 2011, he and former youth worldcup teammate

Slaviša Đurković Slaviša Đurković ( sr, Славиша Ђурковић; born 18 August 1968) is a former Montenegrin footballer who played as a defender. Club career He played in the juvenile ranks of FK Sutjeska Nikšić and featured the Yugoslavia nation ...

were denied a pension for their sport-achievements by the Montenegrin authorities. He is participating in a UEFA A-license coaching course in 2011.ŠZT: Drugi semestar za UEFA “A” licencu
fscg.co.me, 2 December 2011

References

External links

* *
Profile at Prvaliga.si
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zirojevic, Ranko 1967 births Living people Association football midfielders Yugoslav footballers Serbia and Montenegro footballers FK Sutjeska Nikšić players FK Mogren players Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. players NK Maribor players FK Vrbas players Yugoslav First League players Yugoslav Second League players Football League (Greece) players Super League Greece players Second League of Serbia and Montenegro players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Slovenia Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia