Dejan Stanković (Serbian Cyrillic: Дејан Станковић; born 11 September 1978 in Belgrade) is a Serbian footballer who currently plays for the Italian Serie A side Internazionale and the Serbian national team, which he captains. He is an attacking midfielder who can also play out wide on the wings or track back in a defensive midfield role. He is best known for his effective, accurate passing and creativity as well as his ability to score goals from long distance.^[1]

[edit] Early life

Stanković grew up in Zemun, a suburb of Belgrade. Both of his parents, Borislav and Dragica, have strong football backgrounds.

[edit] Club career

Stanković took up football with FK Teleoptik, based in his neighbourhood of Zemun. However, when spotted by Red Star cadet squad coach Branko Radović, 14-year-old Dejan transferred to Red Star Belgrade's youth system.

[edit] Red Star Belgrade

Stanković then passed every age category at his hometown club. In the youth teams, he was coached by Pižon Petrović, playing alongside future professionals Nikola Lazetić and Nenad Lalatović.

Stanković's first opportunity for senior team action came under head coach Ljupko Petrović during the 1994–1995 season against crosstown rivals OFK Beograd. He scored his first goal against Budućnost Podgorica, soon becoming a first team regular and a fan favourite. Before the start of the 1997-98 season, he was made squad captain at the tender age of 19, the youngest ever in the club's history. Despite not winning the league he captained the team to two domestic cup victories.

During the early '90s, Red Star was under an international ban because of a United Nations sanction imposed on FR Yugoslavia, meaning that the team could not compete in any European competition. The ban was lifted ahead of the 1996-97 season, and Stanković played a huge part in a memorable two-leg victory over Kaiserslautern in the Cup Winners' Cup.

[edit] Lazio

In the summer of 1998, he transferred for £7.5 million (DM24 million) to S.S. Lazio, where he scored on his Serie A debut versus Piacenza on 13 September 1998. In those years, Lazio had an all-star squad with world class players at almost every position, but Stanković quickly secured a regular first-team place despite competition from fellow midfielders Pavel Nedvěd, Juan Sebastián Verón and Roberto Mancini. He had five and a half successful seasons in the Biancoceleste part of Rome, before finally signing for a high profile move to Internazionale in February 2004.

[edit] Internazionale

During the latter part of Stanković's career at Lazio, the Biancoceleste struggled with financial problems and were forced to sell many of their best players. Many of the big-name teams in European football knew that the club would have to sell Stanković in the near future, so there was fierce competition for his services during the 2003-04 winter transfer window. Juventus were favorite to getting Stanković's signature, but he eventually chose Internazionale. The fact that old Lazio teammate Roberto Mancini was already at Inter may have influenced his decision. In early February 2004, Stanković played his debut match for Inter - a Serie A clash against Siena. On 21 February 2004, he scored a spectacular goal directly from a corner kick to put Inter 0-1 up in Derby della Madonnina versus fierce rivals A.C. Milan.

On 7 May 2006 he played his 100th match for Inter. Stanković showed good form during the 2006-7 Serie A campaign, scoring some decisive goals. His strike against Catania and his memorable goal against city rivals Milan have enhanced his reputation with the fans of Internazionale.

According to the official ratings of the La Gazzetta dello Sport, Stanković has been selected as the man of the match five times so far during this years Serie A campaign.^{[citation needed]} Stanković renewed his contract on 2 February 2007, with Inter securing his services until at least 2010.

On 19 October 2008, Stanković scored a superb goal in Inter's 4-0 hammering of A.S. Roma. After receiving a pass from Sulley Muntari, he slid the ball past the Roma goalkeeper into the net, his 24th goal in all competitions for the Nerazzuri, thus ending a year-long goal drought.^[2] On 7 February 2009, Stanković celebrated his 200th appearances for Inter in all competitions at the away game with Lecce. Inter hammered the newly-promoted team 3-0 with Stanković heading in the third goal following a slick pass from Maicon.^[3] Stanković's good form continued as he scored Internazionale's second goal against Milan in the 270th Milan Derby on 15 February. This turned out to be the winning goal after Alexandre Pato had pulled one back. Inter went on to win a fourth consecutive title, his fifth Serie A trophy.

The 2009-10 season began well for Stanković. In the 29 August Milan derby, he played in a deeper role to replace the injured Esteban Cambiasso. Nevertheless he scored Inter's fourth goal and his second in consecutive Milan derbies in a 4-0 thrashing, a spectacular 30-yard strike after quickly collecting Sulley Muntari's pass.^[4] He subsequently scored against Rubin Kazan and Udinese to continue his rich vein of form under Mourinho. He also scored a wonder-goal from 54 metres in a 5-0 thrashing against Genoa, volleying the ball straight in from Marco Amelia's clearance.

[edit] International career

Stanković made his international debut for Serbia (then part of FR Yugoslavia) against South Korea on 22 April 1998, scoring two goals in a 3-1 victory. In 2006, Savo Milošević captained the new Serbia and Montenegro team in their first World Cup but they failed to progress to the knock-out rounds after losing all their group matches to Côte d'Ivoire, Argentina and the Netherlands. He is currently the captain of the re-formed Serbian national team, following the break up of Serbia and Montenegro.

In the 2010 World Cup qualifying so far, Stanković has started in and captained all of Serbia's matches save one. They qualified for their first World Cup as an independent nation.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Honours

[edit] Domestic

• Scudetto: (5): 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
• Coppa Italia: (4): 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006
• Supercoppa Italiana: (5): 1998, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2008
• FR Yugoslavia Cup: (3): 1995,1996,1997
• FR Yugoslavia Championship: (1): 1995

[edit] European

• Cup Winners' Cup: 1 Time: 1999
• UEFA Super Cup: 1 Time: 1999

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Profile on Serbian national selection fan site
• Club profile at Inter's site
• Club League Stats
• Sloba uzeo 15 miliona od Dekija!, Press, February 13, 2008

v • d • e Yugoslavia squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Kralj • 2 Mirković • 3 Đorović • 4 Jokanović • 5 Đukić • 6 Brnović • 7 Jugović • 8 Savićević • 9 Mijatović • 10 Stojković • 11 Mihajlović • 12 Leković • 13 Komljenović • 14 Saveljić • 15 Drulović • 16 Petrović • 17 Milošević • 18 Govedarica • 19 Stević • 20 Stanković • 21 Ognjenović • 22 Kovačević • Coach: Santrač

v • d • e Yugoslavia squad – UEFA Euro 2000 1 Korać • 2 Dudić • 3 Đorović • 4 Jokanović • 5 Đukić • 6 D. Stanković • 7 Jugović • 8 Mijatović • 9 Milošević • 10 Stojković • 11 Mihajlović • 12 Cicović • 13 Komljenović • 14 Saveljić • 15 Bunjevčević • 16 Govedarica • 17 Drulović • 18 Kovačević • 19 J. Stanković  • 20 Kežman • 21 Nađ • 22 Kralj • Coach: Boškov

v • d • e Serbia and Montenegro squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Jevrić • 2 Ergić • 3 Dragutinović • 4 Duljaj • 5 Vidić • 6 Gavrančić • 7 Koroman • 8 Kežman • 9 Milošević • 10 Stanković • 11 P. Đorđević • 12 Kovačević • 13 Basta • 14 N. Đorđević • 15 Dudić • 16 D. Petković • 17 Nađ • 18 Vukić • 19 Žigić • 20 Krstajić • 21 Ljuboja • 22 Ilić • 23 Stojković • Coach: I. Petković