Zoran Mirković

Zoran "Bata" Mirković (Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Бата Мирковић, pronounced [zǒran bâ:ta mǐrkoʋitɕ]; born 21 September 1971) is a retired Serbian footballer and current manager.

Zoran Mirković
Mirković in 2018
Personal information
Date of birth (1971-09-21) 21 September 1971
Place of birth Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1990 Radnički Svilajnac 15 (0)
1990–1993 Rad 62 (1)
1993–1996 Partizan 82 (1)
1996–1998 Atalanta 52 (0)
1998–2000 Juventus 27 (0)
2000–2003 Fenerbahçe 71 (3)
2004–2006 Partizan 46 (2)
Total 355 (7)
National team
1995–2003 Serbia and Montenegro[a] 59 (0)
Teams managed
2015 Sinđelić Belgrade (assistant)
2015 Sinđelić Belgrade
2016–2018 Montenegro (assistant)
2018–2019 Partizan
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Club career

Mirković made his first appearance for FK Rad during the 1990–91 season. But even before that he and his teammates won the Yugoslav title in the under-21 category, the biggest success Rad ever had. Mirković spent three seasons in Rad as a professional player, and all together played 62 matches, scoring one goal. His talent didn't go unnoticed by Partizan officials and they invited him to sign for Partizan. Mirković signed for Partizan and replaced the injured Blažo Pešikan.

In the first three years Mirković was with Partizan, he established himself as a player, became a first-choice player in the national team and won three titles (the double in 1993–94 followed by the league title in 1994–95. He wore the number 2 shirt and became a favourite of the Partizan fans because of his fighting spirit especially in derby matches against Red Star Belgrade. He was also a favourite because, in those difficult times (war and sanctions), he upheld his obligations towards Partizan and stayed for all three years stipulated in his contract. He played 82 matches for Partizan (26 in the 1993–94 season, 29 in the 1994–95 season and 27 in the 1995–96 season), scoring one goal.

Mirković spent two seasons with Atalanta. He got injured in the first match in Serie A league and had to take a three month break. He played a role of midfielder/defender and his performance was so good that the then Juventus coach Marcello Lippi invited him to sign for Juventus. He was very popular among the Atalanta fans who were instrumental in convincing the club not to sell him to Fiorentina when that option seemed inevitable.

Mirković's career in Juventus can be divided in two different periods. Under coach Lippi, Bata played 19 Serie A matches, scoring one goal. He also played UEFA Champions League matches. When Carlo Ancelotti took over in the spring of 1999, Mirković was no longer a first-choice Juve player, playing mostly Italian Cup matches.

In summer 2000, Mirković signed a three-year contract with Fenerbahçe. In his first season in Istanbul he won a Turkish League title and was a finalist in Turkish Cup. In his second season in Turkey he played Champions League and came second in Turkish League. His third season in Fenerbahçe was not so successful. Three coaches and problems in the club caused Fenerbahçe to end the season in the sixth place.

Then in January 2004, following a 6-month break from football, Mirković became a Partizan player once again, signing a contract for two and a half years. On 6 March 2006, Mirković announced his retirement due to a recurring back injury at the age of 34.[1]

International career

Mirković was a first choice player for the national team of FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro where he usually played in the right-back position and wore the number 2 shirt. He played 59 matches with the senior national team.[2] He was a participant in the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France but missed Euro 2000 because of a three-match ban following an incident in the last qualifying match, played against Croatia in Zagreb, where he grabbed Robert Jarni by the testicles and therefore was sent off.[3]

Post-playing career

Administrative career

On 24 April 2007, Football Association of Serbia (FSS) appointed Mirković as sporting director of the national team, responsible for the A-squad and the under-21 squad. However, he quit by early December 2007, citing poor professional cooperation with the FSS leadership headed at the time by Zvezdan Terzić. FSS president Terzić (who would soon afterwards be indicted on embezzlement charges) commented on Mirković's resignation as follows: "Mirković is my mistake since I didn't know him well enough as a person before I brought him into the FSS. He's a wonderful person, but couldn't manage to be a part of the system and even said so on several occasions to both myself and general secretary Zoran Laković".[4]

Mirković was chosen as the vice-president of FK Partizan on 18 August 2008.[5] He was vice-president for about a year when he resigned after Partizan's early exit in the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds.[6]

Managerial career

Mirković began his managerial career as assistant coach of Sinđelić Belgrade in 2015 eventually being promoted to head coach in July 2015. He remained in that position until December 2015. In February 2016, he became the assistant coach of the Montenegrin national team where he worked directly with his former coach Ljubiša Tumbaković.[7] He remained in that position until 4 August 2018 when he replaced Miroslav Đukić as head coach of Partizan.[8] He was head coach of Partizan until abruptly resigning after a 1–0 loss to Voždovac on 10 March 2019.[9]

Personal life

In May 2013, Mirković married Sanela Šaulić, daughter of singer Šaban Šaulić[10] making Mirković the stepfather of Luka Adžić.[11]

Career statistics

Club
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rad 1990–91 50—50
1991–92 260—260
1992–93 311—311
Total 621—621
Partizan 1993–94 260—260
1994–95 290—290
1995–96 271—271
Total 821—821
Atalanta 1996–97 220—220
1997–98 300—330
Total 520—520
Juventus 1998–99 1905040280
1999–00 8040100220
Total 27090140500
Fenerbahçe 2000–01 2915000341
2001–02 2721050332
2002–03 1500040190
Total 7136090863
Partizan 2003–04 1001000110
2004–05 23230120382
2005–06 1300060190
Total 46240180682
Career total 34071904104007

International
National teamYearAppsGoals
FR Yugoslavia
SCG		 199560
199650
1997130
199880
199960
200030
200150
200280
200350
Total590

Managerial
As of 10 March 2019
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
PWDLWin %
Sinđelić Beograd July 2015 December 2015 16 6 5 5 037.50
Partizan 4 August 2018 10 March 2019 30 17 10 3 056.67
Total 46 23 15 8 050.00

Honours
Partizan
Juventus
Fenerbahçe

Notes
  1. ^
    Known as FR Yugoslavia until 4 February 2003.
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gollark: <@178948413851697152> I think PATCH requires some specific format to specify an update. I probably would use POST or maybe PUT.
gollark: You read those? That must be quite boring.
gollark: What's `test.json`?

References
  1. B92 (7 March 2006). "Zoran Mirković: Ne mogu više" (in Serbian). Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  2. "Yugoslavia (Serbia (and Montenegro)) – Record International Players". rsssf.com. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
  3. Večernje novosti (21 March 2013). "Mirković: Jarni najbolje zna šta je rekao, a ja znam šta sam uradio..." (in Serbian). Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  4. Клементе више није селектор Србије (in Serbian). politika.rs. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  5. B92 (18 August 2008). "Mirković potpredsednik Partizana" (in Serbian). Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  6. RTS (20 August 2009). "Zoran Mirković podneo ostavku u Partizanu" (in Serbian). Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  7. Blic (19 February 2016). "Zoran Mirković pomoćni trener Crne Gore" (in Serbian). Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  8. Mondo.rs (3 August 2018). "Zoran Bata Mirković novi trener Partizana!" (in Serbian). Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  9. Večernje novosti (12 March 2019). "MIRKOVIĆ OTKRIO RAZLOGE OSTAVKE: Svako nosi svoj teret" (in Serbian). Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  10. Blic (21 May 2013). "Ćerka Šabana Šaulića udala se za fudbalera Batu Mirkovića" (in Serbian). Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  11. Telegraf (19 February 2019). "Rasplakaće vas čitulja koju su za Šabana potpisali Luka Adžić i Bata Mirković: I žal što ostade..." (in Serbian). Retrieved 28 February 2019.
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