Ivan Šaponjić

Ivan Šaponjić (Serbian Cyrillic: Иван Шапоњић; born 2 August 1997) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Spanish club Atlético Madrid.[2]

Ivan Šaponjić
Personal information
Full name Ivan Šaponjić
Date of birth (1997-08-02) 2 August 1997
Place of birth Nova Varoš, FR Yugoslavia
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Atlético Madrid
Number 17
Youth career
Zlatar Nova Varoš
Sloboda Užice
2013–2015 Partizan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2015 Partizan 32 (7)
2016–2019 Benfica B 67 (14)
2017–2018 → Zulte Waregem (loan) 31 (6)
2019– Atlético Madrid 2 (0)
National team‡
2013–2014 Serbia U17[lower-alpha 1] 6 (5)
2014–2016 Serbia U19[lower-alpha 1] 10 (9)
2015 Serbia U20 7 (2)
2015–2019 Serbia U21 11 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 July 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 24 June 2019

At international level, Šaponjić won the gold medal for Serbia at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, scoring two goals in the process.

Club career

Partizan

Born in Nova Varoš, Šaponjić started playing football at local clubs Zlatar Nova Varoš and Sloboda Užice before joining the youth academy of Partizan. He made his senior debut for the club in a league game on 30 November 2013, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute in a 2–0 home win over Spartak Subotica.[3] He eventually failed to make any other competitive appearance in the 2013–14 season.

On 30 May 2014, he signed his first professional contract with Partizan, penning a three-year deal.[4] He scored his first competitive goal for the team in a 2–0 away victory over Jagodina in the second leg of the Serbian Cup semi-final on 8 April 2015. Five days later, he scored his first league goal in a 3–1 away win over OFK Beograd. In total, he scored 5 goals in 16 appearances in all competitions during the 2014–15 season.

On 25 July 2015, Šaponjić scored a brace in a 6–0 home league win over Jagodina.[5] He scored his first international goal for Partizan with an overhead kick in a 2–1 home win over BATE Borisov in the return leg of the Champions League play-off round on 26 August 2015.[6] This was the club's 100th victory in European football.[7] He also scored both goals for Partizan in their 2–0 Serbian Cup win over Sinđelić Beograd on 28 October 2015.[8]

Benfica

On 12 January 2016, Šaponjić signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with Portuguese champions Benfica[9] and was immediately assigned to their reserve team. In July 2017, he was loaned out to Belgian club Zulte Waregem.

Atlético Madrid

On 11 July 2019, Šaponjić signed a three-year contract with Atlético Madrid for an undisclosed fee, reported to be in region of 500 thousand euros.[10]

International career

Internationally, Šaponjić represented his homeland at various youth levels. He was the team's joint top scorer (alongside Luka Jović) with five goals in their unsuccessful qualification campaign for the 2014 UEFA Under-17 Championship.[11] With three goals, Šaponjić was the team's joint top scorer (again with Jović) in their unsuccessful qualification campaign for the 2015 UEFA Under-19 Championship.

Šaponjić was included in the final 21-man squad for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He scored an injury time equalizer against Hungary in the round of 16 on 10 June 2015, with Serbia eventually winning the game 2–1 after extra time.[12] On 17 June 2015, he scored an extra time winning goal in the semi-final against Mali.[13] He was the team's joint top scorer (alongside Nemanja Maksimović, Staniša Mandić and Andrija Živković) with two goals, as Serbia eventually won the tournament.[14]

Statistics
As of 23 January 2018[15]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Partizan 2013–14 100000—10
2014–15 1442100—165
2015–16 1731271—256
Total 3273371—4211
Benfica B 2015–16 195———195
2016–17 213———213
Total 408———408
Zulte Waregem (loan) 2017–18 174215010255
Career total 8919541211010724

Honours

Club

Partizan

International

Serbia

Notes
  1. Only official UEFA matches included

References
  1. https://www.atleticodemadrid.com/jugadores/ivan-aponji-2019-2020
  2. "Saponjic cedido a título definitivo" [Saponjic moved permanently]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  3. "Partizan – Spartak 2:0 (0:0)" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 30 November 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  4. "Šaponjić potpisao profesionalni ugovor" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  5. "Sjajna uvertira za Steauu: Partizan kao Zvezda, Jagodina ispraćena sa šest komada" (in Serbian). blic.rs. 25 July 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  6. "BATE advance after holding off Partizan rally". UEFA. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  7. "Zašto će u Partizanu zauvek pamtiti makazice Ivana Šaponjića? (VIDEO)" (in Serbian). mozzartsport.com. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  8. "Partizan uz golove Šaponjića i kombinovani tim do osmine finala Kupa Srbije" (in Serbian). blic.rs. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  9. "Šaponjić potpisao za Benfiku" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 12 January 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  10. "Saponjic cedido a título definitivo" [Saponjic moved permanently]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  11. "Germany hold Serbia to return to finals". UEFA. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  12. "Sub Saponjic is Serbia's saviour". FIFA. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  13. "Saponjic strikes to send Serbia through". FIFA. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  14. "Ecstasy in Auckland as Serbia make history". FIFA. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  15. Ivan Šaponjić at ForaDeJogo
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