Goran Bunjevčević
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Goran Bunjevčević | ||
| Height | 6'1 (190cm) 83 kg | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Red Star Belgrade, Chief executive | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of May 10, 2006 | |||
Goran Bunjevčević (Serbian Cyrillic: Горан Буњевчевић) (born February 17, 1973 in Karlovac, Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a professional Serbian football (soccer) player who played as a defender, including 5 seasons at Tottenham Hotspur (2001-6).
Hailed in the press as the "Serbian Beckenbauer", he had a remarkably good disciplinary record and strong technique, being known for his reading of the game and flair for an incisive pass. The former Serbia and Montenegro international has recently moved from the dressing-room to the boardroom, back at Red Star Belgrade.
Career
Yugoslavia
The son of a former military officer, Goran Bunjevčević was born in Karlovac and spent his childhood in the Croat city of Split, where he started playing football at the highly-respected club Hajduk. He continued his career at Dinamo Zagreb. When the Civil War broke out in former Yugoslavia, he moved to Belgrade to play for low-division sides BASK and Graficar, before he was finally given chance in the top flight with Rad. At Rad he excelled not only in his preferred sweeper position, but also in defensive or central midfield.
In 1997, he joined Red Star (FK Crvena Zvezda). Making 125 league appearances, he developed into one of their key players, going on to be made captain. Whilst there, Red Star won 3 trophies: the First League of Yugoslavia in 2000, and the SFR Yugoslav Cup in 1999/2000.
Tottenham
In the summer of 2001, Bunjevčević moved to London to play for Tottenham Hotspur, signing for £1,400,000 on 28th June to help replace Sol Campbell in central defence. His debut was on 18th August, in a 0-0 home draw against Aston Villa. He suffered badly with injuries early on at Tottenham, sustaining a fractured cheekbone against Chelsea, a bad injury that ruled him out for almost the entire season. In the 2002-03 campaign, his second season was relatively injury-free and he played well for Spurs, having much going for him. The manager, Glenn Hoddle, picked him in a number of positions in the first team - central defence, left-back, left wing-back and as the midfield anchor man. Since Hoddle's departure in 2003, the player found first team games hard to come by. His main difficulty stemmed from being a specialist sweeper in a Spurs team that never played this system, meaning he had to slot in either to defence or midfield positions that challenged him more. His ability at Premiership level was widely questioned by Tottenham Hotspur fans, particularly his pace and strength in tackling. Once the new coach Martin Jol arrived, Bunjevčević completely fell out of the first-team picture. Now only starting in Carling Cup matches, ironically it was during this season (2004/05) in the competition that he scored both of his only goals for the club (in the 6-0 away defeat of Oldham Athletic on 22nd September, and a late equaliser in the 29th October 4-3 away win against Bolton Wanderers that took the game into extra time). He was released on May 26 2006 after five years at White Hart Lane and 57 appearances (starting in 47). [1]
Recent career
After release by Tottenham, Bunjevčević joined Dutch outfit ADO Den Haag. He left the club after one season, becoming a free agent.
At the beginning of March 2008 he was named as Chief executive of Red Star Belgrade, replacing Stevan Stojanović in this position. [2]
Clubs
- ADO Den Haag (2006-2007)
- Tottenham Hotspur (2001-2006)
- Red Star Belgrade (1997-2001)
- Rad Belgrade (1994-1997)
- Graficar Belgrade (1992-1994)
- BUSK Belgrade (1991-1992)
References
- ^ B91-Bunjevčević's record, May 1, 2008.
- ^ B92-Bunjevčević named as general manager of FC Red Star, March 3, 2008.