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Nemanja Vidić

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Nemanja Vidić
Nemanja Vidić
Personal information
Full name Немања Видић
Height 188 cm
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Manchester United
Number 15
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2005

Nemanja Vidić (Serbian Cyrillic: Немања Видић) (born October 21, 1981 in Užice, Serbia) is a footballer from Serbia and Montenegro. He plays for English Premiership side Manchester United, and wears the number 15 shirt that was vacated by Kleberson in Summer 2005.

Born into a working class family (father Dragoljub recently retired from working in the copper factory, mother Zora is employed as a bank clerk), Vidić took up football at only 7-and-a-half years of age alongside his older brother Dusan, with local side Jedinstvo Užice. Extremely commited right from the start, he progressed quickly and moved to Sloboda Užice at the age of 12.

Two and a half years later, powerhouse Red Star Belgrade came calling and Vidić joined their youth system, moving away from home still short of his 15th birthday.

Nemanja Vidić started his senior career on loan at Spartak Subotica, before moving back after only a season to Red Star Belgrade in the Meridijan Superliga, and in July 2004, he joined Russian Premier League side Spartak Moscow for € 6 million.

Manchester United

Vidić signed for Manchester United for a fee of £7 million on January 5, 2006, following his request to leave Spartak. Vidić made his debut for Manchester United as a substitute for teamate Ruud van Nistelrooy in the dying minutes of Manchester United's 2-1 win in the Carling Cup semi-final second leg against Blackburn Rovers on January 25, 2006. Since the injury of Wes Brown, Vidić has formed a strong partnership with Rio Ferdinand in the centre of defence, which is one reason why United have clocked up a tally of nine consecutive wins in the Premiership. Indeed it was his strong and confident tackle that was the source of Manchester United's opening goal (scored by Wayne Rooney) against Arsenal on the April 9, 2006. The final result was 2-0 to United. His tough style has already made him a fan favourite at Old Trafford. His trademarks are strong tackles and a determination to win the ball in the air. This has led to him scoring goals unusual for a centreback in football.

National team

Vidić is part of the Serbian and Montenegrin national team's "Famous Four" defence, which conceded just one goal during qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, which will be their 10th World Cup appearance (formerly as Yugoslavia). Vidić played a major part in their 1-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina to qualify, despite picking up a red card five minutes from the end.

The other members of the famous four are Goran Gavrančić of Dynamo Kiev, Sevilla's Ivica Dragutinović, and Mladen Krstajić of Schalke 04.

On June 3, 2006 during Serbia-Montenegro 2006 World Cup preparations, Vidic was involved in a training ground incident with teammate Mateja Kezman. Following a nervy start by Kezman during an inter-squad match, which Vidic deemed to be a foul that was not given, he subsequently mowed Kezman down in retaliation by sliding from behind. Fortunatelly, Kezman's injury turned out not to be severe.

Honours

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