Igor Duljaj

Igor Duljaj
	Igor Duljaj playing for Shakhtar Donetsk
Personal information
Full name	Igor Duljaj
Date of birth	29 November 1979 (age 44)
Place of birth	Topola, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1990–1997	Partizan
Senior career*
Years	Team
1997–2004	Partizan
2004–2010	Shakhtar Donetsk
2010–2014	Sevastopol
Total
International career
2000–2007	Serbia
Managerial career
2016–	Shakhtar Donetsk (assistant)
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12 January 2015

Igor Duljaj (Serbian Cyrillic: Игор Дуљај; born 29 November 1979) is a retired Serbian professional footballer.

Club career

Igor Duljaj is one of the most notable defensive midfielders to come out of FK Partizan's youth school in the 1990s. Duljaj joined the club in 1990 at the age of eleven and made his first-team debut in 1998. An important figure in Partizan's league success in 1999 since then has developed into a mature, imposing central midfield player and was of the best players in Partizan's side that won the titles in 2002 and 2003. Hard-working Duljaj has already made more than 150 league appearances for Partizan and in the end of 2003 he was allowed to leave club.

Once admired by many European giants Duljaj did not get good offers and decided to stay in Partizan to help them reach the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time in the history of Serbian football. A crucial protection in front of defense Duljaj possesses unbelievable stamina and strength that left people with the impression he could play two successive games in a row.

Personal life

Duljaj was born in Topola, SR Serbia, at the time part of Yugoslavia. His family owns a bakery, and still lives in Topola.^[1] His nickname is Duki.^[2] He has two younger brothers, Joakim and Nenad, who are in charge of a football academy in Topola.^[2]

In 2003, he was awarded the best athlete of JSD Partizan, voted by the fans. In 2007, he was awarded the Golden Ball by the Football Association of Serbia for playing 50 matches for the national team. In 2009, he founded the Duljaj Football Academy. After winning the UEFA Cup 08–09, Duljaj and his fellow team members were awarded the Order of Courage III by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.

Career statistics

In Ukraine

As of end of 2013–14 season

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Super Cup		Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Shakhtar	2003–04	9	0	2	0	-	-	-	-	11	0
	2004–05	24	2	7	0	13	0	-	-	44	2
	2005–06	24	0	1	0	10	0	1	0	36	0
	2006–07	20	1	4	0	7	0	1	0	32	1
	2007–08	14	1	7	1	6	0	1	0	28	2
	2008–09	13	1	2	0	9	0	1	0	25	1
	2009–10	14	0	2	0	2	0	-	-	18	0
	Total	118	5	25	1	47	0	4	0	194	6
Sevastopol	2010–11	23	0	1	0	-	-	-	-	24	0
	2011–12	28	2	2	0	-	-	-	-	30	2
	2012–13	22	1	5	0	-	-	-	-	27	1
	2013–14	9	0	1	0	-	-	-	-	10	0
Total		82	3	9	0	-	-	-	-	91	3
Total in Ukraine		200	8	34	1	47	0	4	0	285	9

International

Serbian national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2000	2	0
2001	2	0
2002	7	0
2003	6	0
2004	5	0
2005	8	0
2006	11	0
2007	6	0
Total	47	0

Honours

Club

Partizan

Serbia and Montenegro First League: 1998–99, 2001–02, 2002–03
Serbia and Montenegro Cup: 1998, 2001

Shakhtar

Ukrainian Premier League: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10
Ukrainian Cup: 2004, 2008
Ukrainian Super Cup: 2005, 2008
UEFA Cup: 2008–09

References

^ http://www.kurir.rs/celav-sam-pa-sta-clanak-9954 {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ ^a ^b http://www.mozzartsport.com/vesti/intervju-nedeljom-igor-duljaj-nisam-hteo-da-se-svercujem-zbog-partizana-sam-peske-sibao-po-10-kilometara-do-topole-video/107521 {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

Igor Duljaj at reprezentacija.rs

[1] ttp://www.kurir.rs/celav-sam-pa-sta-clanak-9954 {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

[MS-2] ttp://www.mozzartsport.com/vesti/intervju-nedeljom-igor-duljaj-nisam-hteo-da-se-svercujem-zbog-partizana-sam-peske-sibao-po-10-kilometara-do-topole-video/107521 {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

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