Željko Ljubenović

Željko Ljubenović
	Ljubenović with Tavriya Simferopol in 2011
Personal information
Date of birth	9 July 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth	Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Inhulets Petrove (manager)
Youth career
1990–1995	Partizan
1995–2000	OFK Beograd
Senior career*
Years	Team
2000–2001	OFK Beograd
2001–2002	Mladenovac
2002–2004	Mladost Lukićevo
2005	Proleter Zrenjanin
2005	Hajduk Kula
2006	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih
2006–2011	Tavriya Simferopol
2012	Oleksandriya
2012–2018	Zorya Luhansk
Managerial career
2020	Zorya Luhansk (assistant)
2022	Železničar Pančevo (assistant)
2023	Radnički Beograd (assistant)
2023–	Mynai
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Željko Ljubenović (Serbian Cyrillic: Жељко Љубеновић; born 9 July 1981) is a Serbian professional football coach and a former player who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of Ukrainian Premier League club Inhulets Petrove.

After playing almost exclusively for second-tier clubs in his homeland, Ljubenović spent most of his footballing career in Ukraine, representing four clubs and amassing over 250 appearances in the country's top league.

Career

Born in Belgrade, Ljubenović started out as a trainee at Partizan in 1990. He spent five years in the club's youth setup, before switching to OFK Beograd in 1995. After completing his formation, Ljubenović made his senior debuts with the Romantičari in the 2000–01 First League of FR Yugoslavia. He subsequently played for Second League clubs Mladenovac, Mladost Lukićevo, and Proleter Zrenjanin. In the summer of 2005, Ljubenović signed with top-flight side Hajduk Kula. He spent just half a season there, before transferring abroad.

In the 2006 winter transfer window, Ljubenović moved to Ukraine and signed with Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih. He switched clubs the following summer and joined fellow top-tier club Tavriya Simferopol. Over the next five and a half years, Ljubenović played regularly for the side and recorded near 200 appearances in all competitions. He left the club midway through the 2011–12 season, eventually joining another Premier League side, Oleksandriya. In the summer of 2012, Ljubenović signed with Zorya Luhansk. After 6 seasons in Zorya he retired in May 2018.^[1] In July 2018 Zorya's general director Serhiy Rafailov announced that Ljubenović will work in the club as scout in Balkan region.^[2]

On 18 November 2023 Ljubenović returned to the Ukrainian Premier League in role of football manager to help struggling FC Mynai to remain in the league.

Honours

Tavriya Simferopol

Ukrainian Cup: 2009–10
Ukrainian Super Cup: Runner-up 2010

Zorya Luhansk

Ukrainian Cup: Runner-up 2015–16

References

^ "Спасибо, Желько!" (in Russian). FC Zorya Luhansk. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
^ "Сергей Рафаилов: "Практически все уже сделано для того, чтобы матчи "Зари" в еврокубках проходили в Запорожье"" (in Russian). FC Zorya Luhansk. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.

External links

Official website
Tavriya profile
Željko Ljubenović at Soccerway
Željko Ljubenović – UEFA competition record (archive)
Željko Ljubenović at UAF and archived FFU page (in Ukrainian)

[1] "Спасибо, Желько!" (in Russian). FC Zorya Luhansk. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.

[2] "Сергей Рафаилов: "Практически все уже сделано для того, чтобы матчи "Зари" в еврокубках проходили в Запорожье"" (in Russian). FC Zorya Luhansk. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.

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