Marko Pantelić
Serbian footballer
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Marko Pantelić (Serbian Cyrillic: Марко Пантелић, pronounced [mâːrko pǎnːtelitɕ]; born 15 September 1978) is a Serbian football agent and former professional footballer who played as a striker. He represented Serbia at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[1]
|
Pantelić in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Marko Pantelić | ||
| Date of birth | 15 September 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Red Star Belgrade | |||
| Iraklis | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–1996 | Iraklis | 8 | (4) |
| 1997–1999 | Paris Saint-Germain | 3 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | → Lausanne (loan) | 21 | (8) |
| 1999–2000 | Celta | 0 | (0) |
| 1999 | → Sturm Graz (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2000 | → Yverdon (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | Obilić | 5 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Sartid Smederevo | 31 | (13) |
| 2004–2005 | Red Star Belgrade | 44 | (26) |
| 2005–2009 | Hertha BSC | 114 | (45) |
| 2009–2010 | Ajax | 25 | (16) |
| 2010–2013 | Olympiacos | 38 | (20) |
| Total | 295 | (132) | |
| International career | |||
| 1996–1997 | FR Yugoslavia U18 | 5 | (4) |
| 1996–1999 | FR Yugoslavia U21 | 7 | (2) |
| 2003–2011 | Serbia[note 1] | 43 | (10) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
Early years
As Pantelić was coming up through the Red Star Belgrade youth system, he was offered a job Thessaloniki and went there alone in Greece. Pantelić was still only 16 years old when he signed a professional contract with Iraklis.[2] At 18, Pantelić accepted an offer to sign for French club Paris Saint-Germain and found himself training and playing alongside Raí, Marco Simone, and Leonardo.[citation needed] With only three matches for the club, he moved to Swiss club Lausanne for one season, scoring eight goals in 21 Swiss league matches.[citation needed] Later, Pantelić signed for Spanish club Celta Vigo, but was sent on loan to Sturm Graz in Austria.[when?][citation needed]
After a two-year absence from professional football, Pantelić returned to Serbia and signed with Obilić in summer 2002. He was essentially starting over as many were quick to write him off as yet another prospect whose career was derailed by going abroad too soon. In January 2003, Pantelić moved to Sartid Smederevo. Upon settling in, he quickly established himself as the team's leader, earning them a Serbia and Montenegro Cup title in 2003. However, his playing time in Smederevo did not go unnoticed by Red Star, and Pantelić became the biggest mid-season signing for the latter in January 2004.[citation needed]
Hertha BSC
After securing a loan move to Hertha for €250,000 on 31 August 2005, the last day of the summer transfer window that year, he went on to score 11 goals in 28 league matches during the 2005–06 season. In April 2006, he signed for Hertha Berlin permanently for an additional €1.5 million fee and soon established himself as one of the most formidable strikers in its squad.[citation needed] Shortly afterwards, Pantelić scored 14 goals from 32 matches in the 2006–07 season and 13 goals for 28 matches in 2007–08 season. In the 2008–09 season, he had limited playing time in favour of Andriy Voronin as Hertha contended for the Bundesliga title. The club fell short, having finished fourth place.[citation needed]
On 17 March 2009, Pantelić denied that he had held talks with any other clubs and refused sign a new contract with Hertha Berlin.[3] He became a free agent in summer 2009.[4]
Later career
On 1 September 2009, after completing several medical tests, Pantelić signed a one-year contract with Dutch club Ajax, and was given the number 9 shirt.[5] During the season, he scored sixteen goals and delivered nine assists in 25 league matches. Following the season, Pantelić expressed his desire to sign a new contract with Ajax, which the club preferred a one-year contract. He ended up refusing a one-year contract contact with an option of another to focus on his family.[6]
On 21 August 2010, Pantelić joined Olympiacos on a free transfer. He signed a two-year contract worth €1.6 million per year.[7] Pantelić scored his first goal against Panserraikos. On 11 December 2011, Pantelić scored four goals and to secure a victory against Kerkyra.[citation needed]
Pantelić retired from football in 2013.[8] In 2021, he revealed that his reason to retire was due to strained relationship with the Serbian football culture.[9]
International career
Pantelić debuted for the national team in a friendly match against Poland in 2003,[10][better source needed] In 2010, he was selected in Serbia's squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup,[11] appearing in group stage matches against Ghana and Australia.[citation needed] He scored his first World Cup goal against Australia in a 2–1 loss.[citation needed] Pantelić also scored three goals in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying.[citation needed] He has not featured for his country since their failure to qualify for the corresponding final tournament.[citation needed] Pantelić earned 43 international appearances and ten goals in total.[12]
Outside football
"Pantelić is a miracle of a man. He's the kind of legend that I would rarely ever meet."
Pantelić is widely known in his home country for his alter ego "Pantela", which was created when an anonymous editor of Kurir allegedly began writing columns under the nickname "Pantela" to reflect the real Pantelić's wit and charisma. The "Pantela" meme is often accompanied by an exceptionally exaggerated style of speech in the Belgrade dialect, as defined by the columns.[14] The phenomenon became popular that anonymous fans created profiles on Twitter and Facebook to mimic Pantelić's humorous personality.[15] Pantelić himself confirmed that he is not the owner of either profiles, but admitted to Kurir that he found his alter egos funny and claimed that he would even want to meet the people behind his social networking profiles.[citation needed]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Iraklis | 1995–96 | Alpha Ethniki | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | ||
| Paris Saint-Germain | 1997–98 | French Division 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Lausanne | 1998–99 | Swiss Super League | 21 | 8 | — | 21 | 8 | |||
| Sturm Graz | 1999–2000 | Austrian Bundesliga | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Yverdon | 2000–01 | Swiss Super League | 3 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Obilić | 2002–03 | First League of Serbia and Montenegro | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Sartid Smederevo | 2002–03 | First League of Serbia and Montenegro | 16 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 6 |
| 2003–04 | First League of Serbia and Montenegro | 15 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 9 | |
| Total | 31 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 39 | 15 | ||
| Red Star Belgrade | 2003–04 | First League of Serbia and Montenegro | 12 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 6 |
| 2004–05 | First League of Serbia and Montenegro | 29 | 21 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 40 | 24 | |
| 2005–06 | First League of Serbia and Montenegro | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | |
| Total | 44 | 26 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 60 | 33 | ||
| Hertha BSC | 2005–06 | Bundesliga | 28 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 12 |
| 2006–07 | Bundesliga | 32 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 42 | 16 | |
| 2007–08 | Bundesliga | 28 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 14 | |
| 2008–09 | Bundesliga | 26 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 37 | 13 | |
| Total | 114 | 45 | 9 | 4 | 15 | 6 | 138 | 55 | ||
| Ajax | 2009–10 | Eredivisie | 25 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 39 | 21 |
| Olympiacos | 2010–11 | Super League Greece | 20 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 10 |
| 2011–12 | Super League Greece | 12 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 16 | |
| 2012–13 | Super League Greece | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | |
| Total | 38 | 20 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 51 | 27 | ||
| Career total | 295 | 132 | 39 | 17 | 42 | 14 | 376 | 163 | ||
International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serbia and Montenegro | 2003 | 1 | 0 |
| 2004 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 0 | 0 | |
| Serbia | 2006 | 5 | 1 |
| 2007 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2009 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 7 | 3 | |
| 2011 | 8 | 3 | |
| Total | 43 | 10 | |
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 August 2006 | Městský fotbalový stadion Miroslava Valenty, Uherské Hradiště, Czech Republic |  Czech Republic | 1–2 | 1–3 | Friendly |
| 2 | 24 May 2008 | Croke Park, Dublin, Republic of Ireland |  Republic of Ireland | 0–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 3 | 28 May 2008 | Wacker Arena, Burghausen, Altötting, Germany |  Russia | 1–1 | 1–2 | Friendly |
| 4 | 10 October 2009 | Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia |  Romania | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying |
| 5 | 3 March 2010 | Stade 5 Juillet 1962, Algiers, Algeria |  Algeria | 0–1 | 0–3 | Friendly |
| 6 | 5 June 2010 | Partizan Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia |  Cameroon | 4–2 | 4–3 | Friendly |
| 7 | 23 June 2010 | Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit, South Africa |  Australia | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2010 FIFA World Cup |
| 8 | 25 March 2011 | Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia |  Northern Ireland | 1–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
| 9 | 29 March 2011 | A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia |  Estonia | 0–1 | 1–1 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
| 10 | 2 September 2011 | Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland | Northern Ireland | 0–1 | 0–1 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
Honours
Club
Lausanne
Sartid Smederevo
Red Star Belgrade
- First League of Serbia and Montenegro: 2003–04
- Serbia and Montenegro Cup: 2003–04
Hertha BSC
Ajax
Olympiacos
Individual
- Best Sportsman of SD Crvena Zvezda: 2004
- First League of Serbia and Montenegro Top Scorer: 2004–05
- Greek Cup Top Goalscorer: 2011–12 (6 goals)
Notes
- Including three caps for Serbia and Montenegro
