Miroslav Đukić

Serbian footballer (born 1966) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Miroslav Đukić (Serbian Cyrillic: Мирослав Ђукић, pronounced [mǐroslaʋ dʑǔkitɕ]; born 19 February 1966) is a Serbian football manager and former player who played as a sweeper.

Date of birth (1966-02-19) 19 February 1966 (age 60)
Place of birth Šabac, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position Sweeper
Quick facts Personal information, Date of birth ...
Miroslav Đukić
Đukić as Partizan manager in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth (1966-02-19) 19 February 1966 (age 60)
Place of birth Šabac, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position Sweeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1989 Mačva Šabac 62 (3)
1989–1991 Rad 60 (2)
1991–1997 Deportivo La Coruña 217 (7)
1997–2003 Valencia 156 (4)
2003–2004 Tenerife 27 (0)
Total 522 (16)
International career
1991–2001 FR Yugoslavia[note 1] 48 (2)
Managerial career
2006–2007 Serbia U21
2007 Partizan
2007–2008 Serbia
2009 Mouscron
2011 Hércules
2011–2013 Valladolid
2013 Valencia
2014–2015 Córdoba
2017 Al Shabab
2017–2018 Partizan
2019–2020 Sporting Gijón
Medal record
Representing  Yugoslavia
Silver medal – second placeUEFA U-21 Euro1990
* Club domestic league appearances and goals
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He spent fourteen years of his professional career in Spain, notably at the service of Deportivo de La Coruña and Valencia, amassing La Liga totals of 368 games and 11 goals and winning a combined six major titles for the two teams.

Đukić represented FR Yugoslavia in one World Cup and one European Championship. After retiring, he embarked in a managerial career at both club and international level.

Playing career

Club

Born in Šabac and living in a small town near Šabac called Štitar in the Socialist Republic of Serbia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Đukić began his playing career with FK Mačva Šabac, moving in 1989 to Belgrade with FK Rad after reported interest from both national giants FK Partizan and Red Star Belgrade.

In spring 1991, Đukić signed for Deportivo de La Coruña in Spain, who purchased him for 40 million pesetas. He only appeared in five league games for the Galicians until the end of his first season, which ended in La Liga promotion, but, from there onwards, became an undisputed starter, never totalling less than 35 matches and 3,000 minutes of action in five consecutive campaigns, as Super Depor was coming to fruition.

On 15 May 1994, in the league's last round, at home against Valencia CF, Đukić missed a penalty kick in the game's last minute (eventual 0–0 draw), as habitual taker Donato had already been replaced and second option Bebeto refused the responsibility since he failed to score one the previous match.[2][3] As a result, FC Barcelona were crowned champions instead, and the elegant defender left A Coruña at the end of 1996–97 at the age of 31 as his contract was not renewed.

Subsequently, Đukić joined Valencia,[4] starting in all of the league games he took part in his first three seasons and helping the Che to two consecutive UEFA Champions League finals, both lost.[5][6] Already as a backup, he made 16 appearances as the club won the first national championship in 31 years in 2002.

Đukić returned to Segunda División after 12 years for the last season of his career, playing for CD Tenerife[7] and retiring at the age of 38, having appeared in exactly 400 matches in the Spanish league (both major levels combined).

International

Đukić made his debut for Yugoslavia on 27 February 1991, in a 1–1 friendly draw against Turkey in İzmir. He went on to win 48 caps scoring twice,[8] and represented the newly formed FR Yugoslavia at UEFA Euro 2000 (all the games and minutes for the quarter-finalists).[9][10][11][12][13]

Đukić was also a member of the squad that competed at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, but did not play due to injury. His final international was a September 2001 World Cup qualification match against Slovenia.[14]

Coaching career

Serbia U-21 national team and Partizan

Đukić earned his coaching license in Spain, and started his new career in July 2006 with Serbia's under-21 team with which he qualified in dramatic fashion for the 2007 UEFA European Championship (3–0 home loss against Sweden, followed by a 5–0 away win).[15]

On 23 January 2007, Đukić was simultaneously named head coach of Partizan,[16][17] being eventually voted Manager of the Year.

Đukić led the Serbia under-21 team to the final of the 2007 UEFA European Championship, losing against hosts Netherlands.[18] He stepped down shortly thereafter.

On 19 December 2007, Đukić decided not to extend his expired contract with Partizan and was appointed head coach of Serbia. He was replaced at the helm of Partizan by Slaviša Jokanović.

Serbia national team

On 25 December 2007, Đukić was officially presented as the new head coach of the Serbia national team.[19] He made his debut as head coach against Macedonia in Skopje, on 6 February 2008. The match ended with a score of 1-1. In the next four friendly matches, Đukić recorded defeats against Ukraine (2-0), Russia (2-1) and Germany (2-1) and a draw with the Republic of Ireland (1-1).

Đukić also led Serbia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Before the tournament, Đukić had a brief public row with Partizan and several other European clubs who did not wish to let their players go to Beijing.[20] At the Olympic tournament, Serbia was eliminated in the group stage with only one point won (playing Australia 1-1, Ivory Coast 2-4 and Argentina 0-2).

On 19 August 2008, the Executive Board of the Football Association of Serbia announced that Miroslav Đukić is no longer the manager of Serbia and that Radomir Antić will be appointed in his place, reasoning that Đukić was replaced due to "bad results in friendly matches of the senior national team this year, as well as failure at the Olympic Games in Beijing".[21] Đukić was Serbia manager for only eight months, and he was replaced without ever leading the national team in a competitive match.

Belgium, Spain and UAE

On 11 June 2009 he signed for R.E. Mouscron in Belgium, replacing Enzo Scifo and being joined at the Pro League team by former Valencia teammates Amedeo Carboni and Juan Sánchez, who acted as sporting director and technical director, respectively; all left shortly after, as the club folded due to severe economical problems.[22]

In late March 2011, Đukić became Hércules CF manager after Esteban Vigo was sacked. His first match in charge was a 3–1 away win against Real Sociedad,[23] but the Valencians ultimately suffered top-flight relegation.[24]

On 6 July 2011, Đukić was appointed at another second division side, agreeing to a three-year contract with Real Valladolid.[25] In early June 2013, after leading them to promotion in his first season – via the playoffs – and the 14th position in the second, he replaced Ernesto Valverde at the helm of former club Valencia.[26]

Đukić was relieved of his duties on 16 December 2013, following the team's eighth loss of the season, 3–0 at Atlético Madrid which left it in ninth place.[27] He was revealed as the new Córdoba CF manager on 20 October 2014, succeeding Albert Ferrer.[28]

On 23 January 2017, Đukić became the head coach of Al Shabab, but was forced out after the club merged with Al Ahli to form Shabab Al Ahli.

Return to Partizan

At the beginning of June 2017, Đukić was appointed head coach of Partizan for the second time in his coaching career.[29] He signed a two-year contract, replacing Marko Nikolić, who previously resigned. Đukić made his comeback debut on the Partizan bench in the 2nd round of Champions League qualification against Budućnost Podgorica. With Đukić on the bench, Partizan managed to eliminate Budućnost in two matches,[30] but was then eliminated by Olympiacos in the 3rd round of qualification.[31] After that, Partizan managed to win a place in the group stage of the Europa League after eliminating Videoton.[32] Under the leadership of Đukić, Partizan managed to pass the group stage of the Europa League in competition with Dynamo Kyiv, Young Boys and Skënderbeu, thus securing a "European spring" after thirteen years.[33] In the round of 16 of the Europa League, Partizan was eliminated by Viktoria Plzeň.[34]

Although he had success in Europe, Đukić failed to defend the title of Serbian champion with Partizan. In March 2018, the usually calm Đukić made headlines after he used profanities at a press conference, saying that he "was born in fucking Štitar and not sunny Valencia" and that he was "a bum like all of you here."[35] He finished the 2017–18 competitive season in the Serbian Superliga in second place, 17 points behind first-place Red Star.[36] He managed to defend the trophy in the Serbian Cup, after defeating Mladost Lučani in the final (2–1).[37] In May, Đukić arose minor controversy when he said "if Marko Janković manages to overcome the Montenegrin in him, he will be a great player."[38]

Đukić also started the 2018–19 season on the bench of Partizan. He led the club in the first two rounds of the 2018–19 competition in the Serbian Superliga, where in the first round they were defeated by Radnik Surdulica and then in the second round they defeated Dinamo Vranje.[39][40] He also led the black and whites in the qualification for the Europa League, where first Rudar Pljevlja and then Lithuanian FK Trakai were eliminated. He again arose controversy before the latter match-up for referring to Trakai as "not being some Indians with feathers."[41] Despite the fact that he led Partizan to the 3rd round of qualification for the Europa League, Đukić was dismissed on 3 August 2018 and replaced by Zoran Mirković.[42]

Sporting Gijón

Đukić came back to the Spanish second tier on 22 December 2019, taking the helm of Sporting de Gijón.[43] Following a 13th-place finish, he was replaced by David Gallego the following July.[44]

Career statistics

Club

More information Club, Season ...
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[45]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Mačva Šabac 1987–88 Yugoslav Second League 281281
1988–89 Yugoslav Second League 342342
Total 623623
Rad 1989–90 Yugoslav First League 31120331
1990–91 Yugoslav First League 291291
Total 60220622
Deportivo La Coruña 1990–91 Segunda División 500050
1991–92 La Liga 3831221[a]0515
1992–93 La Liga 38141422
1993–94 La Liga 3612060441
1994–95 La Liga 3627160493
1995–96 La Liga 35020702[b]0460
1996–97 La Liga 29051341
Total 21773251903027112
Valencia 1997–98 La Liga 33330363
1998–99 La Liga 3215040411
1999–2000 La Liga 330201612[b]0531
2000–01 La Liga 34010120470
2001–02 La Liga 1601091261
2002–03 La Liga 801010100
Total 1564130422202136
Tenerife 2003–04 Segunda División 27010280
Career total 522164656325063623
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  1. Appearances in La Liga play-offs

International

More information National team, Year ...
Appearances and goals by national team and year[46]
National teamYearAppsGoals
SFR Yugoslavia 199120
199200
FR Yugoslavia 1993[note 2]
199420
199510
199650
1997111
199860
199970
200070
200171
Total482
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Managerial statistics

As of match played 20 July 2020[47]
More information Team, From ...
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Serbia U21 1 July 2006 30 June 2007 127141812+6058.33
Partizan 9 January 2007 19 December 2007 3927578632+54069.23
Serbia 19 December 2007 19 August 2008 502348−4000.00 [48]
Mouscron 11 June 2009 31 October 2009 142571422−8014.29
Hércules 24 March 2011 23 June 2011 92341113−2022.22 [49]
Valladolid 6 July 2011 5 June 2013 88382525131103+28043.18 [50]
Valencia 5 June 2013 16 December 2013 2310493333+0043.48 [51]
Córdoba 20 October 2014 16 March 2015 2136121532−17014.29 [52]
Al Shabab 23 January 2017 16 May 2017 127232117+4058.33
Partizan 5 June 2017 3 August 2018 6336151211257+55057.14
Sporting Gijón 22 December 2019 21 July 2020 218582017+3038.10 [53]
Total 3071407394465346+119045.60
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Honours

Notes

  1. Including 2 caps for SFR Yugoslavia.[1]
  2. FR Yugoslavia was banned from international football due to UN sanctions.

References

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