Dejan Stankovic
Encyclopedia
Dejan Stanković is a Serbia
n association football player who plays for the Italian Serie A
side Inter
. He captained the Serbian national football team until 2011, when he announced his retirement from international football. He is an attacking midfielder who can also play out wide on the wings or track back in a defensive midfield role. "Deki", as he is nicknamed, is best known for his effective, accurate passing, versatility and creativity as well as his ability to score goals from long distance.
On 13 June 2010, Stanković became the first player to represent in FIFA World Cup
s, a national team with 3 different names: FR Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro
and Serbia
.
, a municipality of Belgrade
. Both of his parents, Borislav and Dragica, have strong football backgrounds.
, based in his neighbourhood of Zemun. When spotted by Red Star cadet squad coach Branko Radović, however, 14-year-old Dejan transferred to Red Star Belgrade
's youth system.
and Nenad Lalatović
.
During the 1994–95 season
, Stanković's debut opportunity for first team action came under head coach Ljupko Petrović
against crosstown rivals OFK Beograd
on 11 February 1995. Fighting for a spot on the team led by, among others, Rambo Petković, Darko Kovačević
, and Nebojša Krupniković
, 16-year-old Dejan made seven league appearances that season as the team won league title. He scored his first goal against Budućnost Podgorica
, soon becoming a first team regular and a fan favourite.
During the early '90s, Red Star was under an international ban because of a UN sanction imposed on FR Yugoslavia, meaning that the team could not compete in any European competition. The ban was lifted ahead of the 1996–97 season, and Stanković played a huge part in a memorable two-leg victory over Kaiserslautern
in the Cup Winners' Cup.
Before the start of the 1997–98 season, he was made squad captain at the age of 19, the youngest ever in the club's history. Despite not winning the league he captained the team to two domestic cup victories.
24 million) to Lazio
, where he scored on his Serie A
debut versus Piacenza
on 13 September 1998. In those years, Lazio had an all-star squad with world class players at almost every position, but Stanković quickly secured a regular first-team place despite competition from fellow midfielders Pavel Nedvěd
, Juan Sebastián Verón
, and Roberto Mancini
. He formed a formidable midfield combination with Nedvěd and Mancini and were an integral part of the successful Lazio side at the turn of the decade. His work rate and impressive performances earned him the nickname Il Dragone (The Dragon) from fans. He had five-and-a-half successful seasons in the biancoceleste part of Rome, before earning a high profile move to Internazionale in February 2004.
were favorites in the chase for the Serb's signature with even some preliminary paperwork reportedly signed between the two parties in early January 2004, but the player eventually chose Internazionale. He was signed as part of a deal worth €4 million that also sent Macedonia
n international Goran Pandev
(plus 50% of Pandev's contract) in the opposite direction.
The fact that old friend, former teammate, and head coach from Lazio Roberto Mancini
was already rumoured to be soon taking over the head coaching duties at Inter may have influenced Stanković's decision. In early February 2004, Stanković played his debut match for Inter under head coach Alberto Zaccheroni, a Serie A clash at home against Siena
that ended 4–0. On 21 February 2004, he scored a spectacular goal directly from a corner kick to put Inter 1–0 up in Derby della Madonnina
versus fierce rivals Milan
. Inter finished the league season in fourth place thus qualifying for Champions League. Still, president Massimo Moratti
was not convinced with Zaccheroni and at the end of the season, just like rumoured, brought Mancini from the financial shipwreck at Lazio.
The head coaching change suited Stanković just fine and he got reunited with another familiar face from Lazio – Siniša Mihajlović
. On 7 May 2006, Stanković played his 100th match for Inter. Coming off the summer appearance at the 2006 World Cup
, Stanković carried excellent form right from the start of the 2006–07 Serie A campaign, scoring some decisive goals. His strike against Catania
and his memorable goal against city rivals Milan only further enhanced his already glowing reputation with Internazionale fans. According to the official ratings of the La Gazzetta dello Sport
, Stanković was selected as the man of the match
five times throughout the 2006–07 Serie A campaign. He renewed his contract on 2 February 2007, with Inter securing his services until at least 2010.
to the position of Inter's head coach, there was a lot of press speculation about Stanković's exit from the Nerazzuri (along with Adriano
, Hernán Crespo
, David Suazo
, and Nicolás Burdisso
) due to reportedly not being held in high regard by the newly arrived Portuguese coach. A lot of the press' focus was also placed on Stanković's friendship with previous head coach Mancini and assistant coach Mihajlović with veiled suggestions that it was this relationship with the coaching duo that kept the Serb midfielder in the club even when his performances were less than stellar throughout the 2007–08 season. Then in late June after reports that Stanković was told by Mourinho he would not be allowed to show up for pre-season training in South Tyrol
and more reports that Stanković and Juve have agreed personal terms, it seemed that he's definitely on his way out. The press reports of Stanković's pending arrival to Juve sparked the club's fans into protests and online petitions as they would neither forgive his turning down the club back in January 2004 nor his exuberant public celebrations after the 2005–06 Serie A title was stripped from Juve and handed to Inter following the Calciopoli scandal. The Juve deal fell through within days for a variety of other reasons, and Stanković was suddenly reported to be happy to stay at Inter. However, the transfer talk got reignited again by Mourinho's suggestion in mid July 2008 that "Stanković is not the same player he was at Lazio", which some took again as a sign that the player's Inter days are numbered.
However, Stanković still decided to stay and fight for a spot on Mourinho's team and soon after the season started he managed to do achieve his aim. On 19 October 2008, Stanković scored a superb goal in Inter's 4–0 hammering of Luciano Spalletti
's Roma
away at Stadio Olimpico
. After receiving a pass from Sulley Muntari
, he drove the ball past the Roma goalkeeper into the net, his 24th goal in all competitions for the Nerazzuri, thus ending a year-long goal drought. The relief and vindication after everything he had gone through during the summer was evident in his goal celebration and in interviews after the match Stanković talked of his joy to be fully back on form following the injury-prone previous season. He also thanked Mourinho for giving him an opportunity even after the two did not get off on the right foot during summer offseason.
In December 2008, Stanković, by now an irreplaceable part of Mourinho's midfield, gave another display of his rediscovered form versus ChievoVerona at home: first with a through-pass to Maxwell
for the game's opening goal, followed by a goal of his own for 2–0 with a first time shot from the edge of the penalty area, and finally an assist from the right wing to Zlatan Ibrahimović
as Inter recorded a 4–2 win.
On 7 February 2009, Stanković celebrated his 200th appearance for Inter in all competitions at the away game versus Lecce
. Inter hammered the newly-promoted team 3–0 with Stanković heading in the third goal following a slick free-kick cross from Maicon. Stanković's season-long good form continued as he scored Internazionale's second goal against Milan in the 270th Milan Derby on 15 February. This turned out to be the winning goal after Alexandre Pato
had pulled one back. Inter went on to win a fourth consecutive title, his fifth Serie A trophy.
In the Champions League, Inter limped into the second round after losing its final two group stage matches against Panathinaikos and Werder Bremen. In the first elimination round (eight-final) they lost to Manchester United in a hardfought tie. Stanković played the full ninety minutes in the first leg at San Siro, putting in a very lively and active display. In the return at Old Trafford
, Stanković started the match and had a great first half 37th minute effort after playing a one-two with Ibrahimović and striking the ball with the outside of his boot from some 25 meteres out, only to see it go centimeters wide of Edwin van der Sar
's right post. Two minutes later Stanković had another glorious opportunity when he got in behind Patrice Evra
on the right as Ibrahimović picked him out with a cross from the left, but the Serb did not make good enough contact with the ball in one-on-one situation with van der Sar and the shot went over the bar. In the 57th minute with United leading 2–0 and Inter forced to chase the result, Mourinho took Stanković off and inserted striker Adriano. The match marked Stanković's 63rd Champions League appearance thus overtaking Predrag Đorđević at the top of the list of Serbian players' with most appearances in the competition
. Nevertheless, he scored Inter's fourth goal and his second in consecutive Milan derbies in a 4–0 thrashing, a spectacular 30-yard strike after quickly collecting Sulley Muntari's pass. He subsequently scored against Rubin Kazan
and Udinese
to continue his rich vein of form under the Portuguese
José Mourinho
.
He also scored a wonder-goal from 54 metres out in a 5–0 thrashing against Genoa
, volleying the ball straight in from Marco Amelia
's clearance.
At the FIFA Club World Cup
in Abu Dhabi
in mid December, Stanković played an excellent semifinal versus Seongnam
, scoring the opening goal and turning in an all around midfield performance. However, despite this, Benítez decided to bench the midfielder for the final
versus TP Mazembe
, only bringing him on for Christian Chivu in the 54th minute. Soon Benítez got sacked despite winning the trophy, and couple of weeks later Stanković expressed his dismay at Spaniard's decision to leave him on the bench for the final. On the same occasion, despite publicly backing the beleguerd coach months earlier, Stanković stated that Benítez simply "didn't work" at Inter.
He says that strong personalities crashed to each others,Internazionale players after winning Champions League and strong personality of Rafael Benitez so at the end as a result was departure of Rafa after 6 months at the bench.
Under newly arrived head coach Leonardo Araújo
, Stanković continued to be the automatic midfield choice, displaying his versatility (at times filling in for injured Wesley Sneijder
in the midfield organizational role). Stanković scored his first goal under new coach at home versus Bologna in mid-January, and then continued with the same form away at Udinese, scoring the opening goal followed by hitting the post in a match that Inter lost 3–1. In Coppa Italia quarterfinal
at Napoli on 26 January, Stanković injured his thigh muscle that initially ruled him out for a month. However, he came back ahead of schedule for a Serie A match at Fiorentina on 16 February, putting in a lively performance with surging runs and two good scoring opportunities as Inter won 2–1 to come within five points of league leaders AC Milan. Inter made good recovery chasing the league-leaders AC Milan, getting within three points of them ahead of Milan derby, but lost disasterosly 0–3.
Stanković scored a spectacular volley from the halfway line vs Schalke in the Champions League quarterfinal first leg on 5 April 2011 as keeper Manuel Neuer
ran out of the box to make a daring header clearance that made it up to the halfway line leaving an open goal as a target for Stanković's firm first time volley. Inter would go on to lose that match 2–5 at home. On 19 April, in the Coppa Italia
semifinal first leg, Stankovic scored the winning goal with another spectacular long-range effort, hitting a sweet outside foot volley past the despairing dive of the goalkeeper.
against South Korea on 22 April 1998, scoring two goals in a 3–1 victory. He played at the 1998 World Cup
and Euro 2000 when the Serbian national team was still called Yugoslavia and soon established himself as an important player.
The Yugoslav team became Serbia and Montenegro by the time 2006 World Cup qualifying
started, and Stanković started in all games and scored two goals, but missed the last qualifier through injury. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup
, he was given the number 10 shirt and Savo Milošević
captained the new Serbia and Montenegro team in their first World Cup, but they failed to progress to the knock-out rounds after losing all their group matches to Côte d'Ivoire
, Argentina
, and the Netherlands
. After Milošević retired, the midfielder took over as captain of the re-formed Serbian national team
, following the breakup of Serbia and Montenegro.
In the 2010 World Cup qualifying
, Stanković has started in and captained all but two of Serbia's matches. They qualified for their first World Cup as an independent nation. He was instrumental in their shock 1–0 win over favorites Germany
but they were not able to progress to the next round due to narrow losses against Ghana
and Australia.
After captaining the team in a 1:0 loss in the final game of the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying phase
against Slovenia
, Stanković announced his retirement from international football after 13 years since his debut against South Korea in 1998. Appearing in 102 matches, he is tied with Savo Milošević
as the most capped player in the Serbia national football team
.
As the possibility of leaving to play farewell game in the Serbia national football team
, broke a record which would Savo Milošević
.
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center"
!Goal
!Date
!Venue
!Opponent
!Score
!Result
!Competition
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="2"|League
!colspan="2"|Cup
!colspan="2"|Europe
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="5" valign="center"|Red Star Belgrade
|1994–95
|7||1||–||–||0||0||7||1
|-
|1995–96
|24||4||–||–|| |2||0|| |26||4
|-
|1996–97
|26||10||–||–|| |5||2|| |31||12
|-
|1997–98
|28||15||–||–|| |4||3|| |32||18
|-
!Total
!85!!30!!–!!–!! 11!!5 !! 96!!35
|-
|rowspan="7" valign="center"|Lazio
|1998–99
|29||4|| |5||1|| |7||4|| |41||9
|-
|1999–00
|16||3|| |4||0|| |11||2|| |31||5
|-
|2000–01
|21||0|| |2||1|| |9||0|| |32||1
|-
|2001–02
|27||7|| |4||0|| |5||1|| |36||8
|-
|2002–03
|29||6|| |2||0|| |7||0|| |38||6
|-
|2003–04
|15||2|| |4||2|| |8||0|| |27||4
|-
!Total
!137!!22!! 21!!4!! 47!!7 !! 205!!33
|-
|rowspan="10" valign="center"|Internazionale
|2003–04
|14||4|| |2||0|| |0||0|| |16||4
|-
|2004–05
|31||3|| |6||0|| |10||3|| |47||6
|-
|2005–06
|23||2|| |7||2|| |8||2|| |38||6
|-
|2006–07
|34||6|| |4||0|| |7||0|| |45||6
|-
|2007–08
|21||1|| |3||0|| |6||0|| |30||1
|-
|2008–09
|31||5|| |2||0|| |5||0|| |38||5
|-
|2009–10
|29||3|| |2||0|| |12||2|| |43||5
|-
|2010–11
|26||5|| |3||1|| |7||2|| |36||8
|-
|2011–12
|8||0|| |0||0|| |3||0|| |11||0
|-
!Total
!217!!29!! 29!!3!! 58!!9!! 304!!41
|-
!colspan=2|Career Total
!439!!81!! 50!!7!! 116!!21!! 605!!109
|}
Lazio
Internazionale
, Stanković's former team mate at Red Star). They have three sons together.
Stanković is close friends with Argentine basketball player Hugo Sconochini
.
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n association football player who plays for the Italian Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
side Inter
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
. He captained the Serbian national football team until 2011, when he announced his retirement from international football. He is an attacking midfielder who can also play out wide on the wings or track back in a defensive midfield role. "Deki", as he is nicknamed, is best known for his effective, accurate passing, versatility and creativity as well as his ability to score goals from long distance.
On 13 June 2010, Stanković became the first player to represent in FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
s, a national team with 3 different names: FR Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro was a country in southeastern Europe, formed from two former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia : Serbia and Montenegro. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was established in 1992 as a federation called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
and Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
.
Early life
Stanković grew up in ZemunZemun
Zemun is a historical town and one of the 17 municipalities which constitute the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia...
, a municipality of Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
. Both of his parents, Borislav and Dragica, have strong football backgrounds.
Club career
Stanković began playing football for FK TeleoptikFK Teleoptik
Fudbalski klub Teleoptik is a professional football club based in Zemun, Belgrade, Serbia. The club currently playing in the Serbian First League....
, based in his neighbourhood of Zemun. When spotted by Red Star cadet squad coach Branko Radović, however, 14-year-old Dejan transferred to Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a part of the Red Star Sports Society.Red Star Belgrade is the most successful Serbian club, with a record of 25 national championships and 23 national cups in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslav competitions...
's youth system.
Red Star Belgrade
Stanković then passed every age category at his hometown club. In the youth teams, he was coached by Pižon Petrović, playing alongside future professionals Nikola LazetićNikola Lazetic
Nikola Lazetić is a Serbian football midfielder who plays for Serbian club FK Vojvodina.-Football career:...
and Nenad Lalatović
Nenad Lalatović
Nenad Lalatović is a retired Serbian international football player.-External sources:* in Serbian Federation website.* in National-football-teams.* at Srbijafudbal....
.
During the 1994–95 season
First League of FR Yugoslavia 1994-95
-Overview:Just as the previous season, the league consisted of 2 groups, A and B, each containing 10 clubs. Both groups were played in league system. By winter break all clubs in each group had met each other twice, home and away, with the bottom four from A group moving to group B, and being...
, Stanković's debut opportunity for first team action came under head coach Ljupko Petrović
Ljupko Petrovic
Ljubomir "Ljupko" Petrović is a Bosnian Serb former football player, today a football manager and winner of the European Cup in 1991 with Red Star.-Biography:...
against crosstown rivals OFK Beograd
OFK Beograd
Omladinski fudbalski klub Beograd, commonly referred to as OFK Beograd , is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia, more precisely from the Karaburma urban neighborhood. It currently is the oldest team playing in the Serbian SuperLiga. The name means "Youth Football Club Belgrade" in Serbian...
on 11 February 1995. Fighting for a spot on the team led by, among others, Rambo Petković, Darko Kovačević
Darko Kovacevic
Darko Kovačević is a former Serbian football player. He is known for his spells at Real Sociedad where his partnership with Nihat Kahveci was one of the best in Spain. His key attributes are his strength and aerial ability...
, and Nebojša Krupniković
Nebojša Krupnikovic
Nebojša Krupniković is a Serbian retired football player.He last played for Paderborn in 2. Fußball-Bundesliga.He has played in six different countries, including two seasons in Japan and a second season in Germany...
, 16-year-old Dejan made seven league appearances that season as the team won league title. He scored his first goal against Budućnost Podgorica
FK Buducnost Podgorica
FK Budućnost is a football club from Podgorica, Montenegro, currently competing in the First League of Montenegro. Its colours are blue and white. FK Buducnost is a part of the Budućnost sport society.-History:...
, soon becoming a first team regular and a fan favourite.
During the early '90s, Red Star was under an international ban because of a UN sanction imposed on FR Yugoslavia, meaning that the team could not compete in any European competition. The ban was lifted ahead of the 1996–97 season, and Stanković played a huge part in a memorable two-leg victory over Kaiserslautern
1. FC Kaiserslautern
1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern, also known as 1. FCK, FCK or simply Kaiserslautern, is a German association football club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. On 2 June 1900, Germania 1896 and FG Kaiserslautern merged to create FC 1900...
in the Cup Winners' Cup.
Before the start of the 1997–98 season, he was made squad captain at the age of 19, the youngest ever in the club's history. Despite not winning the league he captained the team to two domestic cup victories.
Lazio
In the summer of 1998, he transferred for £7.5 million (DMGerman mark
The Deutsche Mark |mark]], abbreviated "DM") was the official currency of West Germany and Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. It is commonly called the "Deutschmark" in English but not in German. Germans often say "Mark" or "D-Mark"...
24 million) to Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
, where he scored on his Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
debut versus Piacenza
Piacenza Calcio
Piacenza Calcio is an Italian association football club based in Piacenza. The club was formed in 1919 and currently plays in Italian Lega Pro Prima Divisione B. The team's colors are red and white, prompting one of the team's nicknames, the Biancorossi. They are also known as the Papaveri , and...
on 13 September 1998. In those years, Lazio had an all-star squad with world class players at almost every position, but Stanković quickly secured a regular first-team place despite competition from fellow midfielders Pavel Nedvěd
Pavel Nedved
Pavel Nedvěd is a retired Czech football midfielder. He is one of the most successful Czech players to emerge from the newly formed Czech Republic, winning numerous accolades with Lazio and Juventus, including the last ever Cup Winners' Cup...
, Juan Sebastián Verón
Juan Sebastián Verón
Juan Sebastián Verón is an Argentinian professional football player who is the current captain and midfielder for Estudiantes de La Plata in the Argentine Primera División....
, and Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini is an Italian football manager, formerly an international player and current manager of Premier League club Manchester City.As a player Mancini was best known for his time at Sampdoria, where he played more than 550 matches, and helped them win the Serie A league title, four Coppa...
. He formed a formidable midfield combination with Nedvěd and Mancini and were an integral part of the successful Lazio side at the turn of the decade. His work rate and impressive performances earned him the nickname Il Dragone (The Dragon) from fans. He had five-and-a-half successful seasons in the biancoceleste part of Rome, before earning a high profile move to Internazionale in February 2004.
2004–2008
As Stanković began the 2003–04 season at Lazio, the Biancoceleste struggled with financial problems and were forced to sell many of their best players. Big name teams in European football knew that the club would have to sell the midfielder in the nearest future, so there was fierce competition for his services during the 2003–04 winter transfer window. JuventusJuventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
were favorites in the chase for the Serb's signature with even some preliminary paperwork reportedly signed between the two parties in early January 2004, but the player eventually chose Internazionale. He was signed as part of a deal worth €4 million that also sent Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
n international Goran Pandev
Goran Pandev
Goran Pandev , is a Macedonian footballer who plays as a forward for Italian Serie A club Napoli on loan from Internazionale. He is also considered a key player for the Macedonian national team.-Early career:...
(plus 50% of Pandev's contract) in the opposite direction.
The fact that old friend, former teammate, and head coach from Lazio Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini is an Italian football manager, formerly an international player and current manager of Premier League club Manchester City.As a player Mancini was best known for his time at Sampdoria, where he played more than 550 matches, and helped them win the Serie A league title, four Coppa...
was already rumoured to be soon taking over the head coaching duties at Inter may have influenced Stanković's decision. In early February 2004, Stanković played his debut match for Inter under head coach Alberto Zaccheroni, a Serie A clash at home against Siena
A.C. Siena
Associazione Calcio Siena is an Italian football club based in Siena.The club currently plays in Serie A, having gained promotion from Serie B at the end of the 2010-2011 season....
that ended 4–0. On 21 February 2004, he scored a spectacular goal directly from a corner kick to put Inter 1–0 up in Derby della Madonnina
Derby della Madonnina
Derby della Madonnina, or the Milan Derby as it is sometimes known, is a football match between the Italian clubs Associazione Calcio Milan and Football Club Internazionale Milano. It is a hotly contested local derby and is one of the most followed derbies in football...
versus fierce rivals Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
. Inter finished the league season in fourth place thus qualifying for Champions League. Still, president Massimo Moratti
Massimo Moratti
Massimo Moratti is an Italian oil tycoon. He is the owner and President of Italian football team Football Club Internazionale Milano, and Chief Executive Officer of Saras S.p.A.-Life and career:...
was not convinced with Zaccheroni and at the end of the season, just like rumoured, brought Mancini from the financial shipwreck at Lazio.
The head coaching change suited Stanković just fine and he got reunited with another familiar face from Lazio – Siniša Mihajlović
Siniša Mihajlovic
Siniša Mihajlović is a Serbian football manager and former player. He was in charge of Serie A club Fiorentina since June 2010 to November 2011....
. On 7 May 2006, Stanković played his 100th match for Inter. Coming off the summer appearance at the 2006 World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
, Stanković carried excellent form right from the start of the 2006–07 Serie A campaign, scoring some decisive goals. His strike against Catania
Calcio Catania
Calcio Catania is an Italian football club founded in 1908 and based in Catania, Sicily. The club has spent much of its history in Serie B, gaining promotion to Italy's top league Serie A five times...
and his memorable goal against city rivals Milan only further enhanced his already glowing reputation with Internazionale fans. According to the official ratings of the La Gazzetta dello Sport
La Gazzetta dello Sport
La Gazzetta dello Sport is an Italian newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. It was first published on April 3, 1896, allowing it to cover the first modern Olympic Games held in Athens...
, Stanković was selected as the man of the match
Man of the match
In sport, a Man of the Match or Player of the Game or Man of the Series award is given to the outstanding player, almost always the one who makes the most impact, in a particular match or series. The term was originally used more often in cricket before being adopted by other sports. This can be a...
five times throughout the 2006–07 Serie A campaign. He renewed his contract on 2 February 2007, with Inter securing his services until at least 2010.
2008–09 season
With the June 2008 arrival of José MourinhoJosé Mourinho
José Mário dos Santos Félix Mourinho is a Portuguese football manager and the current manager of Real Madrid. He is commonly known as "The Special One".Mourinho is regarded by some players, coaches and critics as the best ever coach in football....
to the position of Inter's head coach, there was a lot of press speculation about Stanković's exit from the Nerazzuri (along with Adriano
Adriano Leite Ribeiro
Adriano Leite Ribeiro , commonly known as simply Adriano, is a Brazilian footballer who played striker who currently plays for Corinthians...
, Hernán Crespo
Hernán Crespo
Hernán Jorge Crespo is an Argentine footballer who plays for Parma in the Italian Serie A. Crespo has scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 18 years. His honors include an Olympic Games silver medal, a Copa Libertadores, an English Premier League title and three Scudettos. He was topscorer in...
, David Suazo
David Suazo
Óscar David Suazo Velázquez is a Honduran football striker who currently plays for Calcio Catania in the Italian Serie A. He is also a member of the Honduran national team.-Early career:...
, and Nicolás Burdisso
Nicolás Burdisso
Nicolás Andrés Burdisso is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a central or right defender for A.S. Roma. He also holds European Union nationality.-Boca Juniors:...
) due to reportedly not being held in high regard by the newly arrived Portuguese coach. A lot of the press' focus was also placed on Stanković's friendship with previous head coach Mancini and assistant coach Mihajlović with veiled suggestions that it was this relationship with the coaching duo that kept the Serb midfielder in the club even when his performances were less than stellar throughout the 2007–08 season. Then in late June after reports that Stanković was told by Mourinho he would not be allowed to show up for pre-season training in South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...
and more reports that Stanković and Juve have agreed personal terms, it seemed that he's definitely on his way out. The press reports of Stanković's pending arrival to Juve sparked the club's fans into protests and online petitions as they would neither forgive his turning down the club back in January 2004 nor his exuberant public celebrations after the 2005–06 Serie A title was stripped from Juve and handed to Inter following the Calciopoli scandal. The Juve deal fell through within days for a variety of other reasons, and Stanković was suddenly reported to be happy to stay at Inter. However, the transfer talk got reignited again by Mourinho's suggestion in mid July 2008 that "Stanković is not the same player he was at Lazio", which some took again as a sign that the player's Inter days are numbered.
However, Stanković still decided to stay and fight for a spot on Mourinho's team and soon after the season started he managed to do achieve his aim. On 19 October 2008, Stanković scored a superb goal in Inter's 4–0 hammering of Luciano Spalletti
Luciano Spalletti
Luciano Spalletti is a retired Italian footballer and current coach of FC Zenit Saint Petersburg.-Playing career:Born in Certaldo, Province of Florence, Spalletti played for Serie C teams such as Entella, Spezia, Viareggio and Empoli....
's Roma
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...
away at Stadio Olimpico
Stadio Olimpico
The Stadio Olimpico is the main and largest sports facility of Rome, Italy. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex on the north of the city. An asset of the Italian National Olympic Committee, the structure is intended primarily for football...
. After receiving a pass from Sulley Muntari
Sulley Muntari
Sulleyman Ali "Sulley" Muntari is a Ghanaian international footballer who currently plays as a central midfielder for Serie A club Inter Milan in Italy. He has 66 caps for The Black Stars of Ghana.-Early career:...
, he drove the ball past the Roma goalkeeper into the net, his 24th goal in all competitions for the Nerazzuri, thus ending a year-long goal drought. The relief and vindication after everything he had gone through during the summer was evident in his goal celebration and in interviews after the match Stanković talked of his joy to be fully back on form following the injury-prone previous season. He also thanked Mourinho for giving him an opportunity even after the two did not get off on the right foot during summer offseason.
In December 2008, Stanković, by now an irreplaceable part of Mourinho's midfield, gave another display of his rediscovered form versus ChievoVerona at home: first with a through-pass to Maxwell
Maxwell Cabelino Andrade
Maxwell Scherrer Cabelino Andrade , commonly known as Maxwell, is a Brazilian footballer who currently plays for Spanish La Liga club FC Barcelona...
for the game's opening goal, followed by a goal of his own for 2–0 with a first time shot from the edge of the penalty area, and finally an assist from the right wing to Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Milan and the Swedish national team for which he is captain....
as Inter recorded a 4–2 win.
On 7 February 2009, Stanković celebrated his 200th appearance for Inter in all competitions at the away game versus Lecce
U.S. Lecce
Unione Sportiva Lecce or simply U.S. Lecce is an Italian football club based in Lecce, Apulia who play in the Italian Serie A. After being crowned Serie B champions in 2009–10, the team successfully managed to avoid relegation in 2010-11....
. Inter hammered the newly-promoted team 3–0 with Stanković heading in the third goal following a slick free-kick cross from Maicon. Stanković's season-long good form continued as he scored Internazionale's second goal against Milan in the 270th Milan Derby on 15 February. This turned out to be the winning goal after Alexandre Pato
Alexandre Pato
Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva , commonly known as Alexandre Pato or simply Pato, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Italian Serie A club Milan and the Brazilian national team. His nickname, Pato, refers to his place of birth, Pato Branco...
had pulled one back. Inter went on to win a fourth consecutive title, his fifth Serie A trophy.
In the Champions League, Inter limped into the second round after losing its final two group stage matches against Panathinaikos and Werder Bremen. In the first elimination round (eight-final) they lost to Manchester United in a hardfought tie. Stanković played the full ninety minutes in the first leg at San Siro, putting in a very lively and active display. In the return at Old Trafford
Old Trafford
Old Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:...
, Stanković started the match and had a great first half 37th minute effort after playing a one-two with Ibrahimović and striking the ball with the outside of his boot from some 25 meteres out, only to see it go centimeters wide of Edwin van der Sar
Edwin van der Sar
Edwin van der Sar OON is a former footballer who played as a goalkeeper for AFC Ajax, Juventus, Fulham and Manchester United. He is the most capped player in the Netherlands national football team's history...
's right post. Two minutes later Stanković had another glorious opportunity when he got in behind Patrice Evra
Patrice Evra
Patrice Latyr Evra is a French international footballer who currently plays for English club Manchester United in the Premier League and the France national team. Originally an attacker, he primarily plays as a left back and is described as "the classic example of a modern full-back" who is...
on the right as Ibrahimović picked him out with a cross from the left, but the Serb did not make good enough contact with the ball in one-on-one situation with van der Sar and the shot went over the bar. In the 57th minute with United leading 2–0 and Inter forced to chase the result, Mourinho took Stanković off and inserted striker Adriano. The match marked Stanković's 63rd Champions League appearance thus overtaking Predrag Đorđević at the top of the list of Serbian players' with most appearances in the competition
2009–10: Tripletta season
The 2009–10 season began well for Stanković. In the 29 August Milan derby, he played in a deeper role to replace the injured Esteban CambiassoEsteban Cambiasso
Esteban Matías Cambiasso Deleau , nicknamed "Cuchu" , is an Argentine football midfielder who plays for Italian Serie A club Internazionale....
. Nevertheless, he scored Inter's fourth goal and his second in consecutive Milan derbies in a 4–0 thrashing, a spectacular 30-yard strike after quickly collecting Sulley Muntari's pass. He subsequently scored against Rubin Kazan
FC Rubin Kazan
FC Rubin Kazan is a Russian association football club based in the city of Kazan . Rubin won the Russian Premier League championship in 2008 and 2009.-History:...
and Udinese
Udinese Calcio
Udinese Calcio is an Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and currently plays in the Serie A. Founded in 1896, Udinese is the second oldest club in the Serie A, after Genoa....
to continue his rich vein of form under the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
José Mourinho
José Mourinho
José Mário dos Santos Félix Mourinho is a Portuguese football manager and the current manager of Real Madrid. He is commonly known as "The Special One".Mourinho is regarded by some players, coaches and critics as the best ever coach in football....
.
He also scored a wonder-goal from 54 metres out in a 5–0 thrashing against Genoa
Genoa C.F.C.
Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to simply as Genoa , is a professional Italian football club based in the city of Genoa, Liguria...
, volleying the ball straight in from Marco Amelia
Marco Amelia
Marco Amelia, Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Milan. He was part of the Italian squad that won the 2006 FIFA World Cup.-Early career:Amelia grew up as part of the Roma youth system...
's clearance.
2010–11 season
Playing under new head coach Rafa Benítez, Stanković continued his usual midfield role. On the 28 November 2010, Stanković netted a hat-trick in an emphatic 5–2 victory over Parma at the San Siro.At the FIFA Club World Cup
2010 FIFA Club World Cup
- Matches :If a match was tied after normal playing time, 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, a penalty shootout would be held to determine the winner...
in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
in mid December, Stanković played an excellent semifinal versus Seongnam
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma is a South Korean professional football club, based in Seongnam, South Korea, that plays in the K-League...
, scoring the opening goal and turning in an all around midfield performance. However, despite this, Benítez decided to bench the midfielder for the final
2010 FIFA Club World Cup Final
The 2010 FIFA Club World Cup Final was the final match of the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup, a football tournament for the champion clubs from each of FIFA's six continental confederations. The match took place at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, on 18 December 2010, and pitted African champions TP...
versus TP Mazembe
TP Mazembe
Tout Puissant Mazembe, formerly known as Englebert, are a Congolese football club based in Lubumbashi. Their home games are played at Stade Municipal de Lubumbashi. Its nickname is Les corbeaux despite having a crocodile with a ball in its mouth on the team crest...
, only bringing him on for Christian Chivu in the 54th minute. Soon Benítez got sacked despite winning the trophy, and couple of weeks later Stanković expressed his dismay at Spaniard's decision to leave him on the bench for the final. On the same occasion, despite publicly backing the beleguerd coach months earlier, Stanković stated that Benítez simply "didn't work" at Inter.
He says that strong personalities crashed to each others,Internazionale players after winning Champions League and strong personality of Rafael Benitez so at the end as a result was departure of Rafa after 6 months at the bench.
Under newly arrived head coach Leonardo Araújo
Leonardo Araújo
Leonardo Nascimento de Araújo, known as Leonardo , is a football manager and a former midfielder. He is currently active as director of football of French club Paris Saint-Germain....
, Stanković continued to be the automatic midfield choice, displaying his versatility (at times filling in for injured Wesley Sneijder
Wesley Sneijder
Wesley Sneijder is a Dutch footballer playing as an attacking midfielder for Internazionale. He was named UEFA midfielder of the season as well as one of the three best midfielders in the world for 2010 by FIFA....
in the midfield organizational role). Stanković scored his first goal under new coach at home versus Bologna in mid-January, and then continued with the same form away at Udinese, scoring the opening goal followed by hitting the post in a match that Inter lost 3–1. In Coppa Italia quarterfinal
2010–11 Coppa Italia
-=Second round:=-----=Third round:=-----=Fourth round:=-Section 2:-=First round:=---------=Second round:=---------=Third round:=-----=Fourth round:=-Section 3:-=First round:=-=Second round:=--------...
at Napoli on 26 January, Stanković injured his thigh muscle that initially ruled him out for a month. However, he came back ahead of schedule for a Serie A match at Fiorentina on 16 February, putting in a lively performance with surging runs and two good scoring opportunities as Inter won 2–1 to come within five points of league leaders AC Milan. Inter made good recovery chasing the league-leaders AC Milan, getting within three points of them ahead of Milan derby, but lost disasterosly 0–3.
Stanković scored a spectacular volley from the halfway line vs Schalke in the Champions League quarterfinal first leg on 5 April 2011 as keeper Manuel Neuer
Manuel Neuer
Manuel Neuer is a German footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bayern Munich and the German national football team.-Schalke 04:Neuer signed professional terms in 2005 after progressing through every age group at his hometown club. He made his Bundesliga debut when he came on to substitute the...
ran out of the box to make a daring header clearance that made it up to the halfway line leaving an open goal as a target for Stanković's firm first time volley. Inter would go on to lose that match 2–5 at home. On 19 April, in the Coppa Italia
2010–11 Coppa Italia
-=Second round:=-----=Third round:=-----=Fourth round:=-Section 2:-=First round:=---------=Second round:=---------=Third round:=-----=Fourth round:=-Section 3:-=First round:=-=Second round:=--------...
semifinal first leg, Stankovic scored the winning goal with another spectacular long-range effort, hitting a sweet outside foot volley past the despairing dive of the goalkeeper.
International career
Stanković made his international debut for the FR Yugoslavia teamSerbia national football team
The Serbia national football team represents Serbia in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia, the governing body for football in Serbia. Serbia's home ground is Stadion Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade and their last head coach was Vladimir Petrović...
against South Korea on 22 April 1998, scoring two goals in a 3–1 victory. He played at the 1998 World Cup
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
and Euro 2000 when the Serbian national team was still called Yugoslavia and soon established himself as an important player.
The Yugoslav team became Serbia and Montenegro by the time 2006 World Cup qualifying
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
A total of 197 teams entered the qualification process for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, competing for a total of 32 spots in the final tournament. Germany, as the host, qualified automatically, leaving 31 spots open for competition...
started, and Stanković started in all games and scored two goals, but missed the last qualifier through injury. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
, he was given the number 10 shirt and Savo Milošević
Savo Miloševic
Savo Milošević is a retired Serbian footballer who played as a striker.After making a name for himself at Partizan, he signed for Aston Villa, and went on to spend the vast majority of the following decade playing in Spain, where he represented four clubs, amassing La Liga totals of 241 games and...
captained the new Serbia and Montenegro team in their first World Cup, but they failed to progress to the knock-out rounds after losing all their group matches to Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire national football team
The Côte d'Ivoire National Football Team or Ivory Coast National Football Team, nicknamed Les Éléphants , represents Côte d'Ivoire in international football and is controlled by the Fédération Ivoirienne de Football...
, Argentina
Argentina national football team
The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in association football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association , the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentina's home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti and their head coach is Alejandro...
, and the Netherlands
Netherlands national football team
The Netherlands National Football Team represents the Netherlands in association football and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association , the governing body for football in the Netherlands...
. After Milošević retired, the midfielder took over as captain of the re-formed Serbian national team
Serbia national football team
The Serbia national football team represents Serbia in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia, the governing body for football in Serbia. Serbia's home ground is Stadion Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade and their last head coach was Vladimir Petrović...
, following the breakup of Serbia and Montenegro.
In the 2010 World Cup qualifying
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
The European zone of qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup saw 53 teams competing for 13 places at the finals. The qualification process started on 20 August 2008, after UEFA Euro 2008, and ended on 18 November 2009. The qualification process saw the first competitive matches of...
, Stanković has started in and captained all but two of Serbia's matches. They qualified for their first World Cup as an independent nation. He was instrumental in their shock 1–0 win over favorites Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
but they were not able to progress to the next round due to narrow losses against Ghana
Ghana national football team
The Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association...
and Australia.
After captaining the team in a 1:0 loss in the final game of the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying phase
UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 is a series of parallel association football competitions held over 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012, to be held in Poland and Ukraine...
against Slovenia
Slovenia national football team
The Slovenia national football team is the national football team of Slovenia and is controlled by the Football Association of Slovenia. The team played their first match in 1992 after the split of Yugoslavia in 1991....
, Stanković announced his retirement from international football after 13 years since his debut against South Korea in 1998. Appearing in 102 matches, he is tied with Savo Milošević
Savo Miloševic
Savo Milošević is a retired Serbian footballer who played as a striker.After making a name for himself at Partizan, he signed for Aston Villa, and went on to spend the vast majority of the following decade playing in Spain, where he represented four clubs, amassing La Liga totals of 241 games and...
as the most capped player in the Serbia national football team
Serbia national football team
The Serbia national football team represents Serbia in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia, the governing body for football in Serbia. Serbia's home ground is Stadion Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade and their last head coach was Vladimir Petrović...
.
As the possibility of leaving to play farewell game in the Serbia national football team
Serbia national football team
The Serbia national football team represents Serbia in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia, the governing body for football in Serbia. Serbia's home ground is Stadion Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade and their last head coach was Vladimir Petrović...
, broke a record which would Savo Milošević
Savo Miloševic
Savo Milošević is a retired Serbian footballer who played as a striker.After making a name for himself at Partizan, he signed for Aston Villa, and went on to spend the vast majority of the following decade playing in Spain, where he represented four clubs, amassing La Liga totals of 241 games and...
.
International goals
{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;"|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center"
!Goal
!Date
!Venue
!Opponent
!Score
!Result
!Competition
Career statistics
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="2"|League
!colspan="2"|Cup
!colspan="2"|Europe
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="5" valign="center"|Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a part of the Red Star Sports Society.Red Star Belgrade is the most successful Serbian club, with a record of 25 national championships and 23 national cups in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslav competitions...
|1994–95
First League of FR Yugoslavia 1994-95
-Overview:Just as the previous season, the league consisted of 2 groups, A and B, each containing 10 clubs. Both groups were played in league system. By winter break all clubs in each group had met each other twice, home and away, with the bottom four from A group moving to group B, and being...
|7||1||–||–||0||0||7||1
|-
|1995–96
First League of FR Yugoslavia 1995-96
-Overview:Just as in the two previous seasons, the league was divided into 2 groups, A and B, consisting each one of 10 clubs. Both groups were played in league system. By winter break all clubs in each group meat each other twice, home and away, with the bottom four classifiyed from A group moving...
|24||4||–||–|| |2||0|| |26||4
|-
|1996–97
First League of FR Yugoslavia 1996-97
-Overview:For the fourth season in a raw that the league was divided in 2 groups, A and B, consisting each of 10 clubs. Both groups were played in league system. By winter break all clubs in each group meet each other twice, home and away, with the bottom four classifiyed from A group moving to the...
|26||10||–||–|| |5||2|| |31||12
|-
|1997–98
First League of FR Yugoslavia 1997-98
-Overview:The league was divided into 2 groups, A and B, consisting each of 10 clubs. Both groups were played in league system. By winter break all clubs in each group meet each other twice, home and away, with the bottom four classifiyed from A group moving to the group B, and being replaced by...
|28||15||–||–|| |4||3|| |32||18
|-
!Total
!85!!30!!–!!–!! 11!!5 !! 96!!35
|-
|rowspan="7" valign="center"|Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
|1998–99
Serie A 1998-99
AC Milan won their 16th Scudetto, led by coach Alberto Zaccheroni. Lazio finished second, losing the title on the last day. Inter with an often Injured or rested Ronaldo had a disastrous season, finishing in 8th position, whereas Juventus impressive start was cut short by a bad injury to Alessandro...
|29||4|| |5||1|| |7||4|| |41||9
|-
|1999–00
Serie A 1999-00
Lazio won the title on the final day of the season in controversial cirumstances. Juventus, the only other team left in contention on the day lost their match against Perugia in terrible conditions at a rain-sodden Stadio Renato Curi, many considering the pitch unplayable. Pierluigi Collina the...
|16||3|| |4||0|| |11||2|| |31||5
|-
|2000–01
Serie A 2000-01
In the 2000-01 season, Serie A, the major football Italian professional league, was composed by 18 teams, for the 13th consecutive time from season 1988-89....
|21||0|| |2||1|| |9||0|| |32||1
|-
|2001–02
Serie A 2001-02
In the 2001-02 season, the Serie A, the major football Italian professional league, was composed by 18 teams, for the 14th consecutive time from season 1988-89....
|27||7|| |4||0|| |5||1|| |36||8
|-
|2002–03
Serie A 2002-03
In the 2002-03 season, the Serie A, the major football Italian professional league, was composed by 18 teams, for the 15th consecutive time from season 1988-89....
|29||6|| |2||0|| |7||0|| |38||6
|-
|2003–04
Serie A 2003-04
The 2003-2004 season in Italian Serie A football contained 18 teams for the 16th and last time from the 1988-89 season. With the bottom three being relegated, the 15th placed side would face the 6th highest team from Serie B, with the winner playing in the Serie A in 2004-2005.As usual, the top two...
|15||2|| |4||2|| |8||0|| |27||4
|-
!Total
!137!!22!! 21!!4!! 47!!7 !! 205!!33
|-
|rowspan="10" valign="center"|Internazionale
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
|2003–04
Serie A 2003-04
The 2003-2004 season in Italian Serie A football contained 18 teams for the 16th and last time from the 1988-89 season. With the bottom three being relegated, the 15th placed side would face the 6th highest team from Serie B, with the winner playing in the Serie A in 2004-2005.As usual, the top two...
|14||4|| |2||0|| |0||0|| |16||4
|-
|2004–05
Serie A 2004-05
In the 2004–05 season, the Serie A, the highest professional football league in Italy, was composed of 20 teams for the first time in several years....
|31||3|| |6||0|| |10||3|| |47||6
|-
|2005–06
Serie A 2005-06
In the 2005–06 season, Serie A, the major professional football league in Italian, was contested for the second year in a row by 20 teams. The league commenced on August 28, 2005 and finished on May 14, 2006...
|23||2|| |7||2|| |8||2|| |38||6
|-
|2006–07
Serie A 2006-07
The Serie A 2006–2007 season began September 10, 2006. It was scheduled to begin on August 26 and 27, but was then postponed due to the Serie A scandal of 2006. It is the 104th Italian championship ever held, the first without the presence of Juventus, and the 75th Serie A league, the first...
|34||6|| |4||0|| |7||0|| |45||6
|-
|2007–08
Serie A 2007-08
The 2007-08 Serie A football season was the seventy-sixth since its establishment, and started on August 26, 2007 and ended on May 18, 2008. Internazionale successfully defended the championship on the final day of the season, finishing first with 85 points, three ahead of Roma.-Plusvalenze...
|21||1|| |3||0|| |6||0|| |30||1
|-
|2008–09
Serie A 2008-09
The 2008–09 Serie A was the seventy-seventh season since its establishment. It began on 30 August 2008 and ended on 31 May 2009, with the announcement of the list of fixtures made on 25 July 2008...
|31||5|| |2||0|| |5||0|| |38||5
|-
|2009–10
|29||3|| |2||0|| |12||2|| |43||5
|-
|2010–11
|26||5|| |3||1|| |7||2|| |36||8
|-
|2011–12
|8||0|| |0||0|| |3||0|| |11||0
|-
!Total
!217!!29!! 29!!3!! 58!!9!! 304!!41
|-
!colspan=2|Career Total
!439!!81!! 50!!7!! 116!!21!! 605!!109
|}
Honours
Red Star Belgrade- FR Yugoslavia CupYugoslav CupThe Yugoslav Cup, officially the Marshal Tito Cup, was one of two major football competitions in the former Yugoslavia, the other one being the Yugoslav League Championship. The Yugoslav Cup took place after the league championships when every competitive league in Yugoslavia had finished, in order...
: (3): 1995,1996,1997 - FR Yugoslavia ChampionshipYugoslav First LeagueThe Yugoslav First League was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and socialist Yugoslavia...
: (1): 1994–95
Lazio
- ScudettoSerie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
: (1): 2000Serie A 1999-00Lazio won the title on the final day of the season in controversial cirumstances. Juventus, the only other team left in contention on the day lost their match against Perugia in terrible conditions at a rain-sodden Stadio Renato Curi, many considering the pitch unplayable. Pierluigi Collina the... - Coppa ItaliaCoppa ItaliaThe Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...
: (1): 2000Coppa Italia 1999-00-First Leg:---------Second Leg:--------Lazio win Coppa Italia 2–1 on aggregate.-References:*... - Supercoppa ItalianaSupercoppa ItalianaThe Supercoppa Italiana is a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Italy every year. It is contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season, as a curtain raiser to the new season. It is usually played at the home of the Serie A...
: (2): 19981998 Supercoppa ItalianaThe 1998 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by Juventus, the Serie A 1997-98 winner, and Lazio, the Coppa Italia 1997-98 winner.It was the fourth appearance for Juventus , whereas it was Lazio's first appearance....
, 20002000 Supercoppa ItalianaThe 2000 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by the Serie A 1999–2000 winners Lazio and the Coppa Italia 1999–2000 runners-up Internazionale... - Cup Winners' CupUEFA Cup Winners' CupThe UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
: 1999UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1998-99The season 1998-99 of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup football club tournament was won by Lazio in the final against Mallorca for their first title in the competition.-Qualifying round:-First leg:--------------------------------------------... - UEFA Super Cup: 19991999 UEFA Super CupThe 1999 UEFA Super Cup was a football match played on 27 August 1999 between the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League winners, Manchester United, and Lazio, winners of the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup....
Internazionale
- ScudettoSerie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
: (5): 2006Serie A 2005-06In the 2005–06 season, Serie A, the major professional football league in Italian, was contested for the second year in a row by 20 teams. The league commenced on August 28, 2005 and finished on May 14, 2006...
, 2007Serie A 2006-07The Serie A 2006–2007 season began September 10, 2006. It was scheduled to begin on August 26 and 27, but was then postponed due to the Serie A scandal of 2006. It is the 104th Italian championship ever held, the first without the presence of Juventus, and the 75th Serie A league, the first...
, 2008Serie A 2007-08The 2007-08 Serie A football season was the seventy-sixth since its establishment, and started on August 26, 2007 and ended on May 18, 2008. Internazionale successfully defended the championship on the final day of the season, finishing first with 85 points, three ahead of Roma.-Plusvalenze...
, 2009Serie A 2008-09The 2008–09 Serie A was the seventy-seventh season since its establishment. It began on 30 August 2008 and ended on 31 May 2009, with the announcement of the list of fixtures made on 25 July 2008...
, 2010 - Coppa ItaliaCoppa ItaliaThe Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...
: (4): 2005Coppa Italia 2004-05-Group 1:-Group 2:-Group 3:-Group 4:-Group 5:-Group 6:-Group 7:-Group 8:-Knockout stage:-First leg:---------Second leg:--------Inter win Coppa Italia 3–0 on aggregate.-References:*...
, 2006Coppa Italia 2005-06The 2005–06 Coppa Italia was the 58th edition of the tournament. For the second consecutive season, Roma and Internazionale were the finalists. Inter won the tournament by a score of 4–1 agreggate in the final...
, 2010, 2011 - Supercoppa ItalianaSupercoppa ItalianaThe Supercoppa Italiana is a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Italy every year. It is contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season, as a curtain raiser to the new season. It is usually played at the home of the Serie A...
: (4): 20052005 Supercoppa ItalianaThe 2005 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by 2004-05 Serie A champions Juventus and 2004-05 Coppa Italia winners Internazionale. The match took place on 20 August 2005, and resulted in a 1-0 win for Internazionale after extra time.-Match details:...
, 20062006 Supercoppa ItalianaThe 2006 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by the 2005-06 winners Internazionale and the 2005-06 Coppa Italia runners-up Roma. The Coppa Italia runners-up were chosen to play instead of the winners because of the aftermath of the 2006 Serie A match-fixing scandal...
, 20082008 Supercoppa ItalianaThe 2008 Supercoppa Italiana is a football match that was played by Serie A 2007-08 winners Internazionale and Coppa Italia 2007-08 winners Roma. The match proved to be a tightly contested affair. After exchanging goals, it appeared that Inter was on its way to victory on Mario Balotelli's goal...
, 20102010 Supercoppa Italiana- References :... - UEFA Champions LeagueUEFA Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
: (1): 2010 - FIFA Club World CupFIFA Club World CupThe FIFA Club World Cup is a football competition between the champion clubs from all six continental confederations.The first FIFA Club World Championship took place in Brazil in January 2000...
: (1): 20102010 FIFA Club World Cup- Matches :If a match was tied after normal playing time, 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, a penalty shootout would be held to determine the winner...
Individual
- ESM Team of the Year: 2006–07
- Serbian Player of the YearSerbian Footballer of the YearSerbian Footballer of the Year is an annual award given from Football Association of Serbia to the best player of the year.Originally it has been awarded the Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro.- Winners :- Trivia :...
: 2010
Personal
Stanković is married to Ana Ačimovič (sister of Milenko AčimovičMilenko Acimovic
Milenko Ačimović is a former Slovenian footballer who last played for Austria giants Austria Wien. He was a playmaker who has a great passing range and an abundance of skill...
, Stanković's former team mate at Red Star). They have three sons together.
Stanković is close friends with Argentine basketball player Hugo Sconochini
Hugo Sconochini
Hugo Ariel Sconochini is an Argentine professional basketball shooting guard and small forward....
.