Antonio Rukavina

Antonio Rukavina

Rukavina with 1860 München in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Antonio Rukavina
Date of birth	26 January 1984
Place of birth	Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Right back
Club information
Current team	Villarreal
Number	22
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2007	Bežanija	142	(26)
2007	Partizan	32	(4)
2008	Borussia Dortmund	19	(0)
2009–2012	1860 München	112	(1)
2012–2014	Valladolid	71	(2)
2014–	Villarreal	40	(0)
National team^‡
2007–	Serbia	37	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 August 2016. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 November 2016

Antonio Rukavina (Serbian Cyrillic: Антонио Рукавина, born 26 January 1984) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Villarreal CF and the Serbian national football team as a right back.

Club career

Rukavina joined FK Partizan in January 2007 after an impressive spell with FK Bežanija, and eventually became team captain. On 5 January 2008, Rukavina was transferred to German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund for a fee of €2.5m.^[1] After one year Rukavina left Dortmund on 2 February 2009; he was loaned to TSV 1860 München until the end of the season. In July 2009, he transferred permanently to 1860 Munich, with Sven Bender making the opposite move to Borussia Dortmund in lieu of a transfer fee. In June 2012, he was released from 1860 Munich and signed for Spanish side, Real Valladolid, who recently won promotion to La Liga under the guidance of Rukavina's countrymen and former coach Miroslav Đukić. On 8 July 2014, he completed his move to La Liga side Villarreal, signing a two-year deal.^[2]

International career

Rukavina is a member of the Serbian national team after being called up from the U21 team. He made his international debut for Serbian national team on 6 June 2007, in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match in Helsinki against Finland. He was part of the Serbian 23-man squad at the FIFA World Cup 2010.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 2 October 2016 ^[3]

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bežanija	2002–03	27	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	27	8
	2003–04	30	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	30	11
	2004–05	33	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	33	2
	2005–06	36	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	36	3
	2006–07	16	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	2
	Total	142	26	0	0	0	0	0	0	142	26
Partizan	2006–07	15	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	3
	2007–08	17	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	19	1
	Total	32	4	0	0	2	0	0	0	34	4
Borussia Dortmund	2007–08	14	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	18	0
	2008–09	5	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	7	0
	Total	19	0	5	0	1	0	0	0	25	0
1860 München	2008–09	15	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	1
	2009–10	32	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	35	0
	2010–11	34	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	36	0
	2011–12	31	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	33	0
	Total	112	1	7	0	0	0	0	0	119	1
Valladolid	2012–13	37	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	38	1
	2013–14	34	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	35	1
	Total	71	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	73	2
Villarreal	2014–15	21	0	7	0	4	0	0	0	32	0
	2015–16	18	0	10	0	3	0	0	0	31	0
	2016–17	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	0
	Total	40	0	17	0	9	0	0	0	66	0
Career total		416	33	31	0	12	0	0	0	459	33

International statistics

Serbian national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2007	7	0
2008	7	0
2009	4	0
2010	4	0
2011	0	0
2012	1	0
2013	5	0
2014	2	0
2015	0	0
2016	7	0
Total	37	0

Personal life

In 2006, Croatian newspapers erranously claimed that he is of Croatian descent, and thus eligible to play for the Croatian national team, the leaders of the Croatian team seeking to win him over, however, Rukavina stated that "I have to disappoint all of the leadership of the Croatian Football Federation, because I'm a Serb and I intend to play exclusively for the country where I was born. There has never been talks of me playing for Croatia, nor have I thought about it. Serbia is my choice, and every time I hear the hymn Bože pravde I have goose bumps and feel joy."^[4] Sharing the surname with Ante Rukavina, a Croatian footballer, the newspaper said that the surname was Croatian, upon which he replied: "What about the surname? So many people, Serbs and Croats, have the same surnames. I know that my dad's grandmother was born in Croatia and that is my only connection with Croatia. My mother and father are from here [Serbia], and I repeat once again that Serbia is my choice.^[4]

References

1. "Rukavina completes Dortmund transfer". UEFA. 4 January 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
2. "Villarreal CF sign Antonio Rukavina". Villarreal C.F. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
3. "A.Rukavina". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
4. Antonio Rukavina (29 December 2006). "SRBIN 100%". Kurir.

External links

• Villarreal official profile (Spanish)
• Antonio Rukavina profile at BDFutbol
• Antonio Rukavina profile at Soccerway
• Antonio Rukavina at National-Football-Teams.com
• Antonio Rukavina – FIFA competition record
• Antonio Rukavina at reprezentacija.rs (Serbian)
• Antonio Rukavina profile at Fussballdaten