Ilija Spasojević

Ilija Spasojević

Spasojević after winning Georgian League with Dinamo
Personal information
Full name Ilija Spasojević
Date of birth (1987-09-11) 11 September 1987
Place of birth Bar, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Forward
Club information
Current team
 Melaka United
Number 9
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2005 Vojvodina 1 (0)
2005–2006 Sutjeska Nikšić 17 (7)
2006–2007 ČSK Pivara 18 (9)
2007–2009 Dinamo Tbilisi 61 (30)
2009 Borac Čačak 7 (0)
2010 Liepājas Metalurgs 11 (6)
2010 Trikala 13 (0)
2011 Bali Devata 14 (10)
2011–2013 PSM Makassar 29 (19)
2013 Mitra Kukar 16 (10)
2014 Putra Samarinda 23 (12)
2015 Persib Bandung 8 (4)
2016– Melaka United 23 (27)
National team‡
2002–2004 FR Yugoslavia U17 11 (6)
2004–2006 FR Yugoslavia U19 13 (4)
2006–2007 Montenegro U-21 7 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 September 2016.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of July 13, 2016

Ilija Spasojević (born 11 September 1987 in Bar)[1] is a Montenegrin footballer who is a captain of Melaka United.

Spasojević played for Yugoslavia U17, Yugoslavia U19, and Serbia-Montenegro U21 national teams. Spasojević is known for his goal scoring ability.

During his senior career, he scored 123 goals in 231 official matches and earned himself a nickname "Spasogoal".[2]

Club career

Early career

Spasojević started his senior career in 2004 at the age of 17 playing for Vojvodina in Serbian SuperLiga, alongside former Juventus winger Miloš Krasić. In July 2005 he moved to the Montenegrin club Sutjeska Nikšić, where he scored 7 goals in 17 matches. In July 2006 Spasojević decided to return to Serbian football, this time to ČSK Pivara, where he scored 9 goals in 18 matches.

Dinamo Tbilisi

In January 2007, Spasojević signed for former UEFA Cup Winners' Cup winner Dinamo Tbilisi from Georgia. While he was playing for Dinamo Tbilisi he scored 30 goals in 61 matches in the Georgian League and the Georgian Cup.[3] He became the first foreign topscorer in the history of Dinamo Tbilisi. During his stay in Dinamo Tbilisi, Spasojević won the Georgian League, Georgian Cup and Georgian Super Cup, and made his debut in the UEFA Champions League on 30 July 2008 against Panathinaikos FC.

Borac Čačak

In July 2009, Spasojević was close to sign a contract with Bundesliga club Arminia Bielefeld,[4] but the transfer failed due to financial disagreement. Red Star Belgrade also showed interest in signing him,[5] but on 31 August 2009 he finally joined Borac Čačak in the Serbian SuperLiga.

Liepājas Metalurgs

On 30 March 2010, Latvian champions Liepājas Metalurgs signed Spasojević. In Latvia he scored 6 goals in 11 matches played in the Latvian League and the Latvian Football Cup.

Trikala

On 10 September 2010, only two days before the beginning of the Greek Football League, Spasojević joined Trikala. As he arrived late in Trikala, he was used as a substitute in the first games, and he only collected 203 minutes on the field in the first 13 matches. At the same time, Spasojević received an offer from the Indonesian club Bali Devata. Spasojević accepted the offer and moved to Indonesia.

Bali Devata

On 1 January 2011, Spasojević arrived in Indonesia and signed a contract with Bali Devata, where he soon became a key player by scoring 8 goals in the first half-season of 2011 Liga Primer Indonesia. He also scored two goals in a friendly match played on 23 August 2011 in Surabaya against Indonesia U-23, although Bali Devata was defeated 2:4 in that match.[6]

PSM Makassar

Spasojević playing for PSM Makassar

On 1 October 2011, Spasojević signed a contract with PSM Makassar in the Indonesian Premier League. On 23 January 2012, it was reported that the Italian Serie B club Brescia Calcio wanted to sign him,[7] but PSM Makassar refused the offer a few days later.[8] His first 2011-12 season with PSM Makassar he finished as club topscorer by scoring 14 goals,[9] 10 goals in the Indonesian Premier League and 4 goals in the Indonesian Cup.[10] He was also selected by Goal.com in the best team of 2011-12 season in Indonesia.[11] As a reward for the great season, Spasojević was invited by the Indonesian Football Association to play alongside Barcelona football star Cesc Fàbregas in an exhibition game between Indonesian national team and "Fabregas and friends".[12] The game took place in Jakarta on 5 July 2012 and ended in a draw (1:1). Spasojević scored the only goal[13] for "Fabregas and friends" after an assist from Cesc Fàbregas. During his time in PSM Makassar, Spasojević scored 19 goals in 29 matches.

Mitra Kukar

On 15 May 2013, Spasojević joined the Indonesian Super League club Mitra Kukar shortly after that club failed to sign Andriy Shevchenko. As Goal.com reported,[14] Mitra Kukar offered $100,000 per match to the Ukrainian superstar but he refused the offer. The next choice was Spasojević, who signed the contract until the end of the 2013 season. Spasojević scored 10 goals in 16 matches, becoming one of the most prolific strikers in the Indonesian Super League by scoring a goal every 119 minutes on average.[1] With his important goals in the finish of the 2013 season he led Mitra Kukar to achieve the biggest success in the club's history, third place in the Indonesian Super League.

Putra Samarinda

In January 2014, Spasojević signed for Putra Samarinda in the Indonesian Super League. In his 20 matches with Putra Samarinda in the 2014 season he scored 10 goals, becoming the club's top scorer and the third top scorer of the Indonesia Super League. He also scored 2 goals in 3 matches in the 2014 Inter Island Cup.

Persib Bandung

Spasojević playing for Persib Bandung

After his good performance in the 2014 season, Spasojević was one of the most wanted[15] players during the transfer window for the 2015 season. City rivals from Bandung showed most interest in signing him, as both Persipasi Bandung Raya (PBR) coach Dejan Antonić and Persib Bandung coach Djadjang Nurdjaman admitted to media[16] that Spasojević was their main target for the foreign striker spot. After long negotiations with both teams, Spasojević finally joined PBR[17] on December 1, 2014, becoming the most expensive player[18] in the 2015 Indonesia Super League. Before he played any official match for the new club, Spasojević left PBR due to the club's internal problems and eventually joined Indonesian champions Persib Bandung[19] on March 23, 2015. He was named "man of the match"[20] in his league debut against Semen Padang on 4 April 2015, with his header assisting in a 1:0 victory. Spasojević played only two league matches for Persib Bandung in 2015 as the 2015 Indonesia Super League was officially discontinued by the Football Association of Indonesia on May 2, 2015 due to a ban by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs. In August 2015, the Indonesian government appointed president of Inter Milan and owner of Mahaka Group Erick Thohir to organize the highest level soccer competition in the country, named the President Cup, which started on 30 August in Bali and ended on 18 October 2015 in Jakarta, where the final was held.

During the President Cup, Spasojević showed his top performance and played a key role in Persib Bandung winning another trophy. During the 6 matches he played, he managed to score 4 goals[1] and add 1 assist, collecting 462 minutes on the pitch. He was named "man of the match" twice during the President Cup, on 3 September in a 4:0 win over Persiba Balikpapan[21] when he scored 2 early goals, and on 10 October in a 3:1 win over Mitra Kukar[22] in the semifinal secong leg, when he scored a crucial third goal which secured Persib Bandung a place in the final. Spasojević was also named as the best striker[23] in the President Cup by Labbola, leading Indonesian company for Football Statistics Data & Analysis.

Melaka United

In December 2015 Spasojević signed 2-years contract for 2015 Malaysia FAM League winner Melaka United from Malaysia and he will be playing in the 2016 Malaysia Premier League. Spasojević replacement as club captain ahead of the 2016 season. Spasojević made his debut in the Malaysia Premier League in a 2–2 away draw over Sime Darby on 12 February 2016. Spasojević scored his first goal for Melaka United against Kuantan on 8 April 2016. Spasojević scored his first hat-trick for Melaka United in a 6–0 win against ATM on 17 May 2016, bringing Melaka up to the top of the Malaysia Premier League table and qualified for the Malaysia Cup.[24] Spasojević scored once again his hat-trick for Melaka United in a 3–1 win against ATM on 21 May 2016. He added his hat-trick of hat-tricks tally after scoring 3 goals against UiTM F.C. on 5 August 2016. Spasojević won the Premier League and promoted to 2017 Malaysia Super League after a 1–1 draw with Johor Darul Ta'zim II on 9 September 2016.

International career

Ilija Spasojević was a member of Yugoslavia U17, Yugoslavia U19 and Serbia-Montenegro U21. In 2006, Montenegrins voted on an independence referendum and Serbia and Montenegro became independent countries. Spasojević, being Montenegrin, decided to play for the Montenegro U21 national team.

Honours

Club

Dinamo Tbilisi
Persib Bandung
Melaka United

Individual

Personal life

Ilija Spasojević is married to an Indonesian wife and lives in Indonesia. His son Dragan was born on 28 November 2014. Spasojević fluently speaks English, Spanish, Indonesian, Russian, Georgian and Bahasa Malaysia.

References

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Mohamad Faiz Suhaimi		 Melaka United captain
2016 – present 		Incumbent
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