Vladimir Jugović (Serbian Cyrillic: Владимир Југовић, pronounced [ʋlǎdimiːr jûɡoʋitɕ]; born 30 August 1969) is a Serbian former professional footballer. A versatile player, he was usually employed as a left or attacking midfielder, but could play anywhere in midfield. He represented Yugoslavia at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and at UEFA Euro 2000, collecting 41 international appearances between 1991 and 2002, and scoring three goals.[2]

Vladimir Jugović
Personal information
Date of birth (1969-08-30) 30 August 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth Trstenik, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1992 Red Star Belgrade 62 (11)
1990Rad (loan) 16 (7)
1992–1995 Sampdoria 81 (18)
1995–1997 Juventus 56 (8)
1997–1998 Lazio 27 (2)
1998–1999 Atlético Madrid 17 (3)
1999–2001 Internazionale 38 (3)
2001–2003 Monaco 19 (0)
2003–2004 Admira Wacker 25 (3)
2004–2005 LR Ahlen 19 (2)
Total 360 (57)
International career
1991–2002 FR Yugoslavia[note 1] 41 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Born in Milutovac, a village near Trstenik, Jugović played throughout his career for numerous top European teams. He won the European Cup and Intercontinental Cup with Red Star in 1991 and won both competitions again with Juventus in 1996. He is regarded as one of the finest players that Serbia has ever produced and one of the best midfielders of his generation.

Club career

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Red Star Belgrade

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Jugović was scouted by Red Star at the age of 15 by former Red Star player Toma Milićević.[3] After making his debut for Red Star, he was loaned to FK Rad in the second half of the 1989–90 season. When Ljupko Petrović became coach of Red Star, Jugović was brought back to the starting eleven. In 1991, Jugović played in the 1991 European Cup Final, which Red Star won. Subsequently, he won the Intercontinental Cup as Red Star beat Colo-Colo 3–0, scoring the first two goals.[3][4] By the end of his career with Red Star, he was awarded the Star of Red Star and became one of the most celebrated footballers in Yugoslavia.

Sampdoria

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Sampdoria invited Jugović at the insistence of Vujadin Boškov, who was their coach until 1992.[4] He spent three successful seasons at Sampdoria,[5] during which he helped the team win the 1993–94 Coppa Italia. Notably, he scored a brace in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi-final first leg against Arsenal, but missed a penalty after overtime in the subsequent leg, after which Arsenal progressed.[6]

Juventus

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In 1995 Jugović was purchased from Sampdoria by Juventus, whose coach at the time was Marcello Lippi. In his first season, Juventus finished as runners-up in Serie A. In the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final, he came on as a substitute for Antonio Conte and scored the decisive penalty for Juventus against Ajax, following a 1–1 draw after extra-time. In a 2017 interview with Goal.com, he recalled that he felt calm before taking his penalty against Ajax keeper Edwin van der Sar.[7] After his role in their Champions League victory, Jugović played for Juventus for one more season, during which he featured in the 1996 Intercontinental Cup, which Juventus won 1–0 over River Plate.[4] That season, Juventus went on to win the 1996–97 Serie A title,[4] after which Jugović left for Lazio.[8] In total, he made 77 appearances for the Turin–based club, scoring 10 goals.[4]

Looking back at the trainings content and discipline under Marcello Lippi he noted: "The way we were training was a thing to watch and analyze. We didn't have time to rest and we would begin our first training in the day with a 40 minute work in the gym succeeded by running sessions, and that was only a warm up. In the afternoon we had a tactical training combined with a football playing and the third drill was around 20:00 p.m. containing mostly stretching. So, none of our success happened by an accident, we deserved everything and i do not like when someone oppugn our achievements. That was maybe a reason why we had such a big amount of injuries. I think that no club today train as hard as we did then."[9]

Later career

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In the summer of 1997, he joined Lazio spending only one season with the Roman club winning his second Coppa Italia (1997–98 Coppa Italia), beating Milan in the two-leg final, also the club reached the 1998 UEFA Cup Final, losing to Inter in the all Italian final.[8]

Jugović successively moved to Atlético Madrid for the 1998–99 season before joining Inter the following year, where he spent two seasons.[5] Jugović finished his career at LR Ahlen, after stints with AS Monaco FC and VfB Admira Wacker Mödling.[6]

International career

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Jugović made his debut for Yugoslavia's national team against Czechoslovakia in August 1991,[10] while it still consisted of players from the collapsing SFR Yugoslavia.[11] He was included to UEFA Euro 1992,[12] but the nation would be suspended due to the Yugoslav Wars.

For the national team, Jugović played primarily as a left winger until the Euro 2000, where coach Vujadin Boškov deployed him as a central midfielder. He did not miss a single match for Yugoslavia at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.[11] During the final 16 match against the Netherlands, Jugović was fouled by Jaap Stam, resulting in a penalty kick which Predrag Mijatović missed.[13]

Although Jugović missed Yugoslavia's Euro 2000 qualifying campaign due to injury, he was called up by coach Vujadin Boškov for the tournament.[11] He played as a central midfielder in the quarterfinal against the Netherlands, which Yugoslavia lost to by a score of 6–1.

Style of play

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A versatile, physically strong, and hard-working right-footed player, Jugović was usually employed as a left-sided or attacking midfielder, but could play anywhere in midfield, including in the centre, in a holding role, and on the right. Regarded as one of Serbia's greatest players, and as one of the best midfielders of his generation, he was mainly known for his tenacity, energy, generosity, intelligence, and tackling, but was also a talented player, with good technique, who could also exploit spaces by starting attacks with long balls or dictating play in midfield with his range of passing after winning back possession; he also possessed a good shot from any area of the pitch, and was known for his eye for goal.[3][4][6][8][11][14][15][16][17][18] He was also used as a second striker on occasion,[19] and even as a full-back.[20] Despite his ability, however, he often struggled with injuries throughout his career.[21] Beyond his footballing skills, he was also known for his leadership qualities.[5]

Career statistics

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Club

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Sources:[22]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Red Star Belgrade 1989–90 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Rad (loan) 1989–90 16 7 0 0 0 0 16 7
Red Star Belgrade 1990–91 32 7 8 0 9 0 49 7
1991–92 29 4 9 3 10 0 2[a] 2 50 9
Total 62 11 17 3 19 0 2 2 100 16
Sampdoria 1992–93 33 9 2 1 35 10
1993–94 27 6 6 0 33 6
1994–95 21 3 4 0 6 2 1[b] 0 32 5
Total 81 18 12 1 6 2 1 0 100 21
Juventus 1995–96 26 2 1 1 8 1 35 4
1996–97 30 6 3 0 7 0 2[a] 0 42 6
Total 56 8 4 1 15 1 2 0 77 10
Lazio 1997–98 27 2 9 3 6 1 42 6
Atlético Madrid 1998–99 17 3 2 0 8 2 27 5
Internazionale 1999–2000 17 2 4 0 1[c] 0 22 2
2000–01 21 1 0 0 6 0 1[b] 0 28 1
Total 38 3 4 0 6 0 2 0 50 3
Monaco 2001–02 19 0 3 0 3[d] 1 25 1
2002–03 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 19 0 3 0 3 1 25 1
Admira Wacker 2003–04 25 3 1 0 26 3
LR Ahlen 2004–05 19 2 2 0 21 2
Career total 360 57 54 8 60 6 10 3 484 74
  1. ^ a b One appearance in UEFA Super Cup, one appearance in Intercontinental Cup
  2. ^ a b Appearance in Supercoppa Italiana
  3. ^ Appearance in Champions League play-off
  4. ^ Appearances in Coupe de la Ligue

International

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Source:[23]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
SFR Yugoslavia 1991 3 1
1992 1 0
FR Yugoslavia 1993* 0 0
1994 2 0
1995 0 0
1996 7 1
1997 7 1
1998 11 0
1999 0 0
2000 8 0
2001 1 0
2002 1 0
Total 41 3
  • Note: Yugoslavia was banned from international football in 1993, since 1994 FR Yugoslavia became the successor of SFR Yugoslavia national team.

Honours

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Red Star Belgrade[5]

Sampdoria[5]

Juventus[5]

Lazio[5]

Monaco[5]

Individual

Notes

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  1. ^ Including 4 caps and 1 goal for SFR Yugoslavia.[1]

References

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  1. ^ Vladimir Jugović at Reprezentacija.rs (in Serbian)
  2. ^ "Yugoslavia (Serbia (and Montenegro)) - Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Platt, Oliver (1 December 2014). "How Prosinecki & Zidane's midfield partner Jugovic became one of Yugoslavia's last world champions". Goal.com. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Bedeschi, Stefano (5 September 2019). "Gli eroi in bianconero: Vladimir JUGOVIĆ" [The heroes in black and white: Vladimir JUGOVIĆ] (in Italian). Tutto Juve. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Ordine, Franco. "JUGOVIC, Vladimir" (in Italian). Treccani: Enciclopedia dello Sport (2002). Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Pogorzelski, Kevin (30 August 2019). "Jugovic at 50: The often forgotten Red Star great". forzaitalianfootball.com. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  7. ^ [1] Romeo Agresti. Goal.com: Jugovic: I entered into Juventus legend with Champions League winner (in English). 2 June 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  8. ^ a b c Di Gioia, Alessandro (20 January 2017). "Che fine ha fatto? Jugovic, dal rigore che valse la Champions al Raiola serbo" (in Italian). Calciomercato. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  9. ^ TOP 11 - Vladimir Jugović, archived from the original on 22 December 2021, retrieved 10 May 2021
  10. ^ "Vladimir Jugović, international football player". EU-football.info. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  11. ^ a b c d "Vladimir Jugovic". BBC Sport. 1 June 2000. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  12. ^ "Pancev también renuncia a la Eurocopa". Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 25 May 1992. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  13. ^ [2] Roger Cohen. The New York Times: WORLD CUP '98; Netherlands' Davids Comes in From Cold. (in English). 30 June 1998. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  14. ^ Wilson, Jonathan (14 December 2010). "Robert Prosinecki faces tough task to orchestrate Red Star revolution". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  15. ^ "Juventus-Lazio, gli idoli comuni alle due squadre" (in Italian). Eurosport. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  16. ^ "1991: STELLA ROSSA" (in Italian). storiedicalcio.altervista.org. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  17. ^ "Bologna 0–3 Inter" (in Italian). Inter.it. 4 February 2001. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  18. ^ "Jugovic, alla Lazio una stagione per farsi amare". corrieredellosport.it (in Italian). 20 February 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  19. ^ Cerruti, Alberto; Curino, Luca; Elefante, Andrea; Garlando, Luigi (22 November 1999). "Inter, l' abbuffata dopo il digiuno". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  20. ^ Palombo, Ruggiero; Piccioni, Valerio; Nicita, Maurizio; Imparato, Gaetano (2 November 1997). "una Lazio da dieci e lode". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  21. ^ "Vladimir Jugovic". ESPN FC. 13 July 2000. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  22. ^ Vladimir Jugović at WorldFootball.net
  23. ^ Vladimir Jugović at National-Football-Teams.com
  24. ^ de Arruda, Marcelo Leme (29 December 2016). "Toyota Cup - Most Valuable Player of the Match Award". RSSSF. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
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