Miljan Mrdaković

Miljan Mrdaković (Serbian Cyrillic: Миљан Мрдаковић, pronounced [mǐʎan mr̩dǎːkoʋitɕ]; 6 May 1982 – 22 May 2020) was a Serbian professional footballer who played as a striker.

Miljan Mrdaković

Personal information
Full name	Miljan Mrdaković[1]
Date of birth	(1982-05-06)6 May 1982[1]
Place of birth	Niš, SFR Yugoslavia[1]
Date of death	22 May 2020(2020-05-22) (aged 38)
Place of death	Belgrade, Serbia
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1993–1995	Radnički Niš
1995–1998	Partizan
1998–2001	Anderlecht
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2002	Anderlecht	0	(0)
2002	→ Eendracht Aalst (loan)	3	(0)
2002–2003	OFK Beograd	32	(20)
2003–2004	Gent	22	(4)
2004	OFK Beograd	10	(1)
2005	Austria Salzburg	10	(3)
2005–2006	Metalist Kharkiv	27	(7)
2006–2007	Maccabi Tel Aviv	29	(7)
2007–2008	Vitória Guimarães	27	(6)
2008–2009	Shandong Luneng Taishan	18	(8)
2009–2011	Apollon Limassol	31	(21)
2010	→ Ethnikos Achna (loan)	14	(8)
2011–2012	AEK Larnaca	18	(7)
2012	Jiangsu Sainty	5	(1)
2013	Enosis Neon Paralimni	15	(7)
2013–2014	Veria	13	(5)
2014	Tampines Rovers	25	(11)
2015	Levadiakos	3	(0)
2015	Vojvodina	6	(0)
2016	Agrotikos Asteras	5	(1)
2016	Rad	0	(0)
2017	OFK Beograd	5	(2)
Total		318	(119)
International career
1999–2001	FR Yugoslavia U18	8	(0)
2002	FR Yugoslavia U21	1	(0)
2008	Serbia Olympic (O.P.)	3	(1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

A journeyman, he played for 20 clubs across ten countries and scored 150 goals in all competitions. He also represented Serbia at the 2008 Olympics.

Club career

Mrdaković was born in Niš, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After starting out at Radnički Niš and Partizan he moved to Belgian club Anderlecht at the age of 16, playing for their youth and reserve teams^[2] before going on loan to fellow Belgian Pro League side Eendracht Aalst in early 2002.

Subsequently, Mrdaković returned to his homeland and signed for OFK Beograd on a free transfer. He was his team's top scorer in the 2002–03 season and third overall with 20 league goals, and in August 2003 transferred back to Belgium by joining Gent on a four-year contract.^[3] He left by mutual agreement in April 2004, then spent a further one and a half years with OFK.^[4]

In early 2005, Mrdaković signed with Austria Salzburg. Six months later, he left for Metalist Kharkiv of the Ukrainian Premier League and, in August 2006, was acquired by Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv.^[5] During his spell at the latter, he scored eight times in all competitions.^[6]

After spending the 2007–08 campaign in the Portuguese Primeira Liga with Vitória de Guimarães,^[7] Mrdaković plied his trade in the Chinese Super League with Shandong Luneng Taishan. In July 2009, he agreed to a two-year deal at Apollon Limassol.^[8] He failed to make an immediate impact, being loaned to fellow Cypriot First Division club Ethnikos Achna the following transfer window.

Mrdaković returned to the Tsirio Stadium for 2010–11, netting a career-best 21 goals to lead all players.^[9] In June 2011, he signed with AEK Larnaca on a three-year contract.^[10] He scored seven times in the league during his tenure,^[11] leaving in February 2012.^[12]

In early 2012, Mrdaković rejoined the Chinese top flight with Jiangsu Sainty.^[13] He returned to Cyprus shortly after, joining Enosis Neon Paralimni.^[14]

After a few months in the Super League Greece with Veria, Mrdaković moved to Tampines Rovers of Singapore in January 2014 as their marquee player.^[15] He scored 25 goals overall,^[16] helping his team to win two cup titles (Charity Shield in February and League Cup in July).

In February 2015, Mrdaković returned to Greece and signed with Levadiakos.^[17] He joined Vojvodina on a one-year deal in June,^[18] scoring twice in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Europa League as the side progressed to the play-off round.^[19][20]

Mrdaković returned to OFK Beograd on 19 January 2017, stating his intention to retire at the club.^[21]

International career

Mrdaković represented FR Yugoslavia at the 2001 UEFA European Under-18 Championship. He was also capped for the national under-21 team, but saw little action due to a conflict with Vladimir Petrović.^[22][23]

In July 2008, Mrdaković was called up by Miroslav Đukić to the Serbia squad for the 2008 Summer Olympics; he was one of the three overage players alongside Aleksandar Živković and Vladimir Stojković.^[24] He appeared in all three group stage matches, scoring in the 4–2 loss against Ivory Coast.^[25]

Mrdaković received his first call-up to a full Serbia squad in May 2011, when Petrović selected him for two friendlies in Asia and Oceania.^[26] However, he missed the mini tour due to an injury picked up in a training session.^[27]

Death

Mrdaković died by suicide in the Zvezdara municipality of Belgrade on 22 May 2020, aged 38.^[28]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^{[29][30][31][32]}

Club	Season	League		National cup		League cup		Continental		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Anderlecht	2001–02	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0
Eendracht Aalst (loan)	2001–02	3	0	0	0	—		—		3	0
OFK Beograd	2002–03	32	20	0	0	—		—		32	20
	2003–04	0	0	0	0	—		2[a]	0	2	0
	Total	32	20	0	0	—		2	0	34	20
Gent	2003–04	22	4	2	1	—		—		24	5
OFK Beograd	2003–04	4	0	0	0	—		0	0	4	0
	2004–05	6	1	0	0	—		3[a]	1	9	2
	Total	10	1	0	0	—		3	1	13	2
Austria Salzburg	2004–05	10	3	0	0	—		—		10	3
Metalist Kharkiv	2005–06	25	7	1	0	—		—		26	7
	2006–07	2	0	0	0	—		—		2	0
	Total	27	7	1	0	—		—		28	7
Maccabi Tel Aviv	2006–07	29	7	1	0	6	1	—		36	8
Vitória Guimarães	2007–08	27	6	3	0	2	1	—		32	7
Shandong Luneng Taishan	2008	17	8	—		—		—		17	8
	2009	1	0	—		—		2[b]	2	3	2
	Total	18	8	—		—		2	2	20	10
Apollon Limassol	2009–10	1	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
Ethnikos Achna (loan)	2009–10	14	8	0	0	—		—		14	8
Apollon Limassol	2010–11	30	21	5	3	—		1[c]	0	36	24
	Total	31	21	5	3	—		1	0	37	24
AEK Larnaca	2011–12	18	7	2	1	—		10[c]	3	30	11
Jiangsu Sainty	2012	5	1	0	0	—		—		5	1
Enosis Neon	2012–13	15	7	3	1	—		—		18	8
Veria	2013–14	13	5	1	1	—		—		14	6
Tampines Rovers	2014	25	11	5	4	4	6	5[d]	4	39	25
Levadiakos	2014–15	3	0	0	0	—		—		3	0
Vojvodina	2015–16	6	0	0	0	—		3[c]	2	9	2
Agrotikos Asteras	2015–16	5	1	0	0	—		—		5	1
Rad	2016–17	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
OFK Beograd	2016–17	5	2	0	0	—		—		5	2
Career total		318	119	23	11	12	8	26	12	379	150

1. Appearances in UEFA Intertoto Cup
2. Appearances in AFC Champions League
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. One appearance and one goal in AFC Champions League, four appearances and three goals in AFC Cup

Honours

Shandong Luneng Taishan

• Chinese Super League: 2008

Tampines Rovers

• Singapore League Cup: 2014
• Singapore Charity Shield: 2014

Individual

• Cypriot First Division top scorer: 2010–11^[9]