Saša Ćurčić

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Saša Ćurčić
Personal information
Date of birth (1972-02-14) 14 February 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth
SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
25. maj Kovilovo
Pionir Besni Fok
Trudbenik
OFK Beograd
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1993 OFK Beograd 59 (5)
1993–1995 Partizan 74 (14)
1995–1996 Bolton Wanderers 28 (4)
1996–1998 Aston Villa 29 (0)
1998–1999 Crystal Palace 23 (5)
1999
MetroStars
 9 (2)
2000 Motherwell 5 (0)
Total 227 (30)
International career
1991 SFR Yugoslavia 1 (0)
1995–1998 FR Yugoslavia 13 (1)
Managerial career
2021–2022 Borac Lazarevac
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Saša Ćurčić (Serbian Cyrillic: Саша Ћурчић; born 14 February 1972) is a Serbian former professional footballer, coach and reality television personality.

As a player, he was a

The Farm as well as Parovi
.

Early life

Growing up on the banks of Danube in the Belgrade suburb of Besni Fok, Ćurčić was a lively kid who took to football very early. His involvement with the sport came at the expense of everything else, including school as he only completed primary education. After playing youth football with several local area clubs, he caught the attention of OFK Beograd, a more established club that included Ćurčić in their youth system. In a 1991 interview for Tempo, Ćurčić (then with OFK Beograd) admitted to have been a Red Star Belgrade fan since adolescence[1] — however, later on after transferring to FK Partizan, he repeatedly stated to have always been a FK Partizan supporter.[2]

Club career

OFK Beograd

Nineteen-year-old Ćurčić cracked OFK Beograd's first team towards the end of the

SFR Yugoslavia). Against the backdrop of a country falling apart, Ćurčić became first team regular, playing 24 league matches and scoring two goals. His talent and exuberance turned some heads, including the national team head coach Ivica Osim
who gave Ćurčić his international debut on 30 October 1991 in an away friendly versus Brazil. He continued improving during the
FR Yugoslavia) with 3 goals from 32 league appearances, earning himself a big time summer 1993 move to Yugoslav champions FK Partizan
.

Partizan

Coached by Ljubiša Tumbaković, Partizan was in a transitional phase despite coming off the title winning campaign. With team leader Predrag Mijatović leaving for Valencia CF and other important players like Vujadin Stanojković and Zlatko Zahovič departing as well, it was up to the new arrivals to carry the torch. For his part, Ćurčić responded with a fine overall season (seven goals from 33 league matches), contributing greatly to another Partizan league title with key assists and buildup play. The following season (1994–95) brought more steady play from Ćurčić (five goals from 31 league matches) as the offers from abroad started coming in for his services.

He began the 1995–96 season at Partizan (his third with the club), but in October 1995 after 10 league matches (two goals),

£1.5 million transfer bid (Bolton's record fee at the time) and he was on his way to England signed by the managerial team of Colin Todd and Roy McFarland
.

Bolton Wanderers

Making his Bolton debut at the club's Burnden Park stadium on 31 October 1995 versus Arsenal in the Premiership, Ćurčić quickly settled into the new surroundings. Only nine days later he scored his first goal in English football during League Cup third round replay away at Leicester City. The same month he opened his scoring account in the Premier League with a great individual effort versus Chelsea to put Bolton ahead at Stamford Bridge though the visitors still lost 3–2 in the end.[3]

Entering the

FA Cup third round win away at Bradford City on 6 January 1996, where Ćurčić scored two goals, the opposition's manager Chris Kamara called Ćurčić – "a Serbian George Best".[5]

In addition to playing at a high level, Ćurčić also established himself as a fan favourite, all of which made his departure from the club all the more emotional. Not too keen on playing football in the second-tier

£
4 million.

Aston Villa

Joining former Partizan teammate

FA Cup third round replay win versus Notts County during late January (and scoring his first and what turned out to be only Villa goal in the next round against Derby County),[7] Ćurčić was placed on the transfer list in late February.[6]

His second season at the club turned out to be even worse. Villa manager Brian Little and Ćurčić never saw eye to eye, but by the time the

£1 million. On leaving Villa, Ćurčić still had some words for his former manager:

The way Brian Little played me was very strange. I could never understand it. He knew I was better in a free role. He should have played me like a McManaman or a Cantona. I was never given a chance to show what I could do – and that will always baffle me.[9]

In the end, Ćurčić's time at Villa is more remembered for his wild lifestyle and eccentric behaviour than anything football related. The trappings of sudden prominence and fortune didn't pass him by and in later interviews he admitted to drug use and out of control partying during his Birmingham days.[1] One of the bigger oddities of his Villa period was his purchase of a double-decker bus, which he used to throw parties.

In July 2007, The Times came out with its list of 50 worst Premier League transfers of all time (period covering 1992–2007): Ćurčić's move from Bolton to Villa made the 16th spot.[10]

Crystal Palace

Ćurčić's arrival at Crystal Palace came toward the end of the 1997–98 Premiership season. Palace were struggling near the bottom of the table, without a win at Selhurst Park all season prior to his arrival. Ćurčić made an immediate impact, notably with a fine performance against Derby County in which Palace finally recorded a home win. His charisma and quality made him a favourite with the fans, but his application to Palace's fight against relegation at times was questionable. The club were relegated to the Football League amidst a doomed takeover by Mark Goldberg that eventually led to administration, but Ćurčić remained at the club.

During spring 1999, he famously paraded around the pitch with a placard stating, "Yugoslavia – STOP NATO BOMBING" to protest the ongoing

NATO bombing of FR Yugoslavia.[11]
By that time he appeared to have lost interest in football, being reduced to a handful of substitute appearances for Palace, before leaving as part of cost-cutting measures induced by Goldberg's ill-fated tenure as chairman coming to an insalubrious end.

Later career

During the summer of 1999, he joined

MetroStars. Ćurčić has been known to sport a shaved head and a fu manchu beard sans mustache. Upon his arrival to Major League Soccer in summer 1999, with the season already in progress, he declared his intention to become the "Dennis Rodman of MLS". Ćurčić's stint in the league, however, lasted only until the end of the season (nine matches in total). The team had a disastrous season, at one point losing seven matches in a row, and 13 out of 14.[12] Coached by compatriot Bora Milutinović, 27-year-old Ćurčić had some decent outings creating from midfield and even scoring two goals, but nothing could save the season that turned out to be the worst recorded by any club in MLS history.[citation needed
]

By January 2000, it was clear that Ćurčić, who had already returned to Europe looking for a club, would not be back for the second MLS season. The MetroStars team officially cited a desire to get a goalscorer and not keep a midfield playmaker like Ćurčić,[13] while unofficially reasons for his premature departure ranged from lack of performance to unspecified personal problems.[14]

On 16 March 2000, Ćurčić joined Motherwell. He only made five appearances for the club. In an interview on Sky Sports in April 2001, Ćurčić who had just turned 29 years of age stated that he had retired from football. [citation needed]

International career

Ćurčić's international football career that spanned seven years during the 1990s, started and ended with away friendlies versus

SFR Yugoslavia. He came on as the 46th minute substitute for Siniša Mihajlović
.

Coaching career

As of June 2018[update], Ćurčić ran a football academy in West London prior to a short period as a coach with the Palace for Life Foundation.[15]

In November 2021 Ćurčić became manager of Serbian League Belgrade club Borac Lazarevac but resigned in April 2022.[16]

Personal life

On 5 May 2007, Ćurčić entered the

Mobile Telephony of Serbia as well as on various talk and singing shows such as Oralno doba, Zvezde Granda, etc. On 2 August 2008, more than seven years after he stopped playing, Ćurčić played the first of his two testimonial matches. This, the first part of his official farewell to football, pitted Partizan 1994 team consisting of former FK Partizan players from the late 1980s and early 1990s such as Zoran Mirković, Predrag Spasić, Dragan Ćirić, Dejan Čurović, etc. against FK Pionir from Besni Fok, one of the teams where Ćurčić played youth football and also a team where he coached the youth squad. Ćurčić played one half for each of the teams. Partizan 1994 won 2–0. The match was played at a ground in Besni Fok.[17][18]

On 20 September 2009, Ćurčić started appearing on another reality contest – this time it was Farma, locally franchised version of the Swedish series

The Farm. He left the programme on his own initiative within weeks.[citation needed
]

It was rumoured that Ćurčić had been approached by the UK's

Celebrity Big Brother series in 2010, after having appeared and won the Serbian equivalent two years earlier,[19]
however nothing came of that.

Career statistics

[20]

Club Season League
Apps Goals
OFK Beograd 1990–91 3 0
1991–92 24 2
1992–93 32 3
Total 59 5
Partizan 1993–94 33 7
1994–95 31 5
1995–96 10 2
Total 74 14
Bolton Wanderers 1995–96 28 4
Aston Villa 1996–97 22 0
1997–98 7 0
Total 29 0
Crystal Palace 1997–98 8 1
1998–99 15 4
Total 23 5
MetroStars
 1999 9 2
Motherwell 1999–2000 5 0
Career total 227 30

References

  1. ^ Tempo (16 October 1991). "Navijam za Zvezdu od malih nogu." Issue #1338, pgs. 12–13" (in Serbo-Croatian).
  2. ^ TV Vijesti Podgorica (Official YouTube Channel) (25 June 2014). "Extra Lifestyle - Saša Čurčić". YouTube (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 11 July 2016.[dead YouTube link]
  3. ^ "Chelsea FC vs. Bolton Wanderers 3-2 (Saša Ćurčić's 0-1 goal in the 10th minute)". Sky Sports. 22 November 1995. Archived from the original on 14 April 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Chelsea FC vs. Bolton Wanderers 3-2 (Saša Ćurčić's 2-1 goal in the 44th minute)". Sky Sports. 8 April 1996. Archived from the original on 14 April 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  5. ^ Sasa Curcic, WSC
  6. ^ a b c 1997 Yearbook Archived 2 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Jones, Ken (25 January 1997). "Villa all in past for McGrath". The Independent. London. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  8. ^ Football: Curcic invigorates Villa, The Independent, 17 September 1997
  9. ^ That was the weekend that was: Curcic curse on 'baffling' Little, The Independent, March 16, 2008
  10. ^ Edgar, Bill (18 July 2007). "The 50 worst transfers". The Times. Archived from the original on 30 May 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  11. ^ Rebooted: Sasa Curcic, 'the Serbian George Best', protests against NATO bombing
  12. ^ SOCCER; MetroStars Lose 7th Straight Game, New York Times, 15 August 1999
  13. ^ SOCCER; Curcic on His Way Back to Europe, New York Times, 1 February 2000
  14. ^ Curcic is history, 27 January 2000
  15. ^ "Rebooted: Sasa Curcic, 'the Serbian George Best', protests against NATO bombing". theathletic.com. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  16. ^ KRAJ! ĐANI ĆURČIĆ TRAŽI NOVI POSAO! Klub se oglasio pred meč sa filijalom Partizana: Saši želimo sve najbolje
  17. ^ Đanijev oproštaj, prvi deo, B92, 3 August 2008.
  18. ^ Đani Ćurčić oproštaj, SOS kanal, youtube.com; accessed 1 March 2022.
  19. ^ "Steuern - Nachrichten - Austrian Times".
  20. Reprezentacija.rs
    (in Serbian)

External links

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