Nikola Žigić
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| Nikola Žigić | ||
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nikola Žigić | |
| Date of birth | September 25, 1980 | |
| Place of birth | Bačka Topola, SFR Yugoslavia | |
| Height | 2.02 m (6 ft 71⁄2 in) | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Valencia | |
| Number | 18 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1998–2002 2002 2002–2003 2002–2003 2003–2006 2006–2007 2007– |
AIK Bačka Topola Mornar Bar Kolubara Lazarevac Spartak Subotica Red Star Belgrade Racing Santander Valencia |
76 (68) 23 (15) 26 (10) 11 (14) 110 (71) 32 (11) 14 (1) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2004– | Serbia | 29 (11) |
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1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Nikola Žigić (Serbian: Никола Жигић, born 25 September 1980 in Bačka Topola, Vojvodina, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a football player who currently plays for Valencia CF. A striker, he has been voted Serbia's Player of the Year three times (in 2003, 2005 and 2006). As of April 2007, he has twenty caps for the Serbia national football team, and eight goals. He is 202 cm (6 ft 7 ½ in) tall and he is one of the tallest footballers in the world playing for a top flight football club.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Red Star Belgrade
Following his fine national team outings, Žigić continued to shine for his club Red Star Belgrade. His world class goal from 30 meters against AS Roma in 2005-06 UEFA Cup action delighted home fans and further raised his asking price on the transfer market. During his years at Red Star Belgrade, he played 110 matches and scored 71 goals in all competitions (national cup, championship and European competitions). Over the coming months, Žigić was linked to Premier League sides Portsmouth, Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United, for a fee speculated to be €11.5 million. He was also linked with Arsenal, but Red Star Belgrade's president Dragan Stojković, rejected all offers from English Premiership sides downright, postponing all further negotiations until after the World Cup 2006 in Germany.
[edit] Racing Santander
On 29 August 2006, Žigić signed a four year contract with the Spanish side Racing de Santander. On 1 April 2007, Žigić scored his first hat trick in La Liga in a 5-4 win over Athletic Bilbao.[1] While at Racing, he formed a formidable duo with diminutive veteran striker Pedro Munitis. In one season at Racing, he totaled 13 goals, which lead the team, and caught the attention of Tottenham Hotspur, as well as Fenerbahçe, Barcelona and Juventus, who have shown great interest in Žigić by trying to sign him. While at Red Star, he was a target of numerous clubs around the world, and with Racing, it proved to be the same situation.
[edit] Valencia
On 8 August 2007, Sky Sports understood that Valencia CF had offered Racing 15 million euros along with handing the striker a lucrative five-year contract. Numerous other clubs, such as Fenerbahçe, Werder Bremen and Manchester City attempted to sign the tall striker, but Valencia came away with the Serb. Valencia announced on their official website on 9 August 2007 that they had, in fact, signed him. The transfer fee was tagged at 20 million euros. After passing a physical the next day, he was introduced at Estadio Mestalla.[2] Žigić's first goal for the club was in a Copa Del Rey match against Real Union. Žigić scored twice to turn the match around and Valencia then went on to win 2-1. His first league goal came against Zaragoza, where he scored a header following a cross from the left. Valencia then managed to come back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 thanks to goals from Žigić and David Silva. It was made clear in January that he turned down the opportunity to join English side Portsmouth on loan for the remainder of the season.[3]
[edit] International career
[edit] 2006 World Cup
Although he attracted much attention for his fine performances with Red Star in the Serbo-Montenegrin league, Žigić really started turning heads after he nailed down a regular place in the Serbia & Montenegro national team in mid-2005. He scored a couple of goals in some friendlies, but it was his appearance in a crucial qualifier against Spain in Madrid that got the people talking. After an atrocious first half on Vicente Calderón stadium during which Serbia-Montenegro rarely crossed the centre line and was extremely lucky to be only 1–0 down, coach Ilija Petković threw Žigić into the mix. His towering presence up front changed the flow of the match instantly. Žigić played a key role in Serbia's tying goal, and later set up Mateja Kežman perfectly for another, only to see his strike partner arrive a tad late, clipping the ball wide of Iker Casillas' gaping half-empty net. However, Serbia got the key away point and confirmed their World Cup qualification at home in Belgrade versus Bosnia-Herzegovina with Žigić again nicely setting up Kežman for the game's only goal. Žigić's only start of the 2006 FIFA World Cup came in Serbia-Montenegro's final Group C match, when the team was already eliminated. He scored an early goal in the 10th minute of the first half off a long ball from Dejan Stankovic against Côte d'Ivoire. On 24 March 2007, Žigić got a red card during the Euro 2008 qualifications against Kazakhstan, seconds before the end of the game. This caused him to miss the game in Belgrade against Portugal. He also didn't play in the away game against Finland (June 2, 2007), because he had to have surgery on a facial injury he received on 27 May 2007.[4] Until now, he scored 7 goals in the qualifiers.
[edit] Euro 2008
[edit] Honours
[edit] 
Valencia
[edit] References and notes
[edit] External links
- players profile
- Nikola Žigić's profile on Serbian national football team page (English) (Serbian)
- Nikola Žigić's profile from ValenciaCF.es (Spanish)
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