Aleksandar Kolarov

Aleksandar Kolarov

Kolarov with Manchester City in 2012
Personal information
Full name Aleksandar Kolarov[1]
Date of birth (1985-11-10) 10 November 1985
Place of birth Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)[2]
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
 Manchester City
Number 11
Youth career
1999–2004 Red Star Belgrade
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2006 Čukarički 44 (2)
2006–2007 OFK Beograd 38 (5)
2007–2010 Lazio 82 (6)
2010– Manchester City 149 (10)
National team‡
2006–2007 Serbia U21 11 (1)
2008– Serbia 66 (8)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 December 2016.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 9 October 2016

Aleksandar Kolarov (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Коларов; Serbian pronunciation: [alɛksǎːndar kɔlǎrɔʋ]; born 10 November 1985) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays for English club Manchester City and the Serbia national team. Although primarily a left-back, Kolarov can also operate as a centre-back and anywhere along the left flank and is known for his overlapping runs on the wing and his ball-striking ability.[3][4] He was named Serbian Player of the Year in 2011.

Kolarov began his career at Red Star Belgrade, but he did not break through and moved onto Čukarički in 2004. Two years later, he joined OFK Beograd before moving abroad for the first time by signing for Lazio in the Italian Serie A, where he won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana in 2009. In 2010, he joined Manchester City, with which he has won two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup.

Kolarov made his senior international debut for Serbia in 2008 and has since earned over 50 caps. Kolarov was a member of Serbia's squads for the 2008 Olympics and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Kolarov's football career started in the Red Star Belgrade youth system. He spent five years in the club, but never made the first team.

Čukarički

In January 2004, 18-year-old Kolarov moved across Belgrade to Čukarički, which played in the top-tier Serbia-Montenegro League. Signing a three-year contract, he finished the 2003–04 season in the club's youth setup and during the summer of 2004 was introduced to the first-team squad. Making 27 league appearances in his debut season, the youngster left a good impression but could not help the beleaguered team avoid relegation.

Kolarov started the 2005–06 campaign for Čukarički in the second-tier league competition, but during the winter break controversially transferred to top-tier league club OFK Beograd.

OFK Beograd

Kolarov joined OFK Beograd in February 2006 and finished out the season with them, scoring his first league goal.

Lazio

In the summer of 2007, OFK Beograd sold Kolarov to Italian side Lazio (the third placed team in previous season's Serie A standings) for a €925,000 transfer fee.[5]

Kolarov's first goal for Lazio came at the Stadio Oreste Granillo in Reggio Calabria on 30 September 2007, as he hit a rocket from 38 metres to secure a draw against lowly Reggina.[6] During his first season in Rome, the 21-year-old Serb also participated in the UEFA Champions League for the first time, making his debut on 24 October 2007 away at Werder Bremen.

In his second season in Italy, Kolarov established himself as Lazio's first choice at left back, scoring a spectacular goal against Lecce at the Stadio Via del Mare.[7] It got even better for the Serbian in the second Derby della Capitale of the season, against city rivals Roma. With Lazio 3–2 up, Kolarov received the ball in defence from goalkeeper Fernando Muslera and proceeded to run the length of the pitch virtually unopposed. Having run 85 metres, Kolarov then slotted the ball past a hepless Doni in the Roma goal. On 13 May 2009, Kolarov played in the 2009 Coppa Italia Final against Sampdoria. The match finished 1–1 after extra time, and Kolarov scored one of Lazio's penalties in the resultant penalty shoot-out, helping Lazio win the trophy and capping a great season for the Serbian.[8]

Lazio and 2008–09 Serie A champions Inter Milan travelled to Beijing in August 2009 to play the 2009 Supercoppa Italiana. Kolarov picked up his second winner's medal, with Lazio defeating Inter 2–1.[9] As the 2009–10 season drew to an end, Kolarov was instantly linked with a move away from Lazio, with Manchester City and Real Madrid supposedly interested.

Manchester City

On 24 July 2010, it was announced that Kolarov had signed for Manchester City[10] for a £16 million transfer fee.[11] On 17 August, Kolarov made his Premier League debut in the 0–0 draw against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.[12] On 18 January 2011, Kolarov scored his first goal for the club in a 4–2 victory over Leicester City in the FA Cup, while on 2 February 2011, Kolarov recorded his first Premier League goal from a free kick in a 2–2 draw against Birmingham City. He played the full 90 minutes as City won the 2011 FA Cup final.[13]

Kolarov (furthest back) defending against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC in July 2011

The summer 2011 arrival of Gaël Clichy to the club marginalized Kolarov's role in the squad and he saw his first team opportunities greatly reduced. On 14 September 2011, he scored an equaliser for City in the 1–1 draw against Napoli in their first 2011–12 Champions League group stage match.[14] On 1 October 2011, he started and played the full 90 minutes in the left-back slot against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park in a 0–4 away victory in the Premier League. On 31 March 2012, he added another with a long-range swing which earned City a point against Sunderland at home, after coming back from 3–1 down.[15] He ended that season with 12 league appearances, enough for a medal, as Manchester City won the 2011–12 Premier League title in dramatic circumstances on the last day of the season.[16][17] On 18 September 2012, he scored a free kick in a 3–2 Champions League defeat at Real Madrid.[18] He went on to score in the League Cup loss to Aston Villa, while in their match against Sunderland, he scored another free-kick just five minutes into the match.

Kolarov scored from the penalty spot in City's 3–2 comeback victory over Bayern Munich in the final match of their Champions League group stage on 10 December 2013, securing his side a spot in the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time in club history.[19] He scored his only goal of the 2013–14 Premier League season on 1 January 2014, netting past goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel as City defeated Swansea City by a score of 3–2.[20] On 11 May, he won his second Premier League trophy with Manchester City after making 30 appearances in the league, and 44 in all competitions.[17] On 12 June 2014, Kolarov signed a new three-year deal with City, keeping him at the club until 2018. He also changed his squad number from 13 to 11 [21]

International career

Kolarov was a part of the successful Serbia under-21 side which reached the final of the 2007 U-21 Championships held in the Netherlands. As a key member of that side, Kolarov was named in the UEFA Team of the tournament. In the semi-final clash with Belgium, he scored a free-kick from long range.

He also represented Serbia at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and played a major role in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers and friendlies. Kolarov was eventually rewarded for an impressive 2011 with the Serbian Footballer of the Year award.[22]

On 11 September 2012, Kolarov scored his first goal for Serbia during a 6–1 win against Wales in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.[23] On 7 June 2013, he scored from a free kick against Belgium in a 2014 World Cup qualifier. On 7 September 2014, he scored the equalizer in a 1–1 draw with France.[24]

Outside football

Transfer controversy

Kolarov's switch from Čukarički to OFK Beograd in February 2006, during the 2005–06 season winter break, was highly controversial. Under contract with Čukarički at the time, Kolarov filed a request to be released dated 31 January 2006 on the grounds of "contract expiry" despite the contract being valid until January 2007. Soon after handing in his request, Kolarov publicly stated his desire to join OFK. Seeing that they had a disgruntled player on their hands, Čukarički set a €300,000 transfer fee for Kolarov due to the fact he still had one more year left on his contract with the club. OFK, for their part, simply ignored this fact and simply signed Kolarov without paying a fee. Over the coming years, Čukarički took the case in front of Football Association of Serbia (FSS), where all of their official complaints were rejected.

A year-and-a-half later, during the summer of 2007, when Kolarov was sold by OFK to Lazio for €800,000, Čukarički club president Aleksandar Mihajlović went public with an accusation that Kolarov "was stolen from Čukarički by OFK Beograd". For that, he was punished by the FSS on the verbal offence grounds and given a year-long ban on performing any functions in Serbian football.

The entire Kolarov case was featured in early 2008 on B92 television's investigative journalism programme Insajder which focused on criminal activities in Serbian football. The programme claims that Kolarov's case was part of a wide initiative by FSS president Zvezdan Terzić (formerly the president of OFK) who made sure young promising players signed for OFK and then raise their transfer price by making sure they get playing time in the under-21 national team.[25]

Christmas videos

In December 2012, Kolarov appeared in a Christmas video uploaded to Manchester City's website, reciting the carol "Jingle Bells" in a deadpan style that went viral on the internet.[26] Following the popularity from the last year's video, in December 2013 Kolarov delivered his rendition of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" which also went viral following much anticipation.[27]

Career statistics

Club

As of 3 December 2016[17]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Čukaricki 2004–05 First League 270??———270
2005–06 Second League 172??———172
Total 442??———442
OFK Beograd 2005–06 First League 111??—00—111
2006–07 Serbian Superliga 274??—20—294
Total 385??—20—405
Lazio 2007–08 Serie A 24152—30—323
2008–09 Serie A 25261———313
2009–10[28] Serie A 33321—5110415
Total 826134—811010411
Manchester City 2010–11[29] Premier League 241810051—373
2011–12[30] Premier League 12211508110274
2012–13[31] Premier League 20131115110304
2013–14[32] Premier League 301215171—444
2014–15[33] Premier League 21220204010302
2015–16[34] Premier League 29300106000383
2016–17[35] Premier League 13000106000200
Total 149101641524143022420
Career total 313232981525154041238

International

As of match played 9 October 2016
Serbia national team
YearAppsGoals
200820
200970
201080
2011100
2012111
201373
201472
201571
201671
Total668

International goals

Score and Result lists Serbia's goals first
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 11 September 2012 Karađorđe Stadium, Novi Sad, Serbia  Wales 1–0 6–1 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2. 7 June 2013 King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium  Belgium 1–2 1–2 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
3. 10 September 2013 Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales  Wales 2–0 3–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
4. 15 October 2013 Jagodina City Stadium, Jagodina, Serbia  Macedonia 3–0 5–1 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
5. 26 May 2014 Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey, United States  Jamaica 2–0 2–1 Friendly
6. 7 September 2014 Partizan Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia  France 1–1 1–1 Friendly
7. 8 October 2015 Elbasan Arena, Elbasan, Albania  Albania 0–1 0–2 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
8. 29 March 2016 A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia  Estonia 0–1 0–1 Friendly

Honours

Lazio

Manchester City

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Barclays Premier League Squad Numbers 2013/14". Premier League. 16 August 2013. Archived from the original on 21 August 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  2. ↑ "Player Profile: Aleksandar Kolarov". Premier League. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  3. ↑ Pisa, Nick (26 July 2010). "Manchester City new boy Aleksandar Kolarov has an amazing shot on him – even referees should beware!". Daily Mail. UK: Mail Online. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
  4. ↑ Steve Anglesey (16 July 2010). "Video: Meet Manchester City's new signing Aleksandar Kolarov – Nine great goals and one great shot into the ref's kisser". Daily Mirror. UK. Archived from the original on 19 July 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
  5. ↑ "Relazione trimestrale separata e consolidata al 30–09–07". SS Lazio (in Italian). 14 November 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  6. ↑ "Football Italia-Reggina 1–1 Lazio". Channel 4 – Sport – via Internet Wayback Machine. 30 September 2007. Archived from the original on 11 April 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  7. ↑ "Kolarov Goal On Lecce". Lazio4Arab.com – via YouTube. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  8. 1 2 "Lazio Edge Sampdoria On Penalties To Claim Fifth Coppa Italia". Goal.com. 13 May 2009. Archived from the original on 16 May 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  9. 1 2 "Internationale vs. Lazio 1–2". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  10. ↑ "Us Tour:Kolarov deal is done". Manchester City F.C. official site. 24 July 2010. Archived from the original on 28 July 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  11. ↑ Bevan, Chris (24 July 2010). "Manchester City complete signing of Aleksandar Kolarov". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 23 July 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  12. ↑ "Tottenham Hotspur 0 – 0 Manchester City". ESPN Soccernet. 14 August 2010. Archived from the original on 17 August 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  13. ↑ McNulty, Phil (14 May 2011). "Man City 1–0 Stoke". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  14. ↑ Bevan, Chris (14 September 2011). "Man City 1 – 1 Napoli". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 20 August 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  15. ↑ Ornstein, David (31 March 2012). "Man City 3 – 3 Sunderland". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 20 August 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  16. ↑ Phil McNulty (13 May 2012). "Man City 3–2 QPR". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 15 August 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "A.Kolarov". Soccerway. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  18. ↑ Bevan, Chris (18 September 2012). "Real Madrid 3 – 2 Man City". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  19. ↑ "City comeback halts Bayern's record run". UEFA. 10 December 2013. Archived from the original on 9 August 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  20. ↑ "Premier League: Manchester City open new year with victory away at Swansea". Sky Sports. 1 January 2014. Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  21. ↑ "DONE DEAL: Aleksandar Kolarov signs three-year contract extension at Manchester City". Daily Star. 12 June 2014. Archived from the original on 13 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  22. ↑ "Dream team Under 21". UEFA – Magazine – via Google translate. 29 June 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  23. ↑ "Serbia 6–1 Wales". BBC Sport. 11 September 2012. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  24. ↑ "Serbia vs France September 7 2014 Match report". ESPN FC. 7 September 2014. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  25. ↑ Insajder, Pravila igre, 2008
  26. ↑ "Man City star sinks Jingle Bells". 3 News NZ. 4 December 2012.
  27. ↑ Brennan, Rob (23 December 2013). "Aleksander Kolarov delivers scary rendition of Santa Claus is coming to town". Daily Mail. London: Mail Online. Archived from the original on 25 December 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  28. ↑ "Aleksandar Kolarov | Football Stats | Manchester City | Season 2009/2010 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2015-07-18.
  29. ↑ "Aleksandar Kolarov | Football Stats | Manchester City | Season 2010/2011 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2015-07-18.
  30. ↑ "Aleksandar Kolarov | Football Stats | Manchester City | Season 2011/2012 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2015-07-18.
  31. ↑ "Aleksandar Kolarov | Football Stats | Manchester City | Season 2012/2013 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2015-07-18.
  32. ↑ "Aleksandar Kolarov | Football Stats | Manchester City | Season 2013/2014 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2015-07-18.
  33. ↑ "Aleksandar Kolarov | Football Stats | Manchester City | Season 2014/2015 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2015-07-18.
  34. ↑ "Aleksandar Kolarov | Football Stats | Manchester City | Season 2015/2016 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2016-08-25.
  35. ↑ "Aleksandar Kolarov | Football Stats | Manchester City | Season 2016/2017 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2016-08-25.
  36. ↑ McNulty, Phil (2 March 2014). "Man City 3–1 Sunderland". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  37. ↑ Smith, Ben (12 August 2012). "Chelsea 2 – 3 Man City". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  38. ↑ "Zlatne lopte Kolarovu i Jovanoviću". B92. 27 December 2011. Archived from the original on 21 August 2014.

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