Branko Bošković
Branko Bošković (Serbian Cyrillic: Бранко Бошковић, pronounced [brâːŋko bôʃkoʋitɕ]; born 21 June 1980) is a Montenegrin retired footballer, who is best known for playing for Red Star Belgrade, Paris Saint-Germain and Rapid Wien.
.jpg.webp) Bošković in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Branko Bošković | ||
| Date of birth | 21 June 1980 | ||
| Place of birth | Beočin, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1996 | Mogren | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1996–1998 | Mogren | 31 | (8) |
| 1999–2003 | Red Star Belgrade | 123 | (30) |
| 2003–2006 | Paris Saint-Germain | 36 | (3) |
| 2004–2005 | Paris Saint-Germain B | 6 | (3) |
| 2005–2006 | → Troyes (loan) | 19 | (0) |
| 2007–2010 | Rapid Wien | 104 | (19) |
| 2010–2012 | D.C. United | 43 | (1) |
| 2013–2014 | Rapid Wien | 29 | (4) |
| Total | 391 | (68) | |
| National team | |||
| 2002–2005 |
FR Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro | 12 | (1) |
| 2007–2014 | Montenegro | 29[1] | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Club
Bošković started his pro career in 1996 with the Budva outfit FK Mogren, which was competing in lower Yugoslav division at the time. After playing there for two-and-a-half seasons, Branko earned a dream move to Red Star Belgrade in December 1998.
In his four-and-a-half seasons in Belgrade, he twice helped his team win the Serbo-Montenegrin Football League, in both 1999–2000 and 2000–01, as well as the Yugoslav Cup three times in 1999, 2000 & 2002. Additionally, he marked himself out as a talented and creative midfielder with a nose for goal, all of which earned him a series of national team call-ups. Still, his single most famous moment while at Red Star came during the 2002–03 UEFA Cup Second Round versus Lazio when he scored a goal in the return leg.
Bošković's stellar performances at Red Star got him plenty of attention from abroad, and he moved to French giants Paris Saint-Germain during summer of 2003 but failed to get a first team place upon arrival. Following the two-year stay at PSG – spent mostly out of the first team picture – he accepted a season-long loan to play with Troyes where he spent the entire 2005–06 season. After his loan spell ended, Bošković and PSG parted ways, and he spent a six-month period training with FK Rad.
In January 2007, he signed a contract with Rapid Wien until the end of the 2006–07 season.[2] After impressing during the second half of the 2006–07 season Bošković re-signed with the club. During the 2007–08 season, Bošković was a key player helping the club capture the Austrian league title. As a result of his play, he signed a two-year extension in March 2008. During his time with Rapid, Bošković appeared in 122 official matches and scored 24 goals.
Bošković signed as a Designated Player with D.C. United of Major League Soccer in the United States on 14 June 2010.[3] Bošković made 43 appearances, 21 starts and finished with two goals and seven assists over three seasons. Following the end of the 2012 season, Bošković and D.C. United mutually agreed to part ways, with Bošković citing a desire to return to Montenegro for family reasons.[4]
He returned to his former club Rapid Wien in January 2013.[5] In summer 2014, he left Rapid after his contract had expired.[6]
International
He made his debut for FR Yugoslavia against Brazil, in a friendly played 27 March 2002. He played his last match against South Korea in a friendly on 16 November 2005. In total he played 12 games – eight friendlies and four Euro 2004 qualifying matches – for FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro. He scored one goal for the national side, coming in a 1–2 loss against Azerbaijan on 11 June 2003 during Euro 2004 qualifying.
With the formation of Montenegro, he was selected to the Montenegro national team, debuting for the nation in its first-ever match in March 2007 against Hungary. He was captain in the European Championship qualifier against England at Wembley in 2010, which ended in a goalless draw,[7] his last international match to the end of 2011. He played again against Belarus in a 1–1 draw in 2013. He played for the first time in World Cup 2014 qualifier against Poland and provided an assist for Dejan Damjanović. He scored an extraordinary own goal 'for' England in a 2014 World Cup qualifier at Wembley which ended 4–1 against Montenegro.[8]
International goals
Serbia and Montenegro
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 June 2003 | Shafa Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan |  Azerbaijan | 1–0 | 1–2 | Euro 2004 Qualifying |
Montenegro
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 March 2008 | Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica |  Norway | 2–0 | 3–1 | Friendly match |
Honours
Statistics
| Season | Club | League | National Cup | European Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Comp | Apps | Goals | ||||
| Matches | Goals | |||||||||
| 1997-1998 | FK Mogren | 22 | 8 | - | - | - | 22 | 8 | ||
| 1998-1999 | FK Mogren | 9 | 0 | - | - | - | 9 | 0 | ||
| 1998-1999 | Red Star Belgrade | 6 | 1 | C3 | 6 | 1 | ||||
| 1999-2000 | Red Star Belgrade | 31 | 9 | C3 | 31 | 9 | ||||
| 2000-2001 | Red Star Belgrade | 32 | 9 | C1/C3 | 32 | 9 | ||||
| 2001-2002 | Red Star Belgrade | 28 | 2 | C1/C3 | 4/1 | 0/0 | 33 | 2 | ||
| 2002-2003 | Red Star Belgrade | 24 | 8 | C3 | 6 | 1 | 30 | 9 | ||
| 2003-2004 | Red Star Belgrade | 2 | 1 | C3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2003-2004 | Paris SG | 24 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | 26 | 3 |
| 2004-2005 | Paris SG | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | C1 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 2 |
| 2005-2006 | → Troyes AC (Ioan) | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 20 | 0 |
| 2006-2007 | Rapid Wien | 10 | 0 | - | - | - | 29 | 4 | ||
| 2007-2008 | Rapid Wien | 11 | 4 | - | - | - | 11 | 4 | ||
| 2008-2009 | Rapid Wien | 27 | 6 | - | - | - | 27 | 6 | ||
| 2009-2010 | Rapid Wien | 29 | 3 | C3 | 6 | 0 | 35 | 3 | ||
| 2010 | D.C. United | 13 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | 13 | 0 |
| 2011 | D.C. United | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | 5 | 2 |
| 2012 | D.C. United | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | 26 | 1 |
| 2012-2013 | Rapid Wien | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 10 | 1 |
| 2013-2014 | Rapid Wien | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 20 | 3 |
Appearances and goals counted correct as of 6 October 2012
References
- National football team player Branko Bošković at EU-football.info
- "Bošković to return with Rapid". UEFA.com. 4 January 2007. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
- "United Signs Montenegrin Midfielder". Miami Herald. 15 June 2010.
- "DC United and Branko Boskovic Mutually Agree to Part Ways". DC United. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- "Heimkehr nach Hütteldorf: Boskovic kehrt zurück (German)". SK Rapid Wien. 19 January 2013. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
- "Boskovic verlässt Rapid endgültig" [Boskovic leaves Rapid for good] (in German). Kurier. 29 April 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- McNulty, Phil (12 October 2010). "Euro 2012 qualifiers: England 0-0 Montenegro". BBC Sport.
- McNulty, Phil (11 October 2013). "England 4–1 Montenegro". BBC Sport.
External links
- Branko Bošković at Reprezentacija.rs (in Serbian)
- Branko Bošković at Major League Soccer
- Branko Bošković at FootballDatabase.com
- Branko Bošković – French league stats at LFP (also available in French)
- Official SK Rapid Wien Profile at the Wayback Machine (archived 19 May 2007) (in German)
- Branko Bošković at Playerhistory
- Branko Bošković at Rapid Statistics
- Branko Bošković at National-Football-Teams.com