| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1970-05-21)21 May 1970 (age 55) | ||
| Place of birth | Sarajevo,SFR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1982–1987 | Željezničar | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1992 | Željezničar | 75 | (4) |
| 1992–1996 | Pohang Atoms | 120 | (45) |
| 1997 | JEF United Ichihara | 16 | (8) |
| 1997–1998 | Atlético Madrid | 14 | (6) |
| 1998 | →NAC Breda (loan) | 13 | (5) |
| 1998–2002 | Werder Bremen | 56 | (15) |
| 2002–2003 | Arminia Bielefeld | 19 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Al Wahda | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 313 | (83) | |
| International career | |||
| 1997 | FR Yugoslavia | 3 | (2) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Rade Bogdanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Раде Богдановић; born 21 May 1970) is aSerbian[1]football pundit and former professional player who played as astriker.[2]
Born inSarajevo to a father employed as a driver atEnergoinvest and ahomemaker mother, Bogdanović was raised in the village ofTilava on the city outskirts. He attended theRadojka Lakić [sr] Primary School in the Vraca neighbourhood and was a fan ofHajduk Split in his youth.[3]
Bogdanović began playing organized football at the age of twelve, getting invited to try out for hometown sideŽeljezničar's youth system in June 1982 after being noticed at a local primary school tournament by the club scout and former goalkeeper Ruda Bulić.[4][5] After passing the tryout, Bogdanović was attached to the Željezničar cadet (under-16) squad coached by Duško Bajić; among the youngsters joining the club's youth system at the same time wasGoran Gutalj.[4]
Progressing up the age groups within Željezničar's youth system, Bogdanović was coached byJosip Bukal, then Sulejman Kulović, and finallyVasilije "Čiko" Radović.[4]
By spring 1987, the teenager was set to make his full squad debutaway atNK Osijek on 24 May 1987 due to the team's establisheddefensive midfielderEdin Ćurić serving a one-match suspension for an accumulation ofyellow cards. However, amedial collateral ligament (MCL) injury—sustained four days earlier during theSR Bosnia-Herzegovina provincial youth (under-18) cup final versusFK Sarajevo under-18s—forced Bogdanović into a six-month layoff that included surgery followed by months of regaining match fitness.[4]
Recovered from knee injury and surgery, teenage Bogdanović was attached to the Željezničar full squad under managerBlagoje Bratić in January 1988, joining players such asDragan Škrba, Branislav Berjan,Mirsad Baljić,Vlado Komšić,Edin Bahtić,Edin Ćurić,Zoran Slišković,Edim Hadžialagić,Radmilo Mihajlović, andMilan Pavlović with the team stuck in the bottom half of the table throughout theleague season. Three years removed from their storiedUEFA Cup run—with goalkeeper Škrba, full backs Berjan and Baljić, midfielder Ćurić, returnee midfielder Bahtić, and forward Mihajlović as the holdovers from the great season—Željezničar were struggling to replicate that success.
The seventeen-year-olddefensive midfielder was given his debut on 27 March 1988 atTitograd'sPod Goricom Stadium in aYugoslav First League match away atBudućnost.[4] Entering the contest in the 65th minute with visiting Željezničar up 0-1, Bogdanović was brought on in an effort of protecting the lead, however, the match ended 1-1 asDejan Savićević tied the score for the home team. One week after making his league debut in Titograd, the youngster was given a start by coach Bratić at home versusHajduk and managed to score a spectacular goal, Željo's third, on Hajduk's goalieZoran Varvodić as the rampant Željezničar squad routed the struggling visitors 3-0.[4]
Over the summer 1988 transfer window, head coach Bratić got replaced by his assistantJosip Bukal as Željezničar underwent a squad overhaul with the team's twenty-three-year-old star striker Mihajlović sold toDinamo Zagreb, its best defender—twenty-six-year-oldleft back Baljić—sold toFC Sion, and its thirty-four-year-old veteranright back Berjan moving on toKarlstad BK in the Sweden second division after fourteen seasons atGrbavica. The departures opened up more space for the team's youth system prospects—including Bogdanović,Suvad Katana,Siniša Nikolić,Srećko Ilić, andMario Stanić—who had already been set to start getting regular first team opportunities.[4] The offseason also saw the return to the club of the thirty-two-year-old fan-favourite veteranNikola Nikić after four seasons abroad as well as the acquisition of young wingerSimo Krunić from theSecond League teamFamos Hrasnica.
In 1990, twenty-year-old Bogdanović got called up to serve his mandatoryYugoslav People's Army (JNA) service.[6] Serving in Belgrade at theTopčider barracks as part of the sportingcompany, a unit formed for professional athletes, among the athletes serving at the same time wasVladan Milojević, a Red Star Belgrade prospect who would go on to a notable head coaching career. As a result of being in the army, Bogdanović missed the entire 1990-91 league season.
After one of these training sessions [with the FK Partizan squad] at theJNA Stadium in Belgrade, Goran [Gutalj] and myself got approached by a guy named Fakrija Šekularac asking us if we’d be interested in transferring to the Korean league. Now, this guy—known around town as Šeki—would later become a pretty established football agent, but at this point he’s basically a local hustler and amateur boxer who hangs around football players. So, he starts throwing these fantastical monetary figures at us while my bullshit detector is going off incessantly. However, seeing that, at this point, I’m a war refugee withDM200 to my name, I’m thinking: ’Even if 90% of the numbers he’s tossing around are nothing but fiction, I’m still happy with the remaining 10%’.
Bogdanović stayed atGrbavica until April 1992, fleeing Sarajevo as theBosnian War broke out. The twenty-two-year-old fled toBelgrade along with several other Željezničar first team players such asSimo Krunić,Gordan Vidović,Suvad Katana,Siniša Nikolić,Srećko Ilić, andJasminko Velić. Once in Serbia, they were accommodated by theFK Partizan technical directorNenad Bjeković and general secretaryŽarko Zečević who took care of the players' basic living needs by putting them up at Hotel Mladost near theBanjica forest while allowing them to take part in FK Partizan's training sessions in order to maintain fitness while looking for new clubs.[8][6][9] Within months, Krunić started playing withOFK Beograd, Nikolić found aclub in Portuguese lower divisions, Ilić moved to SlovenianNK Mura, Gutalj also eventually ended up at Mura after not passing his trial in Korea while Katana ended up atK.R.C. Genk in Belgium and Vidović moved to Switzerland'sFC St. Gallen.
Though having a verbal agreement with Bjeković about signing with FK Partizan ahead of the upcoming season, in June 1992, Bogdanović moved to theFar East, joining the South Korean clubPOSCO Atoms fromPohang midway through the1992 K League season.[6] Initially arriving on a month-long trial, Bogdanović appeared in eight competitive matches before thePohang Iron and Steel Company-owned club offered him a full contract, which he accepted.[6] The terms of his deal in Korea included receiving aUS$120,000 advance along with a US$5,000 monthly salary plus achievement-based bonuses.[6]
Playing in the modest league consisting of only six teams, he quickly established himself as one of its best players. Though spending the initial four years of his professional career in the Yugoslav First League with Željezničar as adefensive midfielder, Bogdanović started being deployed as astriker upon arriving to Korea. With the Yugoslav up front and twenty-three-year-old Korean rising starHong Myung-bo in defence, POSCO Atoms edged outIlhwa Chunma fromSeongnam to win the 1992 K League title.
At the end of the1994 K League season, Bogdanović made the league top eleven squad as the best forward in the competition.
After completing the1996 K League season in early November 1996 as the Pohang Steelers failed to qualify for the league championship playoff, Bogdanović signed with the JapaneseJ.League sideJEF United Ichihara for the following season. Before leaving the Pohang Steelers for good, he played for the team at the start of the1996–97 Asian Club Championship in late November 1996.
In mid-November 1996, after spending four and a half seasons at Pohang, Bogdanović signed with the Japanese clubJEF United Ichihara fromChiba, citing better pay and higher level of competition in the Japanese league as motivation for the move.[9] Bidding his farewell to Pohang upon appearing in three round-robin matches at the start of the1996–97 Asian Club Championship, he went back home toBelgrade to await the commencement of the upcomingJ.League season.
While in Belgrade, the player received a dream offer fromLouis van Gaal'sAjax, reigningDutch champions andChampions League finalists. Traveling to Amsterdam with his wife, along with the Serbian sports journalist Mile Vjetrović who was brought along for translation, Bogdanović met with van Gaal and was one of the guests of the club for itsleaguederby match versusPSV Eindhoven on 22 December 1996 at the recently openedAmsterdam Arena.[9] Seeing it as a chance to finally come back to Europe, the twenty-six-year-old Yugoslav decided to sign for the Amsterdam club in late December 1996 without making them aware that he had already committed to JEF. After signing a preliminary agreement with Ajax, Bogdanović arrived at the Dutch team for a January 1997 trial[10] that included joining their winter training inLa Manga,Spain during theEredivisie winter break. Bogdanović was hoping for a compensation agreement with JEF that would allow him to go stay with Ajax's talented squad featuringEdwin van der Sar,Danny Blind,Winston Bogarde, de Boer brothers (Frank andRonald),Richard Witschge,Marc Overmars,Tijani Babangida,Jari Litmanen, andPatrick Kluivert, but the UEFA arbitration committee got involved and the twenty-six-year-old was forced to honour the contract he had signed in Japan. Unbeknownst to Bogdanović at the time, while training with Ajax in La Manga, he was noticed by the Atlético Madrid assistant coachRešad Kunovac who was there on a scouting trip assessing the Dutch team, his club's next opponent at the upcomingChampions League quarterfinals.[9]
Begrudgingly going back to the Far East, Bogdanović spent five months with JEF alongside compatriotNenad Maslovar, playing the first part of the1997 J1 League season.[8]
During summer 1997, Bogdanović's wish of returning to Europe finally came true as compatriotRadomir Antić signed him to a contract with the Spanish clubAtlético Madrid on asquad featuring fellow YugoslavsMilinko Pantić andVeljko Paunović—along with a slew of high-profile players such as the expensive new signingsChristian Vieri andJuninho Paulista, additional new signingsDaniel Prodan,Andrei Frascarelli,Jordi Lardín,José Mari, and veteran returneePaulo Futre as well as established holdovers from the club'sleague-and-cup-winning double two seasons earlierKiko,Toni Muñoz,José Luis Caminero,Santi Denia,José Francisco Molina, andJuan Vizcaíno. Arriving toMadrid, Bogdanović's living accommodations were taken care by the club that arranged for him to move into the apartment owned byDiego Simeone who had just gotten sold toInter Milan.[9] Moving into the apartment complex, Bogdanović became neighbours with fellow Yugoslav professional athlete, basketball playerDejan Bodiroga, who had been playing forReal Madrid Baloncesto.[9]
Bogdanović's transfer to Atlético was the fourth most expensive of 1997, after those ofRonaldo,Rivaldo and Atlético's own signing of Vieri, costing the equivalent of €17.4 million. Bogdanović said that his contract had said that he had left JEF United for US$2 million, but Atlético Madrid presidentJesús Gil vastly inflated the fee due tomoney laundering.[11] Gil, who died in 2004, was convicted of financial crimes relating to the club.[12]
After not being included in the squad for the opening day of the league season away atReal Madrid, Bogdanović made his debut in the week 2, partnering Kiko up front at home versusReal Valladolid on 6 September 1997 and scoring two first half goals aslos Colchoneros routed the visitors 5–0 by the end.[13] The dream start prompted Atlético's impulsive presidentJesús Gil to buy him a brand newBMW 316i as a reward.[8] However, the presence of Vieri and Kiko meant few playing opportunities for Bogdanović: in the very next league match, 1-0 away loss atAthletic Bilbao, he was reduced to only twelve minutes of action plusinjury time, coming on for Vieri in the 78nd minute,[14] followed by four league contests completely out of the matchday lineup.[15]
Bogdanović would reappear in late October 1997 for a 0-2 home loss versusEspanyol[16] with another full 90 minute performance next to Kiko as Vieri was given a rest by head coach Antić following the Italian'sUEFA Cup hat-trick versusPAOK four days earlier. With Atlético taking a 5-2 advantage into the return leg inThessaloniki, Vieri was again rested by Antić while Bogdanović started and got a goal in the high-scoring contest that ended 4-4, his very first European continental club match.
Back on La Liga front, Vieri got injured minutes into the next league match, at home versus relegation-battlersCompostela, with Bogdanović coming on and scoring before making way for Vizcaíno at halftime.[17] Due to Vieri's injury, Bogdanović would continue as a starter for the following five league matches, a period during which the Yugoslav scored twice. Vieri returned from injury in mid December 1997 as the fourth-placedlos Colchoneros were taking onMallorca and immediately got his starting centre forward assignment back, but could manage only 45 minutes as Antić sent on Bogdanović at halftime with the visitors leading 1-2—within minutes of entering, the Yugoslav tied the score 2-2, but Mallorca still managed to win by the end 2-3.[18] Three days later, with Vieri still not fully recovered, Bogdanović began the league match versus league-leadersFC Barcelona atCamp Nou in front of 80,000 spectators before being subbed off fifteen minutes into the second half with the score tied at 1-1; Barça won 3-1 by the end, dropping Atlético to sixth in the table.[19]
By early January 1998, Vieri was fully match fit again and Bogdanović was back to getting the Italian's leftover minutes. In the wake of picking up an injury that forced him to leave the mid January 1998 league match away atValladolid before halftime,[20] and a diagnosis by the Atlético medical staff that he would be out of action for at least six months, the Yugoslav accepted a loan out to DutchNAC Breda for the remainder of the season in order to free up a spot on the Atlético's roster for another attacking player,Avi Nimni, to be registered.[9][21]
After playing out the1997–98 season on loan inEredivisie, Bogdanović came back to Atlético in summer 1998. As a consequence of finishing the preceding La Liga season in disappointing 7th spot, the Madrid club management undertook a majorsquad rebuilding effort during the offseason with coachRadomir Antić fired andArrigo Sacchi brought in. The coaching change was accompanied with a host of changes in player personnel such as superstar Vieri being sold toLazio and Italian defendersMichele Serena andStefano Torrisi being brought in fromFiorentina andBologna, respectively in addition to defensive Yugoslav midfieldersVladimir Jugović andZoran Njeguš from Lazio andRed Star Belgrade, respectively.[22] With a focus on defensive tactics, Bogdanović was adjudged as surplus to requirements by Sacchi and sold toWerder Bremen for a fee around €1,350,000.[22]
Bogdanović made his Bremen debut inBundesliga on 19 September 1998 away atVfL Wolfsburg, scoring a goal in a 2-4 win.[23]
In December 2000, he was banned from playing for six months after having been ruled to have spitHansa Rostock's goalkeeperMartin Pieckenhagen in the face during Werder's 5–2 defeat.[24]
He stayed at the German club for four years, winning the1998–99 DFB-Pokal and the1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup. In thecup final againstBayern Munich, Bogdanović came on as a substitute and then scored one of the penalties in the shootout as Bremen emerged victorious.[25]
In the 2002–03 season, he played forArminia Bielefeld, and then went toAl Wahda from theUnited Arab Emirates. After that, he decided to retire from professional football.
Bogdanović played three times and scored two goals for theFR Yugoslavia national team.[26] He was asked to play for theBosnia and Herzegovina national team, but he chose to play for FR Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro).
Bogdanović tried his hand at and football administration with a few low-profile stints, most notably atRad andBASK.
Since early 2011, he owns and runs a sports recreation facility, named Posco Arena after his Korean team, in the Belgrade neighbourhood ofCareva Ćuprija.
In April 2011, in an interview for Belgrade daily newspaperSport, Bogdanović caused controversy by alleging that Atletico'slast match of the1997–98 La Liga season on 15 May 1998 away atRacing Santander was fixed by Atletico president Jesus Gil "because Atletico needed three points to ensure a UEFA Cup spot for the following season".[27] Bogdanović stated: "Gil walked into the dressing room before the match and said that each player has to set asideDM25,000 out of the DM150,000 bonus in order for the win to be bought".[8] The match ended 0–1 for the Madrid visitors.[28]
Without naming specific names, in various print interviews throughout mid-to-late 2010s (some 20 years after the alleged event), retired footballer Bogdanović has made claims about having been offered a spot on theYugoslavia1998 FIFA World Cuproster in exchange for payingDM50,000 as part of an allegedpay to play scheme: "After my [summer 1997] Atlético transfer, which I had completed without an agent, I got a call from a well-known Yugoslav coach who had gotten my number through [Atlético head coach] Radomir Antić. This person was most curious as to why I don't handle my business through anagent, basically telling me 'congrats on going from Japan to Atlético and your good run of form, son, but this is not how these things are done: why don't you look into getting yourself an agent and then you can be with us [at the national team]'. Then, ten months later, in April 1998, I got approached by a Yugoslav sports journalist who explained to me that his son is a schoolmate of [Yugoslav FA general-secretary]Bato Bulatović's son. We met up at a restaurant inSkadarlija where this journalist told me he can absolutely guarantee a spot on the upcoming Yugoslavia [1998] World Cup roster for me if I agree to pay DM50,000 before proceeding to name-drop all the players he had already gotten into the national team as well as the players who would supposedly be on the upcoming World Cup roster through him. I refused the offer, but, sure enough, then I saw that the individuals he mentioned did later end up playing for the national team [at the World Cup]. One of the [Yugoslav] players taken to that World Cup hadn't even played for the national team before then."[6][29]
From the mid 2010s, Bogdanović began appearing as in-studiopundit on Serbian television during football coverage. He quickly marked himself out for outspoken approach and direct manner of speaking.
In November 2019, Bogdanović faced criticism over a racist remark made duringRTS' Champions League live coverage. Commenting on poor defending byBorussia Dortmund in aChampions League match againstFC Barcelona, he stated that the German team never recovered from managerLucien Favre's past decision to "play with fourblacks in the defensive back line towards the end of theprevious Bundesliga season".[30] During the coverage of the same game, Bogdanović further commented on Barcelona's €150 million signingOusmane Dembélé's time at the Catalan club by claiming that "the Barcelona people hired anutritionist for the kid to explain to him that he shouldn't be eatingfast food before hiring apsychiatrist for him to make him aware that watchingporn and organizingonline gamingtournaments until early morning isn't a proper lifestyle for a professional footballer" before adding that "the renovation of theClinical Centre of Serbia costs as much as this guy".[31]
Bogdanović and his wife Aleksandra[32] have three daughters: Kristina (born 1 June 1994 in South Korea),[33] Marija (born 17 October 2000 in Germany), and Sofija (born 26 July 2007 in Spain). Bogdanović and his family reside in Belgrade though they also spend time inMallorca where he owns an apartment.[citation needed]
Bogdanović's nephewsVladimir Jovančić and Darko Jovančić are also football players.[34]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Željezničar | 1987–88 | Yugoslav First League | 13 | 2 | — | 13 | 2 | |||||
| 1988–89 | 20 | 1 | — | 20 | 1 | |||||||
| 1989–90 | 10 | 1 | — | 10 | 1 | |||||||
| 1990–91 | 19 | 0 | — | 19 | 0 | |||||||
| 1991–92 | 18 | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | |||||||
| Total | 80 | 4 | — | 80 | 4 | |||||||
| Pohang Atoms[a] | 1992 | K-League | 12 | 2 | — | 5 | 1 | 17 | 3 | |||
| 1993 | 25 | 8 | — | 2 | 1 | 27 | 9 | |||||
| 1994 | 27 | 18 | — | 6 | 4 | 33 | 22 | |||||
| 1995 | 24 | 6 | — | 7 | 2 | 31 | 8 | |||||
| 1996 | 32 | 11 | — | 7 | 2 | 39 | 13 | |||||
| Total | 120 | 45 | — | 27 | 10 | 147 | 55 | |||||
| JEF United Ichihara | 1997 | J1 League | 16 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | — | 22 | 16 | |
| Atlético Madrid | 1997–98[36] | La Liga | 14 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 1 | 18 | 7 | |
| NAC Breda | 1997–98[37] | Eredivisie | 13 | 5 | 13 | 5 | ||||||
| Werder Bremen | 1998–99[37] | Bundesliga | 23 | 8 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 8 | ||
| 1999–2000[37] | 22 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 31 | 7 | ||
| 2000–01[37] | 11 | 3 | 1 | 1 | — | 4 | 0 | 16 | 4 | |||
| 2001–02[37] | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| Total | 56 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 74 | 19 | ||
| Arminia Bielefeld | 2002–03[37] | Bundesliga | 19 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 21 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 318 | 83 | 10 | 2 | 35 | 18 | 12 | 4 | 375 | 107 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| FR Yugoslavia | 1997 | 3 | 2 |
| Total | 3 | 2 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 June 1997 | Seoul, South Korea |  Ghana | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1997 Korea Cup |
| 2 | 3–1 |
Pohang Atoms
Werder Bremen
Awards
Performance
