Dejan Petković

Born to father Dobrivoje (traffic technician from Niš) and mother Milena (construction technician from Petrovac na Mlavi) who met in the small mining town of Majdanpek where they both arrived in search of work, young Dejan immediately took to football.[1]

Petković started playing by SFR Yugoslavia youth teams when he was 15 years old. In that age, he even scored one of the fastest goals in football, after just three seconds in a match against Cyprus.[25] He was later called to 1992 Toulon Tournament, alongside players like Savo Milošević, Zoran Mirković, Željko Cicović, Elvir Bolić, Spira Grujić, Mitko Stojkovski, Srđan Bajčetić, Miladin Bečanović, Igor Taševski, Sretko Vuksanović and Željko Tadić. His team made a runner-up campaign, in which Petković scored two goals in a 3–0 triumph over United States (against players such as Brad Friedel, Claudio Reyna, Alexi Lalas and Cobi Jones).[26][27]

While still playing in that youth tournament, he received his first call up to the senior national team, being included for the UEFA Euro 1992 squad.[28] Yugoslav coaches had already called eighteen from the twenty allowed players, without Croats, keeping some Macedonians, two Slovenes and just one Bosniak alongside the Serbs and Montenegrins. It was expected that the later two players would be Miroslav Đukić and Dragiša Binić,[29] but Petković and Slobodan Krčmarević were included instead.[28] Just one day after that 3–0 winning game against USA at the Toulon Tournament, played in May 27,[27] Petković made his first appearance for the main Yugoslav team, an unofficial friendly against ACF Fiorentina in May 28. He was even a starting player in the match - Omerović (Leković), Radinović (Novak), Petrić (Milanič), Dubajić; Mihajlović, Jugović, Brnović, Jokanović; Mijatović, Stojković and him (replaced by Jakovljević). Jokanović scored first in Stadio Artemio Franchi, but the Italian club did won by 2–1. It would be the last match of the old Yugoslavia national team before its name being reduced to the Serbia and Montenegro federation.[30][31]

The Yugoslavia team, already settled ind Sweden for the tournament, would be suspended at 31 May due to its civil wars, just ten days before the opening match.[32] After that, Petković was called to FR Yugoslavia first matches after its banning, in December 1994, although staying in the bench – curiously, the first match of Yugoslav return was against Brazil.[3] In a South American tour, the second match would be against Argentina. In that day, Petković started disagreements with the then coach Slobodan Santrač. The player was praised in the training sessions and, under Santrač's orders, warmed up from the 30th minute to the 80th one and then decided to seat, as thinking he would not play anymore. Santrač was disgusted and called another reserve to enter;[33] it was Darko Kovačević, who made his senior debut as replacing Predrag Mijatović. After two another matches without being used, Petković then earned his first cap on 31 March 1995, against Uruguay, in Belgrade. He was included in the starting players as of the next Yugoslav match, against Russia. In his second cap, he scored a goal just one minute after a Valery Karpin one, but Yugoslavia still lost by 2–1. Petković also played the three later matches of Yugoslavia in 1995. All of them were winnings in away fields.[34] In the last 1995 match, however, he again had disagreements with Santrač, even after giving three assists and scoring an incorrectly invalid goal. After such a performance, the player did not like criticism from the coach, who appointed two wrong passes of Petković, who did objections to Santrač qualities.[33] Petković still received a Santrač call up for a match against Romania in March 1996, after some good initial performances for Real Madrid and Sevilla.[35] It was the first 1996 game of Yugoslav team.[34] However, two weeks before it, in a Sevilla training, Petković suffered a serious injury which would withdraw him for the rest of the season.[36] Santrač would not call him anymore and the player did not take part in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

It was only after Milan Živadinović took the helm of the Yugoslavia national team that Petković earned another chance with his national side – curiously, in another friendly against Brazil, in September 1998. Playing for Vitória at the time, Petković traveled to São Luís in the same flight as the Brazilian team.[37] He was even a starting player in a 1–1 draw, being later replaced by Saša Ćurčić. It would be his last official match for the national team.[34] Because of that, Petković later expressed his belief in being called up for that game just because he would be a good Portuguese language translator to Yugoslav crew.[33]

He still later played another two unofficial matches for Yugoslavia, in December 1999, under Vujadin Boškov rule. Petković was a starting player and even captain against Canary Islands (scoring a goal in a 2–2 draw against Luis Molowny coached players) and Catalonia (a 1–0 defeat).[38][39] He was meanwhile a Venezia player, but some days later he left Italy to play again in Brazil, for Flamengo.[2] Some also blame Petković's few and far in between call-ups on the fact he played for Brazilian sides most of his career, and thus was not always readily available for Yugoslavian coaches to watch him perform, evidenced by the fact he was omitted by Boškov from the Euro 2000 roster after coming to Flamengo. Furthermore, Petković declared in an interview to Placar magazine that he was more likely to get a call-up had he stayed at Venezia, a club he regarded as "ten times weaker club than Flamengo".[2] Petković was also rumoured to not have very favorable relationships with the Football Association of Yugoslavia, yet another speculation for his few caps.[3] According to him and his family, another reason was his denial in accept bribes charged by high ranked Federation officials.[3][40]

In 2004, some have even felt Petković would have made the Seleção if he were Brazilian. To that end, after the changing of the former FR Yugoslavia into Serbia and Montenegro the previous year, he publicized his dream in being picked by the Brazil national side,[41] but he did not have Brazilian citizenship. In 2006, a campaign in his native country[42] urged the Serbian FA to select Petković for Serbia and Montenegro's final roster for the World Cup in Germany. Striker Savo Milošević even went as far as saying Petković would be a welcome addition.[43] In January 2006, it was announced that Petković would be called up for friendly matches in February,[44] but nothing ever came of it.[45] The then Serbia and Montenegro coach Ilija Petković, who is not a relative of him, thought Dejan Petković would disrupt the team's harmony, as he had a reputation for having a very loud personality. However, even before the nation upcoming final breakup, the harmony was disrupted by the coach himself, after Ilija called his son Dušan Petković, a defender who played just a few matches until 2004 for the team, to replace the injured forward Mirko Vučinić. Embarrassed after huge criticism, Dušan asked to not take part of the squad.[40]

In a first moment, it was believed that the replacement player would be Dejan Petković, as he told in 2018 to El País journal: "I came from a fantastic 2005 Campeonato Brasileiro for Fluminense. My matches in Brazil were broadcast in Serbia. The whole country asked my calling up. They always created an excuse to not bring me. When the Cup squad list was launched, people asked themselves why I was not selected. In those days, Zico said that Serbia would win the Cup: 'they have 23 players better them Pet'. So, Vučinić injured himself. And then they announced the substitute: 'D. Petković'. Some people started calling to congrat me, but, actually, the chosen one was Dušan Petković, the coach's son. He exchanged a forward for a defender. It resounded so negatively, reaching the point that, in the preparation for the Cup, the boy could not stand the pressure and left, ashamed of being there. We played the Cup with one player less. They never gave me an official statement. Off the records, they told that, if they call up me, I would have to play. Unfortunately, I lost two World Cups. I joined the select group of the good players who never played a World Cup. I have not any frustration for not playing the Cup, because it was not a failure of mine. In football, a few people have power to ruin a lot of things. The people who managed my country team did bad things to me, the institution itself did not. I do not hold any sorrow".[40]

Petković retired from professional football without ever playing for the White Eagles. In 2009, Serbia coach Radomir Antić praised Petković's success as an incoming 2009 Brazilian champion for Flamengo, but confirmed the player's too unlikely chances in being included for 2010 FIFA World Cup.[46] Petković never had such expectations anymore, feeling himself too old as having 37 years: "I would like having ten years less to at least go to a World Cup", he said while celebrating his country confirmation to South Africa. He just kept some desire in playing a last friendly match for his national team.[47]

He is considered one of the best foreign players to have played in Brazil, a great free and corner kicker and passer. In 2006 while playing for Fluminense, he scored a goal directly from a corner against Grêmio. In the next game, he scored another, but the ball hit the hand of a player from Fluminense and entered the goal; nonetheless, the officials counted it as one. Overall, he scored eight goals from corner kicks in his career, the last one on 8 November 2009 for Flamengo against Atlético Mineiro in the Brazilian Série A. He is currently the record holder for most goals from corners scored in football history.

• His form in the first half of 2001 preceded the arrival of five more Serbs to Brazilian football. Željko Tadić (who would play later with Petkovic at Vasco), Miodrag Anđelković, Nikola Damjanac, Vladimir Đorđević, Dejan Osmanović, and Vladimir Petković (unrelated to Dejan Petkovic).[48]
• In November 2009, following Petković's pinnacle season at Flamengo, Serbian film director Darko Bajić started shooting a documentary on Petković's life and career path. Initially with the working title of Rambo Petković – 90 minuta sa produžecima, životni meč and later O Gringo, the film is meant to be shown before the 2010 World Cup.[49] Apparently, the director wanted to make the film ever since Petković's initial successes with Flamengo in 2001, but the player wasn't thrilled with the idea. Petković eventually agreed during his second stint with Flamengo. The yet unfinished movie was promoted in Belgrade on 29 December 2009.[50]
• His pivotal role in Flamengo's road to its fifth league title motivated a pop song, "É o Pet".
• Although his return home to possibly finish out his career with Red Star and/or perhaps take an administrative role in the club once his playing career is over was occasionally mentioned in Serbian media, Petković said in early 2010 that he'll continue living in Brazil even after stopping playing. Though not mentioning anything specific, he said that he wants to take advantage of the opportunities 2014 World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympics will provide for those who want to be involved with sports.[51]
• Petković was a color commentator for Brazilian sports cable franchise SporTV during the 2018 World Cup. He also acted as an analyst alongside Clarence Seedorf in a nightly show hosted by sports journalists André Rizek and Marcelo Barreto.

Red Star Belgrade

• Yugoslav First League: 1991–92, 1994–95
• Yugoslav Cup: 1992–93, 1994–95

Real Madrid

• La Liga: 1996–97
• Supercopa de España: 1997

Vitória

• Bahia State Championship: 1997, 1999
• Copa do Nordeste: 1999

Flamengo

• Campeonato Carioca: 2000, 2001
• Copa dos Campeões: 2001
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2009

Shanghai Shenhua

• Chinese Jia-A League: 2003 (revoked due to match-fixing scandal)

Vasco da Gama

• Campeonato Carioca: 2003

Al Ittihad

• Arab Champions League: 2005

Individual

• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year: 2005, 2009[52][53]
• Bola de Prata: 2004, 2005, 2009
• Niš Sportsperson of the Year: 2009

Orders and special awards

• EC Vitória's Player of the Twentieth Century (by popular vote)
• Scored the thousandth goal of Fluminense FC in the Campeonato Brasileiro (v. Cruzeiro, on 7 September 2005)
• Scored the most Olympic goals ever by a professional footballer: 8
• Nominated to the Maracanã Walk of Fame
• Named Honorary Citizen of Rio de Janeiro by the State Legislative Assembly

On 20 June 2010, Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vuk Jeremić, announced the appointment of Dejan Petković to Honorary Consul of Serbia in Brazil.[54][55][56][57]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dejan Petković.

• Official site (in Serbian and Portuguese)
• Dejan Petković at National-Football-Teams.com
• Profile at reprezentacija.rs (in Serbian)
• Dejan Petković at BDFutbol
• Dejan Petković coach profile at Sambafoot (archived)