Marko Mitrović (footballer, born 1978)

Marko Mitrović (Serbian Cyrillic: Марко Митровић; born 8 July 1978) is a Serbian football coach. A versatile midfielder, he could operate as a holding midfielder or a box to box player and spent most of his professional career in Serbia where he represented eight clubs. Other than in his own country, Mitrović also played professionally in Hungary, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan. He is the head coach of the United States U23 national team.[1]

This article is about the Serbian football coach. For the Swedish footballer, see Marko Mitrović (footballer, born 1992).

Marko Mitrović
Mitrović in 2017
Personal information
Full name Marko Mitrović
Date of birth (1978-07-08) 8 July 1978
Place of birth Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 United States U23 (head coach)
Youth career
Red Star Belgrade
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1999 Red Star Belgrade 0 (0)
1995–1996 → Voždovac (loan)
1996–1997 → Budućnost Valjevo (loan)
1997–1999 → Milicionar (loan)
1999–2000 Zemun 2 (0)
2000–2001 Radnički Kragujevac 11 (1)
2001–2002 Vasas 10 (0)
2002–2005 Budućnost Banatski Dvor 85 (3)
2005–2006 Olimpik Baku 24 (1)
2006–2007 Banat Zrenjanin 43 (1)
2008 Atyrau 14 (1)
2008 Megasport 9 (2)
2009 Lokomotiv Astana 18 (0)
2010 Smederevo 14 (0)
International career
1995 FR Yugoslavia U18 2 (0)
Managerial career
2011–2012 Banat Zrenjanin (assistant)
2012–2013 Napredak Kruševac (assistant)
2012–2015 Serbia U20 (assistant)
2013–2015 Red Star Belgrade U15
2014–2016 Serbia U15
2016–2019 Chicago Fire (assistant)
2020–2022 Reading (assistant)
2022–2023 United States U19
2023– United States U23
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Club

Mitrović was a member of the Red Star Belgrade academy for several years, before signing his first professional contract with the club. He made his professional debut for Red Star Belgrade on 6 April 1996 against Novi Sad in a second game of the FR Yugoslavia Cup semifinals at the age of 17.

The next three seasons he spent on loan at FK Voždovac, FK Budućnost Valjevo and FK Milicionar. With FK Milicionar, he got promoted to the Super League during the 1997–98 season.

After leaving Red Star in summer 1999 he played for FK Zemun for 6 months. His next station was FK Radnički Kragujevac where he spent the 2000–01 season before he moved to Vasas SC, in the Hungarian Premier League, where he spent the 2001–02 season.

In 2002–03 he was signed by FK Budućnost Banatski Dvor. The club won the Second League in his first year and got promoted to the First League. In 2003–04 they played the Cup Final vs Red Star. They lost 0–1 but the club qualified for UEFA Cup.

In summer 2005 he moved to Olimpik Baku, Azerbaijan Premier League, where he spent one year, from 2005 to 2006.[2]

In July 2006 he joined Banat Zrenjanin for another 18 months.

In January 2008 he signed for FC Atyrau. After 6 months he got transferred to FC Megasport. They were members of the Kazakhstan Premier League. At the end of 2008, they merged with Alma-Ata to form Lokomotiv Astana (today known as FC Astana). In December 2009 he left the club based on the league's new rules that foreigners older than 30 years old cannot be signed by Kazakhstan Premier League Clubs.

Spring 2010 he spent with Smederevo playing in Serbian Super League before he announced retirement from a professional playing career.

International

Mitrović represented the FR Yugoslavia national under-18 football team in 1995.[3]

Coaching career

In summer 2011 he started his coaching career with his former club FK Banat Zrenjanin as an assistant coach under Milan Budisavljević in Serbian First League. In January 2012 he joined FK Napredak Kruševac as an assistant coach under former Red Star Belgrade head coach Aleksandar Kristić.

In summer 2012 he joined Veljko Paunović as first assistant coach for Serbia U-18, U-19, and U-20 national teams. Under his involvement the Serbia national team had the following accomplishments:

Some players were promoted to Serbia National Team like Sergej Milinković-Savić, Nemanja Maksimović, Marko Grujić, Luka Jović, Andrija Živković, Miloš Veljković, Predrag Rajković, Mijat Gaćinović.

In summer 2013 he was in charge for Red Star Belgrade Youth Academy U-15 and U-16 Team. He won the First place in the season 2013/14 in Serbian U-15 League. Players like Luka Ilić, Dejan Joveljić, Aleksa Terzić, Vladan Djekic and others were part of that generation and Mitrović had an important role in their selection and development.

From December 2014 to December 2015 he was the head coach of Serbia U-15 national team. Some players were promoted to Serbia national team like Sergej Milinković-Savić, Nemanja Maksimović, Marko Grujić, Luka Jović, Andrija Živković, Miloš Veljković, Predrag Rajković, and Mijat Gaćinović.

In January 2016 he was signed by Chicago Fire FC (MLS) as an assistant coach with Veljko Paunović as a head coach. He spent 4 years with the Chicago Fire,[5] from January 2016 to November 2019.

In August 2017, he was assistant coach for MLS ALL Star Team vs Real Madrid.[6]

During his time with the Chicago Fire[7] he had a chance to work with many national team players such as: Bastian Schweinsteiger, Nicolás Gaitán, Aleksandar Katai, Nemanja Nikolić, David Accam, Dax McCarty, Djordje Mihailovic, Przemysław Frankowski, Francisco Calvo, Nicolas Hasler, Cristian Martínez, and Răzvan Cociș.

In September 2023, he was named head coach of the United States u-23 for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Personal life

He is married and with his wife Marija have three children Mitar, Matija and Mia. He is fluent in four languages: English, Spanish, Serbian and Russian. In 1997 he graduated from the Mathematical Grammar School in Belgrade.

References
  1. "Marko Mitrović Named Head Coach Of U.S. Under-19 Men's Youth National Team". US Soccer. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  2. "Archived copy" (PDF). pfl.az. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Marko Mitrovic".
  4. "FIFA U20 World Cup". Archived from the original on 21 March 2017.
  5. "Modern Soccer Coach". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.
  6. "MLS ALL Star Team Assistant Coach".
  7. "Assistant coach-Chicago Fire". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.
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