Miloš Krasić

Miloš Krasić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милош Красић; born 1 November 1984) is a football player who plays for Lechia Gdańsk as a winger. He represented the Serbia national team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and at one point in his career, he was named by FourFourTwo as one of the 100 best players in the world.^[1]

Early years

Krasić was born on 1 November 1984 in Titova Mitrovica, modern day Mitrovica, Kosovo, to Serbian parents Veljko and Zorica.^[2][3][4][5] After starting out with the hometown side FK Rudar, Krasić was noticed by FK Vojvodina in 1999 and he made a switch northwards at age 14. He spent the next four-and-a-half seasons in Novi Sad, where he further raised his level and became the team captain.

He has a brother that is also a footballer, Bojan Krasić.^[6]

Club career

Krasić being fouled by Fenerbahçe's Roberto Carlos during his time at CSKA Moscow in 2007

CSKA Moscow

Vojvodina and CSKA Moscow were in negotiations over Krasić's transfer since January 2004, but the deal stalled. The player himself even made several unsuccessful trips to Moscow.^[7] During the summer of 2004, the deal was completed and the winger was on his way to Russia. He featured in three games during the club's 2004–05 UEFA Cup-winning run, including a cameo appearance in the final. He also helped them win the Russian title in 2005 and 2006, the Russian Cup in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009, and the Russian Super Cup in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

Juventus

After much speculation in the summer of 2010, Juventus and CSKA agreed on a fee for Krasić reported to be in the range of about €15 million. Krasić officially became a Juventus player on 21 August and was given the number 27 shirt.^[8] Krasić was instrumental in his home debut against Sampdoria, assisting a goal and creating many chances. The game ended 3–3. In his second away game in the Serie A, against Udinese, Krasić proved once again instrumental in their 4–0 victory, assisting Fabio Quagliarella and Claudio Marchisio for a goal each. Krasić scored his first Juventus goals against Cagliari on 26 September 2010, netting a hat-trick.

He scored his first European goal for Juventus, helping his side salvage a point against Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg in the Group A tie of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, in a match that finished 1–1. On 26 October, he was given a two-match ban after diving, although winning a penalty (the penalty was then missed), during the league match against Bologna. Krasić scored a goal in a 2–0 away win over Genoa after Eduardo put a ball in his own net in the 18th minute. On 12 December, in the game against Lazio, Krasić scored a very late, match-winning goal in which his attempted cross deflected off Lazio goalkeeper Fernando Muslera and into the net. The match ended immediately after the goal in a 2–1 victory for Juventus. He scored a screamer which guided the Bianconeri to a 2–1 victory against Brescia. He managed to score another screamer against Roma in which the match ended 2–0. He scored his first goal of the 2011–12 Serie A season against Catania.

Fenerbahçe

Milos Krasić during a match with Fenerbahçe

Fenerbahçe completed the transfer of Krasić for €7 million on 3 August 2012. He signed a four-year contract worth €2.3 million per-season.^[9] His played first match for the club on 12 August 2012 against rivals Galatasaray, then scored his first goal for Fenerbahçe against Göztepe in a 4–0 Turkish Cup victory.

Loan to Bastia

On the last day of the 2013 summer transfer window, French side Bastia managed to acquire Krasić on a season-long loan deal for €826,000.^[10] He scored a skillful goal in a 2–0 win against Evian on 1 December 2013.^[11]

Back to Fenerbahçe

Prior to the 2014–15 season, Krasić returned to Fenerbahçe after his loan season but could not break into first team squad, instead beginning to play for the club's reserve team.^[12] Before the 2015–2016 season, he was called up to train with the first team.^[13]

Lechia Gdańsk

On 30 August 2015, Krasić signed for Polish club Lechia Gdańsk. He made his debut during the second half of Lechia's Ekstraklasa match with Korona Kielce.He is now a captain at the club.

International career

Krasić was an important member of Serbia and Montenegro under-21 squad in two UEFA European Under-21 Championships, as well as at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He was in the team that finished as runners-up in the 2004 European U-21 Championship in Germany, but did not play in any games. Two months later, he was part of the Serbia and Montenegro squad at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

In May 2006, Krasić played a leading role in the 2006 European U-21 Championship in 2007 against Kazakhstan. He also played in the match against Portugal on 28 March at the Red Star Stadium in Belgrade, a 1–1 draw.

At senior level, Krasić was an important player for Serbia in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification. He scored one goal in the match against Lithuania, another in the game against Austria and set up three in the game against Romania, which sealed his nation's qualification to the final tournament in South Africa.

Style of play

Krasić is a right-sided midfielder/winger, noted for his powerful dribbling technique and sprint speed. He has earned comparisons with former Juventus great Pavel Nedvěd.^[14] He was named one of three examples of "traditional wingers" (the other two were Antonio Valencia and Ángel Di María) by UEFA's Champions magazine, who says such wingers take on the full-backs by the flanks to get as close to the goal-line as possible to cross the ball.^[15]

Career statistics

Club

As of 21 May 2016.

International

International goals

Miloš Krasić: International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	11 October 2008	Stadion FK Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade, Serbia	Lithuania	2–0	3–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	15 October 2008	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria	Austria	0–1	1–3	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	5 June 2010	Stadion FK Partizan, Belgrade, Serbia	Cameroon	1–1	4–3	Friendly

Honours

Club

CSKA^[16]

• Russian Premier League (2): 2005, 2006
• Russian Cup (4): 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009
• Russian Super Cup (4): 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009
• UEFA Cup (1): 2004–05

Juventus^[16]

• Serie A (1): 2011–12

Fenerbahçe^[16]

• Turkish Cup (1): 2012–13

Individual

• Serbian Player of the Year (1): 2009
• In the list of 33 best football players of the championship of Russia (4): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Miloš Krasić.

• Miloš Krasić at reprezentacija.rs (Serbian)
• Profile @ TFF.org
• Miloš Krasić profile at 90minut

Serbia and Montenegro men's football squad – 2004 Summer Olympics
1 Milojević 2 Biševac 3 Neziri 4 Stepanov 5 Jokić 6 Baša 7 Milovanović 8 Lovre 9 Delibašić (c) 10 Vukčević 11 Matić 12 B. Petrović 13 Lomić 14 Lazarević 15 Krasić 16 Nikezić 17 Radonjić 18 Čanović Coach: V. Petrović

Serbia squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup
1 Stojković 2 Rukavina 3 Kolarov 4 Kačar 5 Vidić 6 Ivanović 7 Tošić 8 Lazović 9 Pantelić 10 Stanković (c) 11 Milijaš 12 Isailović 13 Luković 14 Jovanović 15 Žigić 16 Obradović 17 Krasić 18 Ninković 19 Petrović 20 Subotić 21 Mrđa 22 Kuzmanović 23 Đuričić Coach: Antić