Marko Stamenić

Marko Stamenić
Stamenić (right) with Red Star Belgrade in 2023
Personal information
Full name Marko Seufatu Nikola Stamenić[1]
Date of birth (2002-02-19) 19 February 2002 (age 22)[1]
Place of birth Wellington, New Zealand
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Olympiacos
(on loan from Nottingham Forest)
Number 8
Youth career
–2013 Stokes Valley
2014–2016 Western Suburbs
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2020 Western Suburbs 34 (7)
2019–2020 Team Wellington 7 (1)
2020–2023 Copenhagen 16 (0)
2021–2022 → HB Køge (loan) 23 (2)
2023–2024 Red Star Belgrade 27 (1)
2024– Nottingham Forest 0 (0)
2024– → Olympiacos (loan) 8 (0)
International career‡
2018–2019 New Zealand U17 10 (0)
2021 New Zealand U23 3 (0)
2021– New Zealand 27 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 December 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2024

Marko Seufatu Nikola Stamenić (Serbian Cyrillic: Марко Сеуфату Никола Стаменић; born 19 February 2002) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Olympiacos, on loan from Premier League club Nottingham Forest, and the New Zealand national team.

Born in Wellington and raised in Stokes Valley, Stamenić graduated from the Olé Football Academy and signed for FC Copenhagen in September 2020 following extended trials. Following sporadic appearances for the club, including in the UEFA Champions League, Stamenić departed to join Red Star Belgrade in 2023.

Club career

Western Suburbs

Born in Wellington, Stamenić attended St Patrick's College, Silverstream, Wellington.[2] and came through the ranks of the Olé Football Academy.[3] During this time, Stamenić played for Olé-affiliated club Western Suburbs in the Central Premier League, making his debut in 2017 and reaching the final of the 2018 Chatham Cup.[3]

Team Wellington

Following Olé's affiliation with ISPS Handa Premiership side Team Wellington, Stamenić signed for them on 2 October 2019.[3] He made seven league appearances, scoring one goal on 15 December 2019 against Southern United.[4]

Copenhagen

Following his standout performances for New Zealand in the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup, and despite interest from Brazilian Série A club Flamengo, Stamenić was invited for a three-week trial at Danish Superliga side FC Copenhagen in March 2020. However, following an order from the New Zealand Government for all foreign-based New Zealand citizens to urgently return to the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was forced to abort the trial.[3] FC Copenhagen retained their interest, and Stamenić eventually returned to Denmark, signing for the club's under-19 team on 1 September 2020.[2][5]

Stamenić made his debut for the first team on 23 November 2020, starting in a 2–1 Superliga loss to Randers FC.[6]

On 9 January 2023, Copenhagen announced they would not be extending his contract, which expired in June 2023, as Stamenić had elected to explore other opportunities.[7]

Red Star Belgrade

On 6 February 2023, Red Star Belgrade (Crvena zvezda) announced that they had signed Stamenić on a four-year deal beginning the next season.[8]

Nottingham Forest

On 21 June 2024, Stamenić signed for English Premier League side Nottingham Forest on a five-year deal, immediately joining Super League Greece side Olympiacos on a season-long loan deal.[9][10]

International career

Under-17

Stamenić made his first appearance for the New Zealand U-17 team coming off the bench in their 0–5 loss to the Solomon Islands at the 2018 OFC U-16 Championship.[11] He then followed that up starting in New Zealand's next matches against Papua New Guinea in the last pool game,[12] Tahiti in the semi-finals[13] and in the final which saw a rematch against the Solomon Islands that New Zealand won 5–4 on penalties.[14]

Stamenić played all three games for New Zealand in their 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup campaign, finishing third in their group.[1]

Senior

Stamenić made his international debut with the senior New Zealand national team in a 2–1 friendly win over Curaçao on 9 October 2021.[15]

Personal life

Born in New Zealand, Stamenić is of Serbian and Samoan descent.[16] His father is from Novi Sad, Serbia.

Career statistics

Club

As of 21 June 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Western Suburbs 2017 Central Premier League — —
2018 — —
2019 — —
2020 — —
Total
Team Wellington 2019–20 Premiership 7 1 — — — 7 1
Copenhagen 2020–21 Danish Superliga 1 0 0 0 — 0 0 1 0
2021–22 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 0
2022–23 15 0 1 0 — 4[a] 0 20 0
Total 16 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 21 0
HB Køge (loan) 2021–22 Danish 1st Division 23 2 0 0 — — 23 2
Red Star Belgrade 2023–24 Serbian SuperLiga 27 1 4 0 — 4[a] 1 35 2
Nottingham Forest 2024–25 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Olympiacos (loan) 2024–25 Super League Greece 8 0 0 0 — 3[b] 0 11 0
Career total 80 4 5 0 0 0 11 1 94 5
  1. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played on 18 November 2024
Scores and results list New Zealand's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Stamenić goal.
List of international goals scored by Marko Stamenić
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 19 June 2023 Sonnensee Stadium, Ritzing, Austria  Qatar 1–0 1–0[n 1] Friendly
2 18 November 2024 Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand  Samoa 5–0 8–0 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
  1. ^ Michael Boxall was racially abused during the first half of the game by a Qatari player. No official action was taken so the team have agreed not to come out for the second half of the match.

Honours

Western Suburbs

Copenhagen

Red Star Belgrade

References

  1. ^ a b c d "FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019: List of Players: New Zealand" (PDF). FIFA. 31 October 2019. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b Rollo, Phillip (2 September 2020). "Another Kiwi in Europe: Rising star Marko Stamenić joins top Danish football club". Stuff. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d Rollo, Phillip (14 May 2020). "Covid-19 puts Kiwi footballer Marko Stamenić's European dream on hold". Stuff. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Marko Stamenic Profile". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Stuff".
  6. ^ Rollo, Phillip (23 November 2020). "Teenager Marko Stamenić makes professional debut for Danish club FC Copenhagen". Stuff. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  7. ^ "No contract extension with Marko Stamenić". F.C. København. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  8. ^ FK Crvena zvezda in English [@crvenazvezda_en] (6 February 2023). "Lord of the Midfield™ Young midfielder Marko Stamenić is set to join Crvena zvezda. The New Zealand-born starlet, class of 2022, will arrive on a four-year deal in the summer from FC Copenhagen. 🇷🇸🇳🇿 #fkcz" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ "Forest agree Marko Stamenić deal". www.nottinghamforest.co.uk. 21 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  10. ^ "Marko Stamenic Joins Olympiacos". www.olympiacos.org/en. 21 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  11. ^ "OFC U-16 Championship 2018 – Group A Solomon Islands v New Zealand". Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  12. ^ "OFC U-16 Championship 2018 – Group A New Zealand v Papua New Guinea". Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  13. ^ "OFC U-16 Championship 2018 – Semi-finals Tahiti v New Zealand". Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  14. ^ "OFC U-16 Championship 2018 – Final Solomon Islands v New Zealand". Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  15. ^ "Football: Gutsy All Whites grind out impressive victory over Curacao on international return". Newshub. 10 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  16. ^ "Covid-19 puts Kiwi footballer Marko Stamenić's European dream on hold". Stuff. 14 May 2020.
  17. ^ "FCK win 2022/23 Danish Cup". Copenhagen. 18 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.