Veljko Birmančević

Veljko Birmančević
Personal information
Date of birth (1998-03-05) 5 March 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Šabac, FR Yugoslavia[1]
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Sparta Prague
Number 14
Youth career
ŠF Stevan Ćele Vilotić
OFK Šabac
2010–2016 Partizan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Partizan 3 (0)
2016–2017 → Teleoptik (loan) 34 (5)
2018 → Rad (loan) 11 (1)
2018–2021 Čukarički 73 (11)
2021–2022 Malmö FF 46 (14)
2022–2023 Toulouse 25 (0)
2023– Sparta Prague 41 (19)
International career‡
2021– Serbia 11 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:42, 27 October 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 October 2024

Veljko Birmančević (Serbian Cyrillic: Вељко Бирманчевић; born 5 March 1998) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Czech First League club Sparta Prague and the Serbia national team.

Club career

Partizan

Birmančević signed his first professional contract with Partizan on 12 February 2016, and got the jersey number 30.[2] He made his Serbian SuperLiga debut on 21 February 2016 in a match against OFK Beograd.[3] Later, during the spring half-season, coach Ivan Tomić used him as a back-up player in matches against Radnik Surdulica[4] and Vojvodina.[5] In summer 2016, Birmančević was loaned to Teleoptik,[6] where he scored 4 goals on 22 matches in the Serbian League Belgrade for the 2016–17 season. He also extended his loan to Teleoptik for the 2017–18 Serbian First League campaign. He was sold from Malmö FF to Toulouse for a sum around €5 million.[7]

Sparta Prague

In June 2023, Birmančević was loaned to Sparta Prague for one season with an option to buy.[8] He signed for the club permanently on 5 March 2024, official from 1 July.[9]

In May 2024, Birmančević helped the club to win its second championship title in two seasons[10] and domestic cup.[11] He was awarded as the player,[12] midfielder[13] and foreign player[12] of the 2023–24 season by the League Football Association.

International career

Birmančević was called in U18 national during the 2015,[14] and scored one goal in a friendly match against Poland.[15] In August 2016, he was called into the Serbia U19 squad for the memorial tournament "Stevan Vilotić - Ćele".[16] Birmančević scored his first goal for Serbia U19 in a match against Sweden, played on 14 November 2016.[17]

In January 2021, Birmančević was called up to the Serbian senior squad by coach Ilija Stolica.[18] He made his debut for the team in a friendly match against the Dominican Republic on 25 January[19] and, four days later, made his second appearance against Panama.[20]

On 28 May 2024, Birmančević was named in the Serbia squad for UEFA Euro 2024.[21] He appeared as a substitute for Andrija Živković in the team's opening match of the tournament against England, making his first competitive appearance for Serbia in the 1–0 loss.[22] He also played in group stage match against Slovenia. Serbia finished fourth in the group.

Career statistics

Club

As of 17 May 2024[23]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Partizan 2015–16 Serbian SuperLiga 3 0 — — — 3 0
Teleoptik 2016–17 Serbian League Belgrade 22 4 — — — 22 4
2017–18 Serbian First League 12 1 — — — 12 1
Total 34 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 34 5
Rad 2017–18 Serbian SuperLiga 11 1 — — — 11 1
Čukarički 2018–19 25 0 1 0 — — 26 0
2019–20 26 2 4 1 3[a] 1 — 33 4
2020–21 22 9 2 2 0 0 — 24 11
Total 73 11 7 3 3 1 0 0 83 15
Malmö FF 2021 Allsvenskan 28 9 1 1 13[b] 4 — 42 14
2022 18 5 5 6 7[c] 4 — 30 15
Total 46 14 6 7 20 8 0 0 72 29
Toulouse 2022–23 Ligue 1 25 0 5 1 — — 30 1
Sparta Prague (loan) 2023–24 Czech First League 30 16 2 0 13[d] 5 — 45 21
Career total 222 47 20 11 36 14 0 0 277 72
  1. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. ^ Includes four appearances and two goals in UEFA Champions League and three appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Includes two appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League and nine appearances and three goals in UEFA Europa League

International

As of 15 October 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Serbia 2021 3 0
2022 0 0
2023 0 0
2024 8 0
Total 11 0

Honours

Partizan

Teleoptik

Malmö FF

Toulouse

Sparta Prague

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Veljko Birmančević". International Sports Office Belgrade official website (in Serbian). 21 February 2016. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  2. ^ "Povratak Partizanovog DNK: Dva potpisa do 2019! Birmančević profesionalac, Vlahoviću revidiran ugovor i čuvena "devetka"". mozzartsport.com (in Serbian). 12 February 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Od vođstva do poraza za samo 6 minuta". FK Partizan official website (in Serbian). 21 February 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  4. ^ "Partizan – Radnik 3:2 (0:2)". FK Partizan official website (in Serbian). 2 April 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  5. ^ "Pobeda za kraj sezone i 2. mesto u prvenstvu". FK Partizan official website (in Serbian). 21 May 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  6. ^ "Partizan poslao Birmančevića u Teleoptik". mozzartsport.com (in Serbian). 16 June 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Birmancevic, Veljko". srbijafudbal.com (in Serbian). Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  8. ^ Dosadil, Pavel (22 June 2023). "Sparta hlásí druhou posilu, sáhla pro ni do Francie". Sport.cz (in Czech).
  9. ^ "Birmančević kmenovým hráčem". AC Sparta Prague (in Czech). AC Sparta Prague. 5 March 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  10. ^ a b "SESTŘIH: Boleslav - Sparta 0:5. Titul pro Letenské! Kuchta dal čtyři góly". Blesk (in Czech). Czech News Center. Czech News Agency. 18 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  11. ^ a b Neumann, Robert (22 May 2024). "Sparta slaví double! Triumf v nervózním finále trefil Birmančevič". Sport.cz (in Czech). Borgis. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d "Králem sezony se stal Birmančevič, jenž získal hned tři trofeje. Nejlepším trenérem je opět Priske". League Football Association (Press release) (in Czech). 30 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Brankářem sezony je Staněk, obráncům vládne Hranáč. Uspěli i dva mistři". League Football Association (Press release) (in Czech). 28 May 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  14. ^ "U-18: Dve provere protiv Mađarske". Football Association of Serbia (in Serbian). 12 September 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  15. ^ "U18: Srbija preslišala Poljake". mozzartsport.com (in Serbian). 10 November 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  16. ^ "Косановић одабрао за "Стеван Вилотић – Ћеле"". Football Association of Serbia (in Serbian). 26 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  17. ^ "Пораз који не боли: Омладинци поражени од Шведске 2:3(1:1), чекају се нови ривали на путу до ЕП у Грузији". Football Association of Serbia (in Serbian). 14 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  18. ^ "Илија Столица позвао 25 играча за северноамеричку турнеју". Football Association of Serbia (in Serbian). 13 January 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  19. ^ "Нула Србије и Доминиканске Републике". Sportski žurnal (in Serbian). 26 January 2021.
  20. ^ "Panama - Serbia". Eurosport. 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  21. ^ "Serbia name 26-man squad for Euro 2024". Reuters. 28 May 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  22. ^ "Serbia 0-1 England LIVE: UEFA Euro 2024 - score, updates & reaction". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  23. ^ a b c Veljko Birmančević at Soccerway
  24. ^ "Allsvenskans bästa prisas – Magnus Eriksson mest värdefulle spelaren". svenskelitfotboll.se (in Swedish). Svensk Elitfotboll. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.