Boris Kopitović (footballer, born 1995)

Boris Kopitović
Personal information
Date of birth (1995-04-27) 27 April 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth FR Yugoslavia
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2+12 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Tampines Rovers
Number 9
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 Petrovac 45 (15)
2016–2017 FK Mladost 24 (7)
2017–2018 Kom 25 (1)
2018–2019 Petrovac 42 (12)
2020– Tampines Rovers 101 (90)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 August 2024

Boris Kopitović is a Montenegrin footballer who currently plays as a forward for Singapore Premier League club Tampines Rovers.

Kopitović won the 2022 Singapore Premier League 'Top Goalscorer' award with 35 goals and was name in the 2022 'Team of the Year' in which he eventually became a key player for Tampines Rovers. He is known for his finishing inside the box and superb free-kicks.

Kopitović is also Tampines Rovers all-time top goalscorer in history with 106 goals.

Club career

Petrovac

Kopitović started his career with Petrovac. During his time with Petrovac, he was named the revelation of the 2015–16 season in the Montenegrin First League, scoring 13 goals in 30 league appearances and also scoring back-to-back brace against Lovćen and Zeta Golubovac on 26 and 31 October 2015 respectively.[1]

FK Mladost

In July 2016, Kopitović joined Mladost Podgorica. On 13 July 2016, he make his debut for the club in the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round against Bulgarian club Ludogorets in a 2–0 lost. On 22 October, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win over FK Bokelj.

Kom

On 27 July 2017, Kopitović joined Kom Podgorica on a free transfer. He scored his first and only goal for the club on 12 August 2017 against Iskra Danilovgrad.

Return to Petrovac

Kopitović returned to Petrovac after 2 seasons away where he was unable to replicate the form that saw him transferring to Mladost Podgorica.

Entering the winter break, Kopitović was the second top-scorer in the Montenegro top tier with 8 goals from 19 appearances for the 2019–20 Montenegrin First League, before he decided to transfer to Singapore Premier League side Tampines Rovers.[2][3][4]

Tampines Rovers

On 6 January 2020, Kopitović moved to Southeast Asia to signed for Singapore Premier League club Tampines Rovers ahead of the 2020 season and opened his goal scoring account on his debut, netting in a 5–3 defeat to Indonesian club Bali United in the 2020 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs on 14 January 2020.[2][5][6] He scored in his second competitive game as well on 12 February 2020, helping his club to a 2–1 victory over Indonesian club PSM Makassar in the 2020 AFC Cup group stage.[7][8][9] Kopitović scored a goal and also assisted Jordan Webb in the 2020 AFC Cup match against Myanmar club Shan United securing a 2–1 win. On 22 February 2020, he scored a goal to secured his club the 2020 Singapore Community Shield in a 3–0 win over Hougang United. Kopitović has enjoyed a brilliant start to life in Singapore in his first season scoring 13 goals in 19 appearances across all competitions.[10][11]

In the 2021 season, Kopitović maintains his goal scoring record in which he scored in 4 consecutive matches and also scoring his first professional hat-trick against Young Lions in a 7–0 win on 7 April 2021. Kopitović also participated in the club 2021 AFC Champions League campaign where he played in all six of the club group stage matches but unfortunately failed to scored in all of the games. Kopitović than end the 2021 season scoring 16 goals in 27 appearances across all competition for the club.[12]

However, the 2022 Season saw Kopitović flourish even further, notching 12 assists and 31 goals with 2 games left to play, going neck-to-neck with Kodai Tanaka in the challenge for the Golden Boot award.[12] Kopitović eventually finished the season as the league top goalscorer, ending the season with 35 goals in 28 matches.[13] He also scored a hat-trick and recorded 2 assists in a 7–1 thrashing win over Hougang United on 18 March 2022 in which he proceeded to scored in the next 6 consecutive league matches. On 30 June 2022, he scored a goal in the 2022 AFC Cup match against Malaysian club, Kuala Lumpur City in a 2–1 lost. On 3 September 2022, Kopitović scored a brace and recorded 4 assists in one match in a 7–0 away win over Young Lions. During the second leg of the 2022 Singapore Cup semi-finals match against Balestier Khalsa on 15 November 2022, he scored his second hat-trick of the season in a 8–1 thrashing win where his team qualified to the cup final.

In the 2023 season, Kopitović went on to have an impressive season maintaining his goalscoring profile where he scored 21 goals in 30 matches across all competition for the club.

On 13 January 2024, Kopitović signed a contract extension with Tampines Rovers which will see him play his fifth season with the club. He started the inaugural 2024–25 season in a fine form in which he scored a goal against Albirex Niigata (S) in a 3–1 win and also scoring in the Eastern Derby against Geylang International in a 4–4 draw. Kopitović went on to scored in six consecutive matches since the start of the season. On 13 July 2024, In his 120th appearance for the club in a league match against DPMM, he scored his 100th and 101th goal for Tampines Rovers in a 3–0 win. On 22 September in the away fixture against DPMM, Kopitović overtake Aleksandar Đurić to become Tampines Rovers all-time leading goalscorer in the club history with 106 goals.

Personal life

Kopitović has stated in an interview that he grown up idolising Cristiano Ronaldo back in 2003 when he was at Manchester United.

Career statistics

Club

As of 25 June 2024
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup UEFA Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Petrovac 2013–14 Montenegrin First League 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2014–15 14 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 17 2
2015–16 30 13 2 0 0 0 0 0 32 13
Total 45 15 5 0 0 0 0 0 50 15
Mladost Podgorica 2016–17 Montenegrin First League 24 7 0 0 0 0 1 0 25 7
Total 24 7 0 0 0 0 1 0 25 7
Kom Podgorica 2017–18 Montenegrin First League 25 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 27 1
Total 25 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 27 1
Petrovac 2018–19 Montenegrin First League 26 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 30 4
2019–20 16 8 2 0 0 0 0 0 18 8
Total 42 12 6 0 0 0 0 0 48 12
Club Season League Singapore Cup League Cup
& Others
AFC & ACL Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Tampines Rovers 2020 Singapore Premier League 14 9 0 0 1 1 4 3 19 13
2021 21 16 0 0 0 0 6 0 27 16
2022 28 35 5 5 0 0 2 1 35 41
2023 23 17 7 4 0 0 1 2 31 23
2024–25 16 14 0 0 0 0 2 1 18 15
Total 102 91 12 9 1 1 15 7 131 108
Career total 238 126 25 9 1 1 15 7 279 143

Honours

Tampines Rovers

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Kopitović se vratio u Petrovac". Cafe del Montenegro. 2018-07-18.
  2. ^ a b "Tampines Rovers Football Club". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  3. ^ "Kopitović u Singapuru". Cafe del Montenegro. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 28 Jan 2020.
  4. ^ Sourcefabric (2019-12-20). "Najiskusniji povukli lidera, iznenađenja iz predgrađa i golgeteri sa dna tabele". Vijesti.me. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  5. ^ "Bali United defeat Tampines Rovers 5-3 in AFC Champions League 2020 | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  6. ^ "AFC Champions League 2020: Tampines Rovers vs Bali United live stream, updates, when and where to watch". FOX Sports Asia. 2020-01-14. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  7. ^ "Tampines Rovers forward Boris Kopitovic strikes again". The New Paper. 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  8. ^ hermes (2020-02-13). "Victory for Stags in AFC Cup opener". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  9. ^ "AFC Cup 2020: Webb and Kopitovic on target as Tampines Rovers beat PSM Makassar 2-1". FOX Sports Asia. 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  10. ^ Ganesan (2020-02-19). "Best is yet to be for Tampines Rovers' new striker Boris Kopitovic". The New Paper. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  11. ^ Kwek, Kimberly. "Tampines Rovers beat Hougang United 3-0 to win Community Shield". The Straits Times.
  12. ^ a b Auto, Hermes (2022-10-13). "Football: SPL goal machines Kopitovic and Tanaka cross paths as race for Golden Boot nears end | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  13. ^ cue (2022-10-22). "SPL review: Should Young Lions stay or go? | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 2022-10-26.