Aleksandar Dragović

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Aleksandar Dragović
Aleksandar-Dragovic-2018-08-19.jpg
Dragović with Bayer Leverkusen in 2018
Personal information
Full name Aleksandar Dragović[1]
Date of birth (1991-03-06) 6 March 1991 (age 30)
Place of birth Vienna, Austria
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Red Star Belgrade
Number 15
Youth career
1997–2009 Austria Wien
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2009 Austria Wien II 8 (2)
2009–2011 Austria Wien 66 (1)
2011–2013 Basel 77 (4)
2013–2016 Dynamo Kyiv 66 (0)
2016–2021 Bayer Leverkusen 71 (3)
2017–2018 → Leicester City (loan) 11 (0)
2021– Red Star Belgrade 18 (3)
National team‡
2007–2008 Austria U17 11 (2)
2008–2009 Austria U19 6 (2)
2009– Austria 96 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 December 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:17, 7 September 2021 (UTC)

Aleksandar Dragović (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Драговић, pronounced [aleksǎːndar drâɡoʋitɕ]; born 6 March 1991) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serbian SuperLiga club Red Star Belgrade and the Austria national team. He is well known for his performances as a tough-tackling centre-back.

Club career[]

Basel[]

Dragović started his career by playing in the youth teams of Austrian giants Austria Wien and started playing for their B-squad in 2007. As of 1 February 2011 Dragović transferred to FC Basel in the Swiss Super League.[3] He made his team debut in the 3:0 home win over FC St. Gallen. At the end of the 2010–11 Swiss Super League season Dragović won the Swiss Championship title with FC Basel. In July 2011 he played with his new club in the Uhrencup and won the tournament. He scored his first Super League goal in the 3–0 home win against Servette FC on 1 October 2011.[4] At the end of the 2011–12 season Dragović won the Double, the League Championship title[5] and the Swiss Cup[6] with Basel.

During Basel's 2012–13 season the team missed their Champions League aim. But in the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League Basel advanced as far as the semifinals,[7] meaning that they played a total of 20 European matches. Dragović missed solely the second leg of the semi-final at Stamford Bridge due to a yellow card suspension, but had played in all the other European ties.

In the domestic championship he played in 32 of the 36 games. He scored three goals in the domestic league this season, all three being against Servette. At the end of the Swiss Super League season 2012–13 Dragovic won the Championship title[8] and was Swiss Cup runner up with Basel.[9]

Dynamo Kyiv[]

On 26 July 2013, Dragović had signed a five-year contract with Ukrainian club FC Dynamo Kyiv. On 17 May 2015, Dragović helped Dynamo beat Dnipro 1–0 which was the game that won Dynamo their first Ukrainian Premier League title in six years.

On 4 November 2015, Dragović scored his first ever UEFA Champions League goal in the group stage against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on the 78th minute, as well as scoring an own goal on the 34th. Dynamo ended up losing that match 2–1. In that season he helped Dynamo reach the last sixteen of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 16 years, getting knocked out by Manchester City 1–3 on aggregate.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen[]

On 22 August 2016, Dragović signed a five-year contract with German club Bayer 04 Leverkusen.[10]

Leicester City (loan)[]

On 31 August 2017, Dragović joined Premier League club Leicester City on a season-long loan from Bayer Leverkusen.[11]

Red Star Belgrade[]

On 26 May 2021, Dragović signed a three-year contract with Red Star Belgrade.[12]

International career[]

Dragović in action against Iceland in 2014

Dragović also used to be part of the national under-17 and under-19 Austrian teams. He was called up for the national team of Austria for their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Romania, but due to an injury he was unable to play. He was called up again by the Austrian head coach Dietmar Constantini for the match against Serbia. He made his international debut in this match on 6 June 2009. Dragović scored his first goal on 18 November 2014 in a 1–2 home defeat to Brazil. He made the final squad for Euro 2016, where he was sent-off in the first game against Hungary,[13] and missed a penalty in the decisive match against Iceland, which ended in a 2–1 defeat.[14]

Personal life[]

Dragović was born in Vienna to parents from Belgrade, Serbia.[15] His favourite team is Red Star Belgrade, which he ended up joining in 2021.[15]

In May 2012, twenty-one-year-old Dragović attracted criticism in Swiss media due to playfully slapping the Swiss defence minister Ueli Maurer's head during FC Basel's Swiss Cup win medal ceremony.[16] After making further comments about being reluctant to apologize—stating that "on the inside everybody knows, so I believe, that it was very, very much fun doing it"—Dragović reportedly traveled to the Bundeshaus in Berne in order to personally apologize to Maurer.[17]

Career statistics[]

Club[]

As of match played 26 May 2021.[18]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Austria Wien II 2008–09 Austrian First League 8 2 — — — — 8 2
Austria Wien 2008–09 Austrian Bundesliga 16 0 0 0 — 1[a] 0 — 17 0
2009–10 Austrian Bundesliga 32 0 1 0 — 9[a] 0 — 42 0
2010–11 Austrian Bundesliga 18 1 2 0 — 6[a] 0 — 26 1
Total 66 1 3 0 — 16 0 — 85 1
Basel 2010–11 Swiss Super League 16 0 1 0 — 0 0 — 17 0
2011–12 Swiss Super League 28 1 3 0 — 8[b] 0 — 39 1
2012–13 Swiss Super League 32 3 3 0 — 19[c] 0 — 54 3
2013–14 Swiss Super League 1 0 0 0 — 0 0 — 1 0
Total 77 4 7 0 — 27 0 — 111 4
Dynamo Kyiv 2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League 21 0 5 0 — 9[a] 0 — 35 0
2014–15 Ukrainian Premier League 24 0 6 1 — 10[a] 0 1[d] 0 41 1
2015–16 Ukrainian Premier League 17 0 4 0 — 8[b] 1 1[d] 0 30 1
2016–17 Ukrainian Premier League 4 0 0 0 — — 1[d] 0 5 0
Total 66 0 15 1 — 27 1 3 0 111 2
Bayer Leverkusen 2016–17 Bundesliga 19 0 1 0 — 3[b] 0 — 23 0
2017–18 Bundesliga 1 0 0 0 — 0 0 — 1 0
2018–19 Bundesliga 18 2 2 0 — 8[a] 0 — 28 2
2019–20 Bundesliga 15 0 4 0 — 6[e] 0 — 25 0
2020–21 Bundesliga 18 1 3 0 — 8[a] 1 — 29 2
Total 71 3 10 0 — 25 1 — 106 4
Leicester City (loan) 2017–18 Premier League 11 0 2 0 3 0 — — 16 0
Career total 299 10 37 1 3 0 95 2 3 0 438 13
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Appearance(s) in the UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in the UEFA Champions League
  3. ^ Six appearances in the UEFA Champions League and thirteen appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ a b c Appearance in the Ukrainian Super Cup
  5. ^ Three appearances in the UEFA Champions League and three appearances in the UEFA Europa League

International[]

As of match played 7 September 2021[19]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Austria 2009 7 0
2010 2 0
2011 5 0
2012 4 0
2013 9 0
2014 8 0
2015 8 1
2016 11 0
2017 7 0
2018 9 0
2019 10 0
2020 6 0
2021 10 1
Total 96 2
Scores and results list Austria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dragović goal.[20]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 18 November 2014 Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna, Austria  Brazil 1–1 1–2 Friendly
2 28 March 2021  Faroe Islands 1–1 3–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours[]

Club[]

Austria Wien
Basel
Dynamo Kyiv

Individual[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  2. ^ "Aleksandar Dragović Profile". bayer04.de (in German). Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Aleksandar Dragovic kommt zum FCB" (in German). FC Basel Internetseite. 2011. Archived from the original on 28 May 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  4. ^ Weber, Dominik (2011). "Souveräner FC Basel schlägt Servette Genf mit 3:0" (in German). FC Basel Internetseite. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  5. ^ a b "Jetzt hat Basel den Titel auf sicher" (in German). football.ch. 2012. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  6. ^ a b "Matchtelegram FC Basel 1893 5:3 FC Luzern" (in German). football.ch. 2012. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  7. ^ Haylett, Trevor (2013). "Basel take heart after Chelsea defeat". UEFA. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  8. ^ a b Schifferle, Michael (2013). "Season review: Switzerland". UEFA. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  9. ^ SFV (2013). "Telegramm Schweizer Cup Final" (in German). Schweizerischer Fussballverband. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Bayer 04 sign Dragovic from Dynamo Kyiv". Bayer Leverkusen. 22 August 2016. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  11. ^ "Aleksandar Dragović Joins Leicester City On Season-Long Loan". Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  12. ^ "Mrkela: Dragović will be our star in European football". FC Crvena Zvezda. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  13. ^ "EURO 2016: Hungary beats Hungary 2-0 at Euro 2016". newindianexpress.com. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  14. ^ "England 2–1 Austria: Euro 2016 – as it happened!". theguardian.com. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  15. ^ a b Velimirović, I. (11 December 2011). "Dragović: FSS me nije zvao, teška srca sam prihvatio poziv Austrije". Blic.
  16. ^ Wegmann, Michael (19 May 2012). "Dragovic hatte keine Ahnung, wer Ueli Maurer ist". Blick. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012.
  17. ^ "Fall Dragovic eskaliert zur Staatsaffäre". 20 Minuten. 24 May 2012.
  18. ^ Aleksandar Dragović at Soccerway
  19. ^ "Aleksandar Dragović". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Aleksandar Dragovic". European Football. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  21. ^ a b c "A. Dragović". Soccerway. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  22. ^ "Best Defender 2012". Golden Player. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  23. ^ "Europa League team of the group stage". UEFA. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2015.

External links[]

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