Marko Pantelić

Marko Pantelić
	Pantelić in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Marko Pantelić
Date of birth	15 September 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth	Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	Red Star Belgrade
	Iraklis Thessaloniki
Senior career*
Years	Team
1995–1996	Iraklis Thessaloniki
1997–1999	Paris Saint-Germain
1998–1999	→ Lausanne (loan)
1999–2000	Celta
1999	→ Sturm Graz (loan)
2000	→ Yverdon (loan)
2002–2003	Obilić
2003–2004	Sartid Smederevo
2004–2005	Red Star Belgrade
2005–2009	Hertha BSC
2009–2010	Ajax
2010–2013	Olympiacos
Total
International career
1996–1997	FR Yugoslavia U18
1996–1999	FR Yugoslavia U21
2003–2011	Serbia
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Marko Pantelić (Serbian Cyrillic: Марко Пантелић, pronounced [mâːrko pǎnːtelitɕ]; born 15 September 1978) is a Serbian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He represented Serbia at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early years

As Pantelić was coming up through the Red Star Belgrade youth system, he was offered a job Thessaloniki and went there alone in Greece. Pantelić was still only 16 years old when he signed a professional contract with Iraklis Thessaloniki.^[1] At 18, he accepted an offer in France to play for Paris Saint-Germain and soon found himself training and playing alongside stars like Raí, Marco Simone and Leonardo. After shining in PSG he moved on to Lausanne for a season, scoring 8 goals in 21 Swiss league matches.

Next stop was Spain at Celta Vigo. During this time, he was sent out on loan to Sturm Graz in Austria.

Obilić, Smederevo and Red Star

In the summer of 2002, after a two-year absence from professional football, Pantelić returned home to Serbia, and signed with Obilić. Barely 24 years of age, he was essentially starting over as many were quick to write him off as yet another prospect whose career was derailed by going abroad too soon. In January 2003 he moved to Sartid Smederevo.

After settling in, he quickly established himself as the team's leader, spearheading them to the Serbia and Montenegro Cup title in 2003. Glowing performances in Smederevo did not go unnoticed by Red Star, and in January 2004, Pantelić became their biggest mid-season signing.

Hertha BSC

After securing a loan move to Hertha for €250,000 on 31 August 2005, the last day of the transfer window, he went on to score 11 goals in 28 league matches during the 2005–06 season. In April 2006, he permanently moved to Hertha for an additional €1.5 million fee and soon established himself as one of the most formidable strikers in the Hertha squad.

Right after getting signed permanently, he responded with an even better season with 14 goals from 32 matches in the 2006–07 season. The 2007–08 season brought more steady play with 13 goals from 28 league matches. The next season, Pantelic was often benched in favor of Andriy Voronin as Hertha contended for the Bundesliga title. Hertha fell short, finishing in 4th place.

On 17 March 2009, Pantelić denied that he had held talks with any other clubs and coupled with his refusal to sign a new contract with the club,^[2] he became a free agent during the summer 2009.^[3]

Ajax

On 1 September 2009, after completing several medical tests, Pantelić signed a one-year contract with Dutch side Ajax, and was given the number 9 shirt.^[4] During the season, Pantelić scored 16 goals and delivered 9 assists in 25 league matches. Following the season, Pantelić expressed his desire to sign a new contract with Ajax, preferably a multi-year deal, however Ajax preferred a one-year deal. Pantelić did not accept the Ajax offer of a one-year deal with an option of another, because he wanted a sure future for his family.^[5] Ajax signed Mounir El Hamdaoui as his successor.

Olympiacos

On 21 August 2010, Pantelić joined Olympiacos on a free transfer. He signed a two-year contract worth €1.6 million per year.^[6] He scored his first goal against Panserraikos. On 11 December 2011, Pantelić managed to score four goals and to secure a victory against Kerkyra.

International career

Though he debuted for the national team in 2003, Pantelić started getting more frequent call-ups only in 2006 when he was almost 28 years of age.

In June 2010, he was selected in Serbia's squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup,^[7] where he appeared in group stage matches against Ghana and Australia. He scored his first World Cup goal against Australia in a 2–1 loss.

Pantelić also scored three goals in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers. He has not featured for his country since the failed UEFA Euro 2012 campaign.

Outside football

"Pantelić is a miracle of a man. He's the kind of legend that I would rarely ever meet."

Josip Šimunić, March 2013^[8]

Pantelić is widely known in his home country for his alter ego "Pantela", which was created when an anonymous editor of Kurir allegedly began writing columns under the nickname "Pantela" to reflect the real Pantelić's wit and charisma.^[9] The phenomenon became so popular that anonymous fans created profiles on Twitter and Facebook to mimic Pantelić's humorous personality.^[10] Pantelić himself confirmed that he is not the owner of either profiles, but admitted to Kurir that he found his alter egos funny and claimed that he would even want to meet the people behind his social networking profiles.

Career statistics

Club

Source:^[11]

Club	Season	League			Cup		Europe		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Iraklis Thessaloniki	1995–96	Alpha Ethniki	8	4			2	0	10	4
Paris Saint-Germain	1997–98	French Division 1	3	0	1	0	0	0	4	0
Lausanne	1998–99	Swiss Super League	21	8			—		21	8
Sturm Graz	1999–2000	Austrian Bundesliga	3	0			2	0	5	0
Yverdon	2000–01	Swiss Super League	3	0			—		3	0
Obilić	2002–03	First League of Serbia and Montenegro	5	0	1	0	0	0	6	0
Sartid Smederevo	2002–03	First League of Serbia and Montenegro	16	5	2	1	0	0	18	6
	2003–04	First League of Serbia and Montenegro	15	8	2	0	4	1	21	9
	Total		31	13	4	1	4	1	39	15
Red Star Belgrade	2003–04	First League of Serbia and Montenegro	12	5	3	1	0	0	15	6
	2004–05	First League of Serbia and Montenegro	29	21	5	1	6	2	40	24
	2005–06	First League of Serbia and Montenegro	3	0	0	0	2	3	5	3
	Total		44	26	8	2	8	5	60	33
Hertha BSC	2005–06	Bundesliga	28	11	2	1	0	0	30	12
	2006–07	Bundesliga	32	14	4	0	6	2	42	16
	2007–08	Bundesliga	28	13	1	1	0	0	29	14
	2008–09	Bundesliga	26	7	2	2	9	4	37	13
	Total		114	45	9	4	15	6	138	55
Ajax	2009–10	Eredivisie	25	16	7	3	7	2	39	21
Olympiacos	2010–11	Super League Greece	20	9	4	1	0	0	24	10
	2011–12	Super League Greece	12	10	3	6	3	0	18	16
	2012–13	Super League Greece	6	1	2	0	1	0	9	1
	Total		38	20	9	7	4	0	51	27
Career total			295	132	39	17	42	14	376	163

International

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Serbia and Montenegro	2003	1	0
	2004	2	0
	2005	0	0
Serbia	2006	5	1
	2007	7	0
	2008	7	2
	2009	6	1
	2010	7	3
	2011	8	3
Total		43	10

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	16 August 2006	Městský fotbalový stadion Miroslava Valenty, Uherské Hradiště, Czech Republic	Czech Republic	1–2	1–3	Friendly
2	24 May 2008	Croke Park, Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Republic of Ireland	0–1	1–1	Friendly
3	28 May 2008	Wacker Arena, Burghausen, Altötting, Germany	Russia	1–1	1–2	Friendly
4	10 October 2009	Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia	Romania	2–0	5–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying
5	3 March 2010	Stade 5 Juillet 1962, Algiers, Algeria	Algeria	0–1	0–3	Friendly
6	5 June 2010	Partizan Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia	Cameroon	4–2	4–3	Friendly
7	23 June 2010	Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit, South Africa	Australia	1–2	1–2	2010 FIFA World Cup
8	25 March 2011	Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia	Northern Ireland	1–1	2–1	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
9	29 March 2011	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	0–1	1–1	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
10	2 September 2011	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	0–1	0–1	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

Honours

Club

Lausanne

Swiss Cup: 1998–99

Sartid Smederevo

Serbia and Montenegro Cup: 2002–03

Red Star Belgrade

First League of Serbia and Montenegro: 2003–04
Serbia and Montenegro Cup: 2003–04

Hertha BSC

UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2006

Ajax

KNVB Cup: 2009–10

Olympiacos

Individual

Best Sportsman of SD Crvena Zvezda: 2004
First League of Serbia and Montenegro Top Scorer: 2004–05
Greek Cup Top Goalscorer: 2011–12 (6 goals)

Notes

^ Including 3 caps for Serbia and Montenegro

References

^ Poslednji kultni heroj: VICE u gostima kod Marka Pantelića
^ "Pantelic yet to discuss future". Sky Sports. 17 March 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
^ "Abschied von zwei alternden Stars" (in German). Welt Hertha Linke. 28 May 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
^ "Ajax contracteert Pantelic" (in Dutch). ajax.nl. 1 September 2009. Archived from the original on 4 September 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
^ "Pantelic moet 'goodbye' zeggen tegen Ajax" (in Dutch). voetbalprimeur.nl. 3 June 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
^ "Olympiakos snap up Pantelic". sportingreece.com. 20 August 2010. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
^ "Serbia cuts goalkeeper Brkic to make 23". espn.com. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
^ "Šimunić: Marko Pantelić je čudo od čoveka" (in Serbian). Sportski Zurnal. 16 March 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
^ "Pantelić: Hoću da upoznam Pantelu!" (in Serbian). Kurir. 4 July 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
^ "FENOMEN GODINE: Brat Pantela" (in Serbian). Mozzart Sport. 1 January 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
^ Marko Pantelić at WorldFootball.net

External links

Marko Pantelić at Reprezentacija.rs (in Serbian)
Marko Pantelić – FIFA competition record (archived)
Marko Pantelić – UEFA competition record (archive)

[1] Including 3 caps for Serbia and Montenegro

[2] Poslednji kultni heroj: VICE u gostima kod Marka Pantelića

[3] "Pantelic yet to discuss future". Sky Sports. 17 March 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2009.

[4] "Abschied von zwei alternden Stars" (in German). Welt Hertha Linke. 28 May 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2009.

[5] "Ajax contracteert Pantelic" (in Dutch). ajax.nl. 1 September 2009. Archived from the original on 4 September 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2009.

[6] "Pantelic moet 'goodbye' zeggen tegen Ajax" (in Dutch). voetbalprimeur.nl. 3 June 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2010.

[7] "Olympiakos snap up Pantelic". sportingreece.com. 20 August 2010. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011.

[8] "Serbia cuts goalkeeper Brkic to make 23". espn.com. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2017.

[9] "Šimunić: Marko Pantelić je čudo od čoveka" (in Serbian). Sportski Zurnal. 16 March 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.

[10] "Pantelić: Hoću da upoznam Pantelu!" (in Serbian). Kurir. 4 July 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2013.

[11] "FENOMEN GODINE: Brat Pantela" (in Serbian). Mozzart Sport. 1 January 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2013.

[12] Marko Pantelić at WorldFootball.net

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v t e Presidents of the Football Association of Serbia
FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro	Miljan Miljanić (1992–2001) Dragan Stojković (2001–2005) Tomislav Karadžić (2005–2006)
Serbia	Zvezdan Terzić (2006–2008) Tomislav Karadžić (2008–2016) Slaviša Kokeza (2016–2021) Marko Pantelić^c (2021) Nenad Bjeković^c (2021–2023) Dragan Džajić (2023–present)