Perica Ognjenović

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Perica Ognjenović (Serbian Cyrillic: Перица Огњеновић) (born 24 February 1977 in Smederevska Palanka, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia), is a Serbian footballer.

At one point considered to be among Serbia's biggest football talents, he is now widely viewed as one of the more spectacular examples of a sports-related bust.

Ognjenovic's first football steps were made with hometown side Mladost, which is where he caught the eye of Serbian powerhouse Red Star Belgrade.

Extremely speedy and skillful on the ball, he quickly marked himself out as a potential star. A series of glowing performances for Red Star Belgrade earned him a move to Real Madrid on January 12, 1999 for a DM5 million transfer fee, and a reported annual salary of DM1.2 million.[1] However, his time in Madrid was not a happy one. Ognjenovic spent two and a half fruitless years at Bernabeu, barely making around 30 first team appearances, mostly as a substitute, in all competitions (Primera, Copa del Rey, and Champions League). He was finally released during summer of 2001.

For the next six months, Ognjenovic had no club. He trained alone with a private coach until Kaiserslautern arranged a tryout and brought him in for free on January 17, 2002. The contract was signed until summer of 2002 with a 2-year extension option.[2][3]

After failing to settle in Germany, Ognjenovic's next stop was China with Dalian Shide.

He then moved on to Dynamo Kyiv in the summer of 2003, but couldn't earn playing time there either. Once one of the greatest European talents, his next stop was in French lower league club Angers SCO.

In May 2006, Ognjenović joined Malaysian Super League side, Selangor from Shah Alam, signing a 6-month contract.[4] The club was sitting in last place at the time of his signing.

Ognjenović was a member of the FR Yugoslavia 1998 FIFA World Cup squad.

[edit] External links

Profile on JadranSport.org (English)

	FR Yugoslavia squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 Kralj \| 2 Mirković \| 3 Đorović \| 4 Jokanović \| 5 Đukić \| 6 Brnović \| 7 Jugović \| 8 Savićević \| 9 Mijatović \| 10 Stojković \| 11 Mihajlović \| 12 Leković \| 13 Komljenović \| 14 Saveljić \| 15 Drulović \| 16 Petrović \| 17 Milošević \| 18 Govedarica \| 19 Stević \| 20 Stanković \| 21 Ognjenović \| 22 Kovačević \| Coach: Santrač