Željko Ljubenovic
Encyclopedia
Željko Ljubenović is a Serbian football midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

 playing for Tavriya Simferopol in the Ukrainian Premier League
Ukrainian Premier League
The Ukrainian Premier League is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Supreme League it was founded in 1991 after the fold of the Soviet Union's Vysshaya Liga. In 2008 it was reformed into a more autonomous entity of the Football Federation of Ukraine and changed...

.

Early career

He started playing in the youth squads of Belgrade giants FK Partizan
FK Partizan
Fudbalski klub Partizan is a professional football club based in Belgrade, Serbia. In its long history, FK Partizan won as many as 37 trophies. The club is the holder of 23 national championships, 12 national cups and 1 national supercup, and has also won the Mitropa Cup in 1978...

, but he will move to another club OFK Beograd
OFK Beograd
Omladinski fudbalski klub Beograd, commonly referred to as OFK Beograd , is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia, more precisely from the Karaburma urban neighborhood. It currently is the oldest team playing in the Serbian SuperLiga. The name means "Youth Football Club Belgrade" in Serbian...

 where he will spend a total of 6 years, being the last of them the ones in which Ljubenović started playing in the senior squad.

Strong performances at Second League

Afterward, still young and making his first steps, he moved to FK Mladost Luksfrom Lukićevo
Lukicevo
Lukićevo is a village in Serbia. It is located in the Zrenjanin municipality, in the Central Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 2,077 people .-See also:...

 but after one season, he will change to Second League
Serbian First League
Serbian First League is the name for the second tier in Serbia's football league. The league is operated by the Football Association of Serbia. 18 teams are set to compete in this league for the 2009-10 season...

 club OFK Mladenovac
OFK Mladenovac
OFK Mladenovac is a professional football club based in Mladenovac, Serbia.-Current squad:As of Avgust 2011.* DF Kristijan Tucaković* FW Danko Pavković* FW Nemanja Nikolić* FW Danilo Krstonijević-External links:...

 where he will consolidate himself in the club and stay for two and a half seasons having played a total of 67 matches, scored 12 goals and made an impressive 22 goal assistance. By that time, local sports press usually described him as one of the most promising players in the second league with fine technical skills, good passing game and strong shot. He was also one of the best rated players by the specialised press. All this earned him interess from many Serbian top league but there were also some strong offers from South Korean and Hong Kong clubs. After this, he decided to sign with another second league club, the historical FK Proleter Zrenjanin
FK Proleter Zrenjanin
FK Proleter Zrenjanin was a football club from the city of Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, Serbia.-Early period:...

 where he will be coached with the reputated Mr. Žarko Soldo that had already coached him 2 years earlier.

Back to top league with FK Hajduk Kula

In summer 2005 after analysing a serious of offers he decided to sign with FK Hajduk Kula a stable top league Serbian club where he will play the 2005-06 Serbia and Montenegro First League. His good exhibitions earn him a call from the Ukrainian Premier League
Ukrainian Premier League
The Ukrainian Premier League is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Supreme League it was founded in 1991 after the fold of the Soviet Union's Vysshaya Liga. In 2008 it was reformed into a more autonomous entity of the Football Federation of Ukraine and changed...

 club FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih
FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih
FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Kryvyi Rih. The club currently plays in Ukrainian Premier League and is based in the Metalurh Stadium, which seats 29,734....

 where he moved on January 2006 signing a 3 year contract. He was one o the signings that the club made to try to maintain them in the Premier League, but they fail and the clubs ends up relegated because of the financial problems with all players being released.

FC Tavriya Simferopol

After being released by relegated Kryvbas, soon other top league clubs showe interess in signing the attacking midfielder Ljubenović. FC Tavriya Simferopol was quick in approaching him, and the positive aspects of the club such were the great working and training conditions, club's stable financial situation and the quality of the squad made Ljubenović easy the decision the join them. Initially, he had hard time to get into the starting team because of heavy competition for all places in the squad, but some bad results during Outumn 2006 made that some standard players loose manager confidence and Ljubenović begins to be a starter from that moment on. He made his debut on the 11th league round and archived to score three goals in 6 matches played, also being one of the most influential players in archiving the qualification for the semi-finals of the Ukrainian Cup
Ukrainian Cup
The Ukrainian Cup is a national knockout cup competition in Ukrainian football, run by the Football Federation of Ukraine. The winner of the competition is awarded a qualification to the UEFA Cup , under special circumstances the finalist also may enter...

. After havinf initially signed a contract for only one year, his great displays, and the fact that he has been at the top between the reat of the players regarding scored goals and assistances, beside receiving support from club fans, made him earn a contract prorogation.

External links

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