Nikola Žigić
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nikola Žigić | ||
| Height | 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Red Star Belgrade | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 31 Decmeber, 2005 | |||
Nikola Žigić (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Жигић), (born September 25, 1980, in Bačka Topola, Vojvodina) is a Serbian football player who currently plays for Red Star Belgrade. A striker, he has been voted Serbia & Montenegro's Player of the Year twice (in 2003 and 2005). As of December 2005, he has ten caps for Serbia & Montenegro, and three goals. He is 2.02 m (6' 8") tall, and one of the tallest players in the world.
Although he attracted much attention for his fine performances in the Serbia-Montenegro league, he really started to turn heads after he nailed down a regular place in the Serbia-Montenegro national team in mid-2005. Žigić scored a couple of goals in some friendlies, but it was his appearance in a crucial qualifier against Spain in Madrid that got the people talking. After an atrocious first half on Vincente Calderon stadium during which Serbia-Montenegro rarely crossed the center line and was extremely lucky to be only 0-1 down, coach Ilija Petković threw Žigić into the mix. His towering presence up front changed the flow of the match instantly. Žigić played a key role in Serbia's tying goal, and later set up Mateja Kezman perfectly for another, only to see his strike partner arrive a tad late, clipping the ball wide of Iker Casillas' gaping half-empty net. However, Serbia got the key away point and confirmed their World Cup qualification at home in Belgrade versus Bosnia-Herzegovina with Žigić again nicely setting up Kezman for the game's only goal.
Following his fine national team outings, Žigić continued to shine for his club Red Star Belgrade. His world class goal from 30 meters against AS Roma in UEFA Cup action delighted home fans and further raised Zigic's asking price on the transfer market.
Recently, he has been linked to FA Premier League sides Portsmouth FC, Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United, for a fee speculated to be €11.5 million. He was also linked with Arsenal, but Red Star Belgrade's president Dragan Stojkovic, rejected all offers from English Premiership sides downright, postponing all further negotiations until after the World Cup 2006 in Germany.
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