Ljubomir Fejsa (Serbian Cyrillic: Љубомир Фејса, pronounced [ʎǔbomir fě:jsa]; born 14 August 1988) is a Serbian professional footballer who last played for Partizan as a defensive midfielder. He competed for Serbia at the 2008 Summer Olympics.[1]
 Fejsa playing for Benfica in 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ljubomir Fejsa | ||
| Date of birth | 14 August 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Titov Vrbas, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2006 | Hajduk Kula | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2008 | Hajduk Kula | 58 | (2) |
| 2008–2011 | Partizan | 49 | (2) |
| 2011–2013 | Olympiacos | 20 | (0) |
| 2013–2020 | Benfica | 114 | (1) |
| 2015 | Benfica B | 2 | (0) |
| 2020 | → Alavés (loan) | 13 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | Al-Ahli | 23 | (1) |
| 2022–2023 | Partizan | 25 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2008–2011 | Serbia U21 | 23 | (2) |
| 2007–2019 | Serbia | 25 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 May 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 June 2019 | |||
From 2008–09 to 2016–17, Fejsa won ten consecutive league titles across three clubs – three with Partizan, three with Olympiacos and four with Benfica, winning both the Super League Greece and the Primeira Liga in the 2013–14 season.[2]
Club career
editPartizan
editOn 1 July 2008, it was announced that Fejsa signed for FK Partizan after the club had been interested in him for over a year. He signed a five-year contract and was given the number 5 shirt for Partizan.[3] In the three seasons he spent in Partizan, Fejsa won three Serbian Championship Titles as well as two trophies in the Serbian Cup. In the 2008/09 season. and 2009/10. Fejsa was included in the ideal team of the domestic championship. In April 2010, in a friendly match between the national teams of Serbia and Japan (3:0), Fejsa injured his anterior cruciate ligaments, after which he spent more than a year out of the field, and he played again only at the end of the 2010/11 season.
Olympiacos
editOn 21 June 2011 Fejsa signed with Olympiacos with a transfer fee of €3 million and signed a three plus one-year contract.[4] His first appearance was in a friendly 1–0 win against Galatasaray. He scored his first goal against Inter Milan during another friendly match. He showed good form at the beginning of 2011–12 season, and had impressive performances during the early stages of Champions League Groups. However, he was injured during training and missed the rest of the season.[5]
During the 2012–13 season, when Leonardo Jardim was named the head coach of Olympiacos, Fejsa was regularly benched and barely made any appearance during the Portuguese coach stay at the club. In February 2013, when Leonardo Jardim was sacked by Olympiacos due to the crowds dismay because of the playing style of the team, coach Míchel was hired and he immediately made Fejsa one of the starters.[6][7] He made decent appearances, despite being benched for most of the season and he was called back to Serbia national football team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.
Benfica
editOn 23 August 2013, Fejsa signed a five-year contract with Benfica for a reported fee of €4.5 million.[8][9]
Fejsa made his debut on 19 September 2013 in a Champions League match against Anderlecht.[10] He appear sporadically in the first half of the season, but with Nemanja Matić's transfer to Chelsea, he became the sole option to the position, appearing far more regularly, until an injury in early April 2014 sidelined him for the next months.[11][12]
On 2 February 2015, Benfica registered Fejsa at the LPFP, enabling him to play the rest of the season.[13] He returned to competition, debuting for the reserve team in Segunda Liga on 11 March. A month later, he returned to Benfica's first-team, as a substitute, and scored the fifth goal of the match against Académica (5–1) in Primeira Liga.[14]
On 29 January 2020, he was loaned out to Spanish La Liga side Alavés until the end of the season.[15]
Al-Ahli
editFejsa left Benfica on 24 September 2020, signing with Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli for two seasons.[16]
Return to Partizan and retirement
editFejsa returned to Partizan in January 2022.[17] He left Partizan after his contract expired at the end of the 2022–23 season.[18]
He officially announced his retirement on 9 October 2024.[19]
International career
editFejsa made his senior debut for the Serbia national team under the guidance of head coach Javier Clemente with a substitute appearance during the rescheduled UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier at home against Kazakhstan on 24 November 2007.[20] He also made substitute appearances against Northern Ireland, Faroe Islands and Italy in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying.[21] He earned a total of 25 caps (no goals scored)[22] and his final international was a June 2019 European Championship qualification match away against Ukraine.[23]
Career statistics
editClub
edit- As of end of 2021–22 season[24]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Other[a] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Hajduk Kula | 2005–06 | Serbian SuperLiga | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2006–07 | Serbian SuperLiga | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 22 | 1 | ||
| 2007–08 | Serbian SuperLiga | 32 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 34 | 1 | ||
| Total | 58 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 60 | 2 | |||
| Partizan | 2008–09 | Serbian SuperLiga | 27 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 35 | 0 | |
| 2009–10 | Serbian SuperLiga | 20 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | – | 32 | 2 | ||
| 2010–11 | Serbian SuperLiga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 49 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 0 | – | 69 | 2 | |||
| Olympiacos | 2011–12 | Super League Greece | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 8 | 0 | |
| 2012–13 | Super League Greece | 15 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 0 | – | 27 | 1 | ||
| 2013–14 | Supe league Greece | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 20 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 0 | – | 36 | 1 | |||
| Benfica | 2013–14 | Primeira Liga | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| 2014–15 | Primeira Liga | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2015–16 | Primeira Liga | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 0 | |
| 2016–17 | Primeira Liga | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 1 | |
| 2017–18 | Primeira Liga | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 0 | |
| 2018–19 | Primeira Liga | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 0 | |
| 2019–20 | Primeira Liga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 114 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 38 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 169 | 2 | ||
| Benfica B | 2014–15 | Segunda Liga | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Alavés (loan) | 2019–20 | La Liga | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||
| Al Ahli | 2020–21 | Saudi Pro League | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 23 | 1 | |
| 2021–22 | Saudi Pro League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 24 | 1 | |||
| Partizan | 2021–22 | Serbian SuperLiga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | |
| 2022–23 | Serbian SuperLiga | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | – | 32 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 304 | 6 | 24 | 1 | 70 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 407 | 8 | ||
- ^ Includes Taça da Liga and Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
International
edit- As of match played 7 June 2019[25]
| Serbia | ||
| Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 1 | 0 |
| 2008 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | 1 | 0 |
| 2011 | 3 | 0 |
| 2012 | 5 | 0 |
| 2013 | 6 | 0 |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 |
| 2015 | 5 | 0 |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 25 | 0 |
Honours
editPartizan[26]
Olympiacos[26]
Benfica[26]
- Primeira Liga: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17,[2] 2018–19
- Taça de Portugal: 2013–14, 2016–17
- Taça da Liga: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16
- Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2016, 2017
- UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2013–14
Individual
editReferences
edit- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Ljubomir Fejsa". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.
- ^ a b c d Silva, Tiago Filipe (14 May 2017). "Fejsa, o "bom menino" que virou papa títulos" [Fejsa, the "good boy" who became title eater]. Maisfutebol (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 June 2017.
- ^ "Fejsa novi član Partizana!" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Ljubomir Fejsa signed for Olympiacos – Serbian (Cyrillic)
- ^ "Fejsa out, Vidic doubtful for key Serbia clash". fourfourtwo. 8 October 2011.
- ^ Ανακοίνωση της ΠΑΕ Ολυμπιακός (in Greek). olympiacos.org. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- ^ Εποχή Μίτσελ στον Ολυμπιακό (in Greek). olympiacos.org. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
- ^ "Fejsa no Benfica por cinco milhões" [Fejsa in Benfica for five million]. desporto.sapo.pt. 23 August 2013.
- ^ "Vieira confirma: Fejsa é jogador do Benfica" [Vieira confirms:Fejsa is a Benfica player]. maisfutebol.iol.pt. 23 August 2013.
- ^ "Fejsa convenceu na estreia a titular: "Pulmão inesgotável"". maisfutebol.iol.pt. 19 September 2013.
- ^ "Fejsa lesionado não viaja com o Benfica para a Holanda". noticiasaominuto.com. 2 April 2014.
- ^ "Fejsa pode não jogar mais este ano". zerozero.pt. 29 May 2014.
- ^ "Liga Portugal" (PDF) (in Portuguese). LPFP. 2 February 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- ^ "Benfica – Académica (Jornada 28 Liga NOS 2014–2015) – Liga Portugal" (in Portuguese). LPFP. 11 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ "Fejsa no Alavés" [Fejsa at Alavés] (in Portuguese). Benfica. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
- ^ "Al-Ahli confirma Fejsa" [Al-Ahli confirms Fejsa]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 24 September 2020.
- ^ "Ljubomir Fejsa zadužio broj 15 i potpisao na godinu i po dana". mozzartsport.com (in Serbian). 27 January 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ "Najbolje za sve: Ljubomir Fejsa odlazi iz Partizana". mozzartsport.com (in Serbian). 28 May 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ "Fejsa anuncia final de carreira com o «querido Benfica e portugueses no coração»" (in Portuguese). A Bola. 9 October 2024. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ "Serbia 1–0 Kazakhstan". worldfootball.net. 24 November 2007.
- ^ "Serbia 1–1 Italy". worldfootball.net. 7 October 2011.
- ^ "Yugoslavia (Serbia (and Montenegro)) - Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ "Ljubomir Fejsa, international football player". EU-football.info. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ Ljubomir Fejsa at ForaDeJogo (archived). Retrieved 1 August 2017.
- ^ Ljubomir Fejsa at National-Football-Teams.com
- ^ a b c Ljubomir Fejsa at Soccerway
External links
edit
- Ljubomir Fejsa stats at Utakmica.rs (archived) (in Serbian)
- Ljubomir Fejsa – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Ljubomir Fejsa – UEFA competition record (archive)
- Ljubomir Fejsa at Olympedia
- Ljubomir Fejsa at Olympics.com