Dejan Stanković , born 11 September 1978 in Belgrade is a Serbian footballer who currently plays for the Italian Serie A side Internazionale and the Serbian national team, which he captains. He is an attacking midfielder who can also play out wide on the wings or track back in a defensive midfield role. "Deki", as he is nicknamed, is best known for his effective, accurate passing, versatility and creativity as well as his ability to score goals from long distance.
On 13 June 2010, Stanković became the first player to represent three different countries in the FIFA World Cup: Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Serbia.
Early life
Stanković grew up in Zemun, a municipality of Belgrade. Both of his parents, Borislav and Dragica, have strong football backgrounds.
International career
Stanković made his international debut for the old Yugoslavia team against South Korea on 22 April 1998, scoring two goals in a 3–1 victory.He played at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 when the Serbian national team was still called Yugoslavia and soon established himself as an important player.
The Yugoslavian team became Serbia and Montenegro by the time 2006 World Cup qualifying started, and Stanković started in all games and scored two goals, but missed the last qualifier through injury. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he was given the number 10 shirt and Savo Milošević captained the new Serbia and Montenegro team in their first World Cup, but they failed to progress to the knock-out rounds after losing all their group matches to Côte d'Ivoire, Argentina, and the Netherlands. After Milošević retired, the midfielder took over as captain of the re-formed Serbian national team, following the break up of Serbia and Montenegro.
In the 2010 World Cup qualifying, Stanković has started in and captained all but two of Serbia's matches. They qualified for their first World Cup as an independent nation. He was instrumental in their shock 1-0 win over favorites Germany but they were not able to progress to the next round due to narrow losses against Ghana and Australia.
Personal information
Full name: Dejan Stanković
Date of birth: 11 September 1978 (1978-09-11) (age 32)
Place of birth: Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Height: 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position: Midfielder
Club information
Current club: Internazionale
Number: 5
Youth career
1992–1994 Red Star Belgrade
Senior career*
1994–1998 Red Star Belgrade 85 (30 gol)
1998–2004 Lazio 137 (22 gol)
2004– Internazionale 200 (29 gol)
National team‡
1998– Serbia 95 (15)
Honours
Red Star Belgrade
* FR Yugoslavia Cup: (3): 1995,1996,1997
* FR Yugoslavia Championship: (1): 1994–95
Lazio
* Scudetto: (1): 2000
* Coppa Italia: (1): 2000
* Supercoppa Italiana: (2): 1998, 2000
* Cup Winners' Cup: 1999
* UEFA Super Cup: 1999
Internazionale
* Scudetto: (5): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
* Coppa Italia: (4): 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010
* Supercoppa Italiana: (4): 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010
* UEFA Champions League: (1): 2010
* FIFA Club World Cup: (1): 2010
Individual
* Serbian Player of the Year: 2006, 2010