Aleksandar Dragović facts for kids
Dragović with Bayer Leverkusen in 2018
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Aleksandar Dragović | ||
| Date of birth | 6 March 1991 | ||
| Place of birth | Vienna, Austria | ||
| Height | 1.86 m | ||
| Playing position | Centre-back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Red Star Belgrade | ||
| Number | 15 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–2009 | Austria Wien | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2008–2009 | Austria Wien II | 8 | (2) |
| 2009–2011 | Austria Wien | 66 | (1) |
| 2011–2013 | Basel | 77 | (4) |
| 2013–2016 | Dynamo Kyiv | 66 | (0) |
| 2016–2021 | Bayer Leverkusen | 71 | (3) |
| 2017–2018 | → Leicester City (loan) | 11 | (0) |
| 2021– | Red Star Belgrade | 52 | (4) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2007–2008 | Austria U17 | 11 | (2) |
| 2008–2009 | Austria U19 | 6 | (2) |
| 2009– | Austria | 100 | (2) |
† Appearances (Goals). |
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Aleksandar Dragović (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Драговић, pronounced Script error: No such module "IPA".; born 6 March 1991) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serbian SuperLiga club Red Star Belgrade and the Austria national team. He is well known for his performances as a tough-tackling centre-back.
Contents
Club career
Basel
Dragović started his career by playing in the youth teams of Austrian giants Austria Wien and started playing for their B-squad in 2007. As of 1 February 2011, Dragović transferred to FC Basel in the Swiss Super League. He made his team debut in the 3:0 home win over FC St. Gallen. At the end of the 2010–11 Swiss Super League season Dragović won the Swiss Championship title with FC Basel. In July 2011 he played with his new club in the Uhrencup and won the tournament. He scored his first Super League goal in the 3–0 home win against Servette FC on 1 October 2011. At the end of the 2011–12 season Dragović won the Double, the League Championship title and the Swiss Cup with Basel.
During Basel's 2012–13 season the team missed their Champions League aim. But in the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League Basel advanced as far as the semifinals, meaning that they played a total of 20 European matches. Dragović missed solely the second leg of the semi-final at Stamford Bridge due to a yellow card suspension, but had played in all the other European ties.
In the domestic championship he played in 32 of the 36 games. He scored three goals in the domestic league this season, all three being against Servette. At the end of the Swiss Super League season 2012–13 Dragovic won the Championship title and was Swiss Cup runner up with Basel.
Dynamo Kyiv
On 26 July 2013, Dragović had signed a five-year contract with Ukrainian club FC Dynamo Kyiv. On 17 May 2015, Dragović helped Dynamo beat Dnipro 1–0 which was the game that won Dynamo their first Ukrainian Premier League title in six years.
On 4 November 2015, Dragović scored his first ever UEFA Champions League goal in the group stage against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on the 78th minute, as well as scoring an own goal on the 34th. Dynamo ended up losing that match 2–1. In that season he helped Dynamo reach the last sixteen of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 16 years, getting knocked out by Manchester City 1–3 on aggregate.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
On 22 August 2016, Dragović signed a five-year contract with German club Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
Leicester City (loan)
On 31 August 2017, Dragović joined Premier League club Leicester City on a season-long loan from Bayer Leverkusen.
Red Star Belgrade
On 26 May 2021, Dragović signed a three-year contract with Red Star Belgrade.
International career
Dragović also used to be part of the national under-17 and under-19 Austrian teams. He was called up for the national team of Austria for their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Romania, but due to an injury he was unable to play. He was called up again by the Austrian head coach Dietmar Constantini for the match against Serbia. He made his international debut in this match on 6 June 2009. Dragović scored his first goal on 18 November 2014 in a 1–2 home defeat to Brazil.
He made the final squad for Euro 2016, where he was sent-off in the first game against Hungary, and missed a penalty in the decisive match against Iceland, which ended in a 2–1 defeat.
Dragović was part of the Austrian team which qualified to the Euro 2020 round of 16. On 29 March 2022, he played his 100th match for Austria in a 2–2 draw against Scotland.
Personal life
Dragović was born in Vienna to parents from Belgrade, Serbia. His favourite team is Red Star Belgrade, which he ended up joining in 2021.
In May 2012, twenty-one-year-old Dragović attracted criticism in Swiss media for playfully slapping the Swiss defence minister Ueli Maurer's bald head during FC Basel's Swiss Cup win medal ceremony. After making further comments about being reluctant to apologize—stating that "on the inside everybody knows, so I believe, that it was very, very much fun doing it"—Dragović reportedly traveled to the Bundeshaus in Berne in order to personally apologize to Maurer.
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Austria Wien II | 2008–09 | Austrian First League | 8 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 8 | 2 | ||||
| Austria Wien | 2008–09 | Austrian Bundesliga | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | Austrian Bundesliga | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | — | 42 | 0 | |||
| 2010–11 | Austrian Bundesliga | 18 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | — | 26 | 1 | |||
| Total | 66 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | — | 85 | 1 | ||||
| Basel | 2010–11 | Swiss Super League | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | Swiss Super League | 28 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | — | 39 | 1 | |||
| 2012–13 | Swiss Super League | 32 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | 19 | 0 | — | 54 | 3 | |||
| 2013–14 | Swiss Super League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 77 | 4 | 7 | 0 | — | 27 | 0 | — | 111 | 4 | ||||
| Dynamo Kyiv | 2013–14 | Ukrainian Premier League | 21 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | — | 35 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | Ukrainian Premier League | 24 | 0 | 6 | 1 | — | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 1 | ||
| 2015–16 | Ukrainian Premier League | 17 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 1 | ||
| 2016–17 | Ukrainian Premier League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Total | 66 | 0 | 15 | 1 | — | 27 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 111 | 2 | |||
| Bayer Leverkusen | 2016–17 | Bundesliga | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2018–19 | Bundesliga | 18 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | — | 28 | 2 | |||
| 2019–20 | Bundesliga | 15 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | — | 25 | 0 | |||
| 2020–21 | Bundesliga | 18 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 8 | 1 | — | 29 | 2 | |||
| Total | 71 | 3 | 10 | 0 | — | 25 | 1 | — | 106 | 4 | ||||
| Leicester City (loan) | 2017–18 | Premier League | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 0 | ||
| Red Star Belgrade | 2021–22 | Serbian SuperLiga | 34 | 4 | 5 | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | — | 52 | 4 | ||
| Career total | 333 | 14 | 42 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 108 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 489 | 17 | ||
International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 2009 | 7 | 0 |
| 2010 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 12 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 100 | 2 | |
- Scores and results list Austria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dragović goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 November 2014 | Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna, Austria |  Brazil |
1–1 | 1–2 | Friendly |
| 2 | 28 March 2021 |  Faroe Islands |
1–1 | 3–1 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Honours
Club
- Austria Wien
- Austrian Cup: 2008–09
- Basel
- Swiss Super League: 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13
- Swiss Cup: 2012
- Dynamo Kyiv
- Ukrainian Premier League: 2014–15, 2015–16
- Ukrainian Cup: 2013–14, 2014–15
- Ukrainian Super Cup: 2016
- Red Star Belgrade
- Serbian SuperLiga: 2021–22
- Serbian Cup: 2021–22
Individual
See also
In Spanish: Aleksandar Dragović para niños
