Dejan Savićević

Dejan Savićević (Serbian Cyrillic: Дејан Савићевић) (born September 15, 1966 in Titograd, Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia), is a Montenegrin former football player and the current president of the Montenegro FA.

Born to Vladimir Savićević and Vojislava Đurović, young Dejan had an immediate affinity for football and quickly developed his natural gift for the game.

Savićević's tremendous close control and vision convinced A.C. Milan to secure his services for the start of 1992/93 season in an attempt at filling the void left by Marco van Basten, handing him the opportunity to demonstrate his abilities to an even wider audience. His first season playing for the Rossoneri saw him play 10 matches and score four goals. The next season he became a regular, inspiring Milan to a league and European Cup double and was hailed as Il Genio (The Genius) by Silvio Berlusconi, the then president of Milan. His performance in the European Cup final, was his greatest moment in football and arguably one of the finest individual displays seen in the competition. He created the opening goal and scored a spectacular 35 yard half volley in the club's 4-0 victory. Despite the team’s indifferent form the following season, Savićević lead Milan to their third successive European Cup final but didn't play due to 'injury', even though Savićević insisted he was fit. Milan, lacking his creativity lost a bland final to Ajax 1-0. With Milan he won 7 trophies, including 3 scudetti (Serie A championships) - 1992-93, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1 European Cup - 1993-94 and 1 European Super Cup, but he was criticised in the Italian media for not always trying against smaller teams and his performances regularly blew hot and cold, but on his day he was one of the best players in the World.

Savićević began his career when he was 15 years old in the youth teams of OFK Titograd. He played in the Yugoslavian first division for Budućnost and earned his first cap for the national side in 1986 against Turkey.

Following a string of fine performances in Titograd, all of the top teams in Yugoslavia were after 21-year-old Savićević in the summer of 1988. He ended up choosing Red Star Belgrade, and promptly went to serve the mandatory army stint that kept him out of action for the entire 1988/89 season, although the state authorities did allow him to turn up for important matches like the now famous Champions' Cup clash versus AC Milan. He played a prominent part in the first leg at San Siro as Red Star played to a hard fought 1-1 draw with Dragan Stojković scoring the valuable away goal. The return leg in Belgrade was even more eventful as Savićević scored with an excellent strike, but German referee Dieter Pauli stopped and voided the match because of thick fog that engulfed the city. The second leg replay was played the very next day, resulting again in 1-1 scoreline, taking the match to penalties where the Italians came up on top 2-4 as Savićević and Mitar Mrkela failed to convert their spot-kicks.

Savićević helped Red Star win three consecutive national titles - in 1989/90, 1990/91 and 1991/92, two national Cups in 1990 and 1992 as well as an European Cup and an Intercontinental Cup, both in 1991.

In 1991, following Red Star's European success, Savićević came joint second in the voting for the European Footballer of the Year (Ballon d'Or).

In the summer of 2004, 37-year-old Savićević became the president of the Football Association of Montenegro, which was at the time under the umbrella of Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro.

Savićević then publicly came out in favour of Montenegrin independence, becoming an important part of the pro-independence campaign organized by Movement for Independent Montenegro. He attended, and spoke at, rallies alongside Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Đukanović. Savićević's face also appeared on billboards urging the citizens of Montenegro to vote 'Yes' at the referendum.

Then in spring 2006 while interviewing for NTV Montena, Savićević admitted to playing "in a couple of fixed matches" while with Budućnost in the old Yugoslav First League. He also claimed on the same occasion that the current Serbia-Montenegro league was entirely rigged, but declined to elaborate or provide evidence.

Trophies won:
::3 x Yugoslavian title
::2 x Yugoslavian cup
::3 x Italian title
::1 x European Super Cup
::2 x European Cup
::1 x Intercontinental Cup