Željko Brkić


Željko Brkić is a Serbian football goalkeeper who last played for PAOK in the Greek Superleague.

Club career

Early career in Serbia

Brkić, playing in the goalkeeper position, started his career as a professional began at the club Indeks Novi Sad and Vojvodina, before playing professionally at Vojvodina. Brkić loaned him to Proleter Novi Sad in 2005, where he stayed for the club about two years. At Proleter Novi Sad, Brkić made thirty-one appearance. After his return from loan, Brkić made his debut for the club, in a 1–0 win over Napredak Kruševac on 2 September 2007. Since then, Brkić soon became a first-choice goalkeeper and soon became the club's captain. At the club, Brkić made the total of 117 appearance.

Siena

In the summer of 2011, Brkić left Serbia to join Italian side Udinese. Because Udinese ran out of non-EU registration quota for international signing as well as the performance of Slovenian internationals Samir Handanović, Brkić was signed by Serie A club Siena in definitive deal from Vojvodina, which he would transfer back to Udine in a later time..
On 11 September 2011, Brkić made his debut in a 0–0 draw against Catania, keeping his first clean sheet on his debut in Serie A. In October, following impressive performances with Siena, Brkić was linked with a move to English side Tottenham Hotspur. In response of a transfer speculation, however, Brkić told Serbian daily Sport that he is aware of the transfer rumour, but insists he is focusing at Siena. Brkić also says he is no rush of leaving the club and insists the move is not affecting his form. After a 2–0 loss against Milan on 17 December 2011 in which Brkić get a yellow card resulting a penalty, Brkić soon had an operation that kept him out for many months after fracturing his left fibula. A year on, Brkić spoke about his injury and find it difficult to come back to recover. In January 2012, Brkić was transferred back to Udinese for free and returned to Siena on a temporary deal also for free. During his injury, Siena used Gianluca Pegolo as first choice. Brkić played his first game since his injury on 22 April. In a 1–1 draw against Bologna on 25 April 2012, Brkić scored an own goal from an Alessandro Diamanti free kick, denying Siena a win.

Udinese

2012–13

After a season with Siena, Brkić became the club's first-choice goalkeeper following Samir Handanović's departure to Inter Milan. Having established himself in the first team, Brkić made his debut for the club in the UEFA Champions League qualification round against Portuguese side Braga. Unfortunately, Udinese was eliminated in the Champions League and demoted to the UEFA Europa League after losing in the penalty shoot-out in the second leg, just three days before he made his league debut in a 2–1 loss against Fiorentina. However, the next game was even went worse for Brkić when he gave away the penalty in early minutes and received a red card in a 4–1 loss against regaining champion Juventus. After the match, former referee Daniele Tombolini says Brkić's sending-off was a mistake because Sebastian Giovinco, the opposition player in the match, did not have possession of the ball, though he maintained his views that the foul was a penalty. Brkić then miss one match against Siena and made his return when Udinese won 2–1 against Milan the next game. On 4 October 2012, Brkić was in goal when Udinese beat Liverpool 3–2, making good save from Luis Suárez twice and a header from Jonjo Shelvey. Unfortunately, Udinese would then be eliminated from the Europa League, following a strings of losses. In mid-January, Brkić soon suffered an injury after fracturing the second finger of his right hand and went to surgery that kept him out at least a month. A month later, Brkić made his return, playing in friendly match against Gemonese on 26 February 2013. After the match, Brkić says he was prepared to make a comeback. Brkić made his return on 3 March 2013 against Pescara, where the club won 1-0. After the match, Brkić returned as a first-choice goalkeeper for the rest of the 2012–13 season.

2013–14

In the 2013–14 season, Brkić was ruled out for the start of the season after injuring his shoulder while exercising in the gym, which ruled him out for four months. During his absence, he was replaced by Simone Scuffet in goal. After three months out of action, Brkić made his return in a 2–1 win over Sassuolo. Brkić's performance with Udinese were praised in the media, who noted that he "saved at least three goal-bound efforts while blocking several strong shots and commanded his area giving sustenance and substance to his whole defence". This earned him Serie A Team of Week 10. Juventus invited schoolchildren to watch their match against Udinese in December in place of banned Ultras, but they shouted abuse at Brkić after each goal kick, and Juventus were fined €5,000.

PAOK

On 7 July 2016, Brkić signed a three-year deal with Superleague Greece club PAOK. Brkić, who had already agreed terms with PAOK's president/technical director Ľuboš Micheľ, passed his medical at the Thessaloniki-based club and then signed his new contract, leaving Italy after five consecutive seasons. Brkić, along with the experienced Greek internationals Panagiotis Glykos and Markos Vellidis, is expected to be part of a very strong triplete in goalkeeper's position for PAOK ahead of 2016-17 season.

International career

Brkić started participating in the national team, playing for Serbia U-21 and was even in the U21 squad for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship despite being age twenty-two. In the European U21 Football Championship, Brkić played three match, all in group-stage. Brkić also managed to keep two clean sheet in the tournament.
On 3 March 2010, Brkić made his senior debut for the national team, coming on for Vladimir Stojković as a substitute in the 81st minutes after Stojković suffered an injury during a match, in a 3–0 win over Algeria. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Brkić was named for the national team squad ahead of the World Cup. Unfortunately, Brkić was dropped from the squad after manager Radomir Antić trimmed the squad from 24 to 23. Years on, Brkić was the national first choice goalkeeper, beating competition from Vladimir Stojković in the World Cup qualifier.

Career statistics

Honours

;PAOK