Milivoje Novaković


Milivoje Novaković is a former Slovenian footballer who played as a striker.

Club career

Novaković spent his youth career at Olimpija where he remained until the age of 19, when he was forced to leave and look for the opportunity to play professional football elsewhere as he was written off by the club officials who considered him unpromising and too skinny for a forward. Many years later, at the height of his playing career, Novaković revealed that people at Olimpija demanded money in order to promote him to the main squad.
He then went to play football for lower tier Austrian clubs where he rose to prominence, eventually signing with professional sides Mattersburg and LASK Linz. In 2005, he signed with the Bulgarian top division side Litex Lovech and immediately established himself as one of their top players scoring 16 goals in 24 appearances during the 2005–06 season, earning the title of the league's top goalscorer. During the same season Litex Lovech qualified to the group stage of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup, where Novaković scored two of the clubs's four goals, helping the Bulgarian side in reaching the Round of 32 where they were eliminated by French side Strasbourg with the score 0–2 on aggregate.
During the summer of 2006 he was linked with several different clubs but despite his wish to continue his career in a different club he started, with three goals on three league appearances, the 2006–07 season with Litex Lovech who faced Koper from Slovenia and AC Omonia from Cyprus in the qualifying rounds of the 2006–07 UEFA Cup. However, Novaković's wish to leave the club was granted in late August 2006 when he joined German side Köln for around €1.5 million.
In his first season in Germany Novaković quickly established himself in the first team and eventually finished the season with ten goals in 25 2. Bundesliga appearances, finishing the season second on the club's top scorers list. During his second season with Köln he scored 20 goals in 33 league appearances and became the top goalscorer of the 2. Bundesliga, helping his side reach the elite Bundesliga. During the 2008–09 season, he was again Köln's top goalscorer with 16 Bundesliga goals to his name. On 12 September 2008, coach Christoph Daum made him captain of the first team squad, however in late November 2009, he lost his captaincy due to a dispute with Köln's new manager Zvonimir Soldo. The 2010–11 season was his best season in the Bundesliga as Köln finished 10th on the league table with Novaković scoring 17 goals, finishing the season on third place in the league's top scorer's list. Novaković was Köln's top scorer in three of the club's four Bundesliga seasons, during his spell at the club, scoring 44 goals in 108 appearances. After finishing the next season on 17th place Köln was relegated and during the summer of 2012 the club officials decided to cut costs of the first team before the start of the season in the second tier.
Novaković was one of the players whose contract expenses were too high and on 1 August 2012, he joined J1 League side Omiya Ardija, on loan until December 2012. After the end of the loan, Novaković returned to Cologne and stayed fit with an individual training program. On 26 January 2013, the loan was eventually renewed through 31 December 2013. In 2014 Novaković signed a two-year deal with another J League side Shimizu S Pulse. After one year, he moved to Nagoya Grampus, but he was released after only one season.
On 18 February 2016, he signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Slovenian club NK Maribor.

International career

He was a member of the Slovenian national football team between 2006 and 2017, scoring 32 goals in 80 appearances. He scored his first international goals on 31 May 2006 against Trinidad and Tobago, when he scored all three goals for Slovenia in a 3–1 win. He retired from international football on 13 February 2012, saying he wanted to focus on club football. However, in January 2013 he said that he is ready to play for the national football team once again. On 11 October 2013, he scored a hat-trick against Norway in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifications.

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
131 May 2006Arena Petrol, Celje, Slovenia1–03–1Friendly
231 May 2006Arena Petrol, Celje, Slovenia2–03–1Friendly
331 May 2006Arena Petrol, Celje, Slovenia3–13–1Friendly
47 October 2006Arena Petrol, Celje, Slovenia1–02–0UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
58 September 2007Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg2–03–0UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
66 February 2008Nova Gorica Sports Park, Nova Gorica, Slovenia1–11–2Friendly
710 September 2008Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia1–02–12010 FIFA World Cup qualification
810 September 2008Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia2–02–12010 FIFA World Cup qualification
911 October 2008Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia1–02–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
1019 November 2008Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia2–43–4Friendly
1119 November 2008Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia3–43–4Friendly
129 September 2009Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia2–03–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
1314 October 2009Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino1–03–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
143 March 2010Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia1–04–1Friendly
154 June 2010Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia1–03–1Friendly
164 June 2010Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia2–13–1Friendly
177 September 2010Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade, Serbia1–01–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
188 October 2010Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia4–05–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
199 February 2011Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania1–02–1Friendly
2022 March 2013Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia1–01–22014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2131 May 2013Schüco Arena, Bielefeld, Germany1–02–0Friendly
2210 September 2013GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus1–02–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2311 October 2013Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia1–03–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2411 October 2013Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia2–03–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2511 October 2013Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia3–03–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
269 October 2014Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia1–01–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
2712 October 2014LFF Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania1–02–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
2812 October 2014LFF Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania2–02–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
2927 March 2015Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia4–06–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
3014 June 2015Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia1–02–3UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
315 September 2015St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland1–02–3UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
3210 June 2017Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia2–02–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Maribor