Kežman in 2009
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Personal information | |||
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Full name | Mateja Kežman | ||
Date of birth | 12 April 1979 | ||
Place of birth | Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
Playing position | Striker | ||
Youth career | |||
1986–1996 | Zemun | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1996–1997 | Radnički Pirot | 17 | (11) |
1997 | Loznica | 13 | (5) |
1998 | Sartid Smederevo | 14 | (4) |
1998–2000 | Partizan | 54 | (33) |
2000–2004 | PSV | 122 | (105) |
2004–2005 | Chelsea | 25 | (4) |
2005–2006 | Atlético Madrid | 30 | (8) |
2006–2009 | Fenerbahçe | 46 | (20) |
2008–2009 | → Paris Saint-Germain (loan) | 21 | (3) |
2009–2010 | Paris Saint-Germain | 14 | (2) |
2009 | → Zenit Saint Petersburg (loan) | 10 | (2) |
2011 | South China | 6 | (2) |
2011 | BATE Borisov | 6 | (0) |
2012 | South China | 0 | (0) |
Total | 378 | (199) | |
National team | |||
1996–1997 | FR Yugoslavia U18 | 8 | (1) |
1998–2000 | FR Yugoslavia U21 | 4 | (4) |
2000–2006 | Serbia and Montenegro | 49 | (17) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
Mateja Kežman (Serbian Cyrillic: Матеја Кежман; born 12 April 1979) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Upon playing in his homeland, Kežman went on to play top-flight football in the Netherlands, England, Spain, Turkey, France, Russia, Hong Kong and Belarus. He is arguably best known for his career at PSV, earning numerous awards and worldwide recognition as having the potential to be one of the greatest strikers of his generation, being named Dutch Footballer of the Year in 2003. Kežman was subsequently labeled as a flop after his spell at Chelsea, as there were extremely high expectations of him. By the end of his illustrious career, he had amassed a record amount of championship medals in the top-tier competitions of five different countries. Internationally, Kežman represented FR Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro in one European Championship and one World Cup.
After finishing his professional playing career, Kežman became a sports agent. He also served as a director of football at Vojvodina in 2013.
Kežman's father Zlatko was also a footballer who played as a goalkeeper, spending the majority of his career with Zemun.
His early career at Partizan was disrupted by NATO's airstrikes on Belgrade in 1999. In 2003, he took protection when a Yugoslav criminal threatened to kidnap him and hold PSV to ransom.