Veljko Paunović
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Veljko Paunović | ||
| Date of birth | 21 August 1977 | ||
| Place of birth | Strumica, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder / Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
|
Current team
|
Chicago Fire (head coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1983–1994 | Partizan | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994–1995 | Partizan | 13 | (1) |
| 1995–1996 | Marbella | 20 | (2) |
| 1996–1998 | Atlético Madrid B | 22 | (11) |
| 1996–2002 | Atlético Madrid | 52 | (9) |
| 1998–1999 | → Mallorca (loan) | 24 | (5) |
| 2001 | → Oviedo (loan) | 22 | (4) |
| 2001–2002 | → Mallorca (loan) | 33 | (3) |
| 2002–2003 | Tenerife | 38 | (18) |
| 2003–2005 | Atlético Madrid | 35 | (6) |
| 2005 | Hannover | 6 | (0) |
| 2005–2007 | Getafe | 44 | (10) |
| 2007 | Rubin Kazan | 16 | (1) |
| 2008 | Almería | 7 | (2) |
| 2008 | Partizan | 9 | (1) |
| 2011 | Philadelphia Union | 17 | (3) |
| Total | 358 | (76) | |
| National team | |||
| 2002–2004 | Serbia and Montenegro | 2 | (1) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2012–2014 | Serbia U18 | ||
| 2013–2014 | Serbia U19 | ||
| 2014–2015 | Serbia U20 | ||
| 2015– | Chicago Fire | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Veljko Paunović (Serbian Cyrillic: Вeљкo Пауновић; born 21 August 1977) is a retired Serbian footballer, and the current head coach of American club Chicago Fire Soccer Club.
A versatile offensive unit, he could operate as an attacking midfielder or a striker, and spent most of his professional career in Spain where he represented almost ten clubs, amassing La Liga totals of 212 games and 38 goals over the course of 11 seasons and having several spells with Atlético Madrid.
Other than in his own country, Paunović also played professionally in Germany, Russia and the United States.
Born in Strumica, Macedonia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Paunović made his professional debut at only 17 with FK Partizan. The following summer he moved to Spain, where he would stay for most of the following decade playing for a host of clubs, starting in the 1995–96 season with modest CA Marbella and reaching the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final with RCD Mallorca (with whom he scored five league goals in that campaign, to help the Balearic Islands team finish third), as well as having three separate stints with Atlético Madrid.
Paunović had his best year in 2002–03 with CD Tenerife in Segunda División, netting 18 times in 38 appearances although the insular side could only rank eighth. After a return to Atlético and a brief stay in Germany with Hannover 96, he joined Getafe CF for 2005–06's top flight, enjoying his finest season in La Liga by scoring ten goals in 30 league matches to help the Madrid outskirts club to the ninth place; due to the years spent in the country, he received a Spanish passport in 2006.
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