Branislav Ivanovich - Serbian professional football player, acting as a defender in the Russian club Zenit from St. Petersburg. Since 2005, has been playing for the Serbian national team. A football player is a multi-faceted defender. During performances for the London Chelsea, Branislav Ivanovich demonstrated all his qualities - he played in the position of central, left and right defender. Sometimes appeared on the field as a right and defensive midfielder. The growth of Branislav Ivanovich is 1 meter and 86 centimeters, weight - 86 kilograms.
Soccer player biography
Branislav Ivanovich was born on February 22, 1984 in the city of Sremska Mitrovica (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, now Serbia). He grew up and was brought up in a family with a sports history: his father, Rad, played in the local club FK Srem as a defender. The remaining family members have maintained a sporting rhythm since childhood.
Branislav began to play football in the youth team of the Yugoslav club "Repair" from the city of Cacak. Until the age of fifteen, he acted as a striker. Here Branislav began to play on a professional level in 2001. As part of the club, he spent only one season and 14 official matches of the second division of Serbia and Montenegro.
Season at FC Srem
In 2002, Branislav signed an agreement with the Yugoslavian (at that time) club Srem, in which he spent only one game season. As noted above, his father, Rad, once played here. During the season, the athlete held 19 official meetings, in which he managed to score two goals. Here Branislav declared himself as a talented young football player with the greatest prospect.
Career at OFK Club
In December 2003, Branislav Ivanovich joined the Yugoslav club “OFK Beograd”, which played in the First League of Serbia and Montenegro. As part of the "romantics" he played until 2006. In 2004, the team reached the semifinal of the Intertoto Cup (previously held summer tournament for teams that did not qualify for the Champions League or the UEFA Cup), in which they lost to the Spanish club Atletico Madrid 2-0.
For three seasons in the club Branislav Ivanovich took part in 55 matches, in which he recorded 5 goals in his statistics. After two seasons at OFK Beograd, the defender became an object of interest for many European clubs.
Season at Moscow Lokomotiv
In January 2006, Ivanovich signed an agreement with the Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow, in which he spent almost two seasons. As part of the “locomotive”, he became one of the best key players. Here, the athlete played 55 matches and scored five goals. In 2007 Branislav Ivanovich entered the list of 33 best football players of the Russian championship, in which he took first place. Based on this indicator, we can safely say that the Serbian player was the best in the Premier League season 2006/2007. Together with the "railroad" he won the Cup of Russia in 2007.
As part of the "pensioners" he played until February 2017. During this time, the Serbian defender played 260 matches and scored 22 goals. With the arrival of the new head coach, Antonio Conte Ivanovich stopped falling into the main team, so he decided to move to another club.
Careers at Chelsea
January 15, 2008 Branislav Ivanovich joined the English team from London - Chelsea. In the transfer fight for the Serbian defender, European clubs such as Milan, Ajax, Juventus and Internationale also fought. The amount of the transfer was not disclosed, however, rumors circulated that the price for Ivanovich was around 9 million pounds. Later, Lokomotiv published information about the transfer of Branislav Ivanovich, in which it was said that the player was sold for 13 million euros, which at that time amounted to 9.7 million pounds. According to Russian media, this transfer has become the largest in the history of Russian football.
Ivanovich signed a contract for two years (subsequently it was repeatedly extended). Here he was given the second number on a T-shirt, under which defender Glen Johnson had previously performed, who at that time was already playing with Portsmouth. For 10 seasons as part of the “blue” Branislav won nine trophies: 2 Premier League championships, three FA Cups, the Football League Cup, the English Super Cup, as well as the UEFA Champions League and Europa League Cup.
Transition to St. Petersburg "Zenith"
Branislav Ivanovich signed a 2-year contract with the Russian Zenith on February 1, 2017. As part of the “blue-white-blue” he made his debut on February 16 in the Europa League match against the Belgian “Anderlecht” (2-0 victory). The first goal for the "anti-aircraft gunners" Branislav scored against the Urals as part of the Premier League championship.
International career
Since 2003, he played for the youth squads of the Serbian national team (a total of 38 matches and scored 4 goals). In 2005, he played one match with Serbia and Montenegro against Italy (draw 1: 1). After the collapse of the country, he began to play for the national team of Serbia. At the time of October 2017, he played 94 games in the national team and scored 12 goals.
