Milovan Rajevac (Serbian: Милован Рајевац; born 2 January 1954) is a Serbian football manager and former professional player who is currently the technical director of Muangthong United.

Milovan Rajevac
Rajevac coaching Thailand in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth (1954-01-02) 2 January 1954 (age 70)[1]
Place of birth Čajetina, PR Serbia, Yugoslavia
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1973–1977 Borac Čačak 64 (2)
1977–1978 Red Star Belgrade 13 (0)
1979–1980 Vojvodina 15 (0)
1981–1982 New York Arrows 11 (1)
1982–1984 Borac Čačak 25 (0)
1984–1985 Lunds BK
1985–1986 Sloboda Titovo Užice 3 (0)
International career
1976 Yugoslavia Olympic
Managerial career
1989–1992 Borac Čačak
1992–1994 KSF Srbija Malmö
1994–1996 Sloboda Užice
1996–1998 Progres Frankfurt
1998–2000 Železnik (assistant)
2000–2003 Beijing Guoan (assistant)
2004 Red Star Belgrade (caretaker)
2004–2005 Al Sadd (assistant)
2006–2007 Vojvodina
2008 Borac Čačak
2008–2010 Ghana
2010–2011 Al-Ahli
2011 Qatar
2016 Rudar Velenje
2016 Algeria
2017–2019 Thailand
2021–2022 Ghana
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Ghana (as manager)
Africa Cup of Nations
Runner-up 2010
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

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Born in Čajetina,[2] Rajevac played as a defender for Borac Čačak, Red Star Belgrade, Vojvodina, Lunds BK, and the New York Arrows (as "Mike Rajevac"[3][1]) and Sloboda Užice.

Managerial career

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Rajevac coached a number of club sides in his native Serbia, including Sloboda Užice, Red Star Belgrade, Vojvodina and Borac Čačak.[4]

He became Ghana manager in August 2008.[5][6] He continued the Black Stars's qualification campaign to 2010 World Cup. In the tournament, they almost reached the semi-final as they narrowly lost to Uruguay in the quarter-final via penalty shootout.[7]

 
Coach Milovan Rajevac with the Ghana national football team

Rajevac quit Ghana after the World Cup on 8 September 2010, and took up a position with Saudi Arabian team Al-Ahli a day later.[8]

He left the Saudi club in February 2011 to take up the role as national team coach for Qatar.[9] He was relieved of duties in August 2011.[10]

In September 2011, Rajevac was one of four managers linked with the Egyptian national team,[11] and in February 2014 he was one of four managers linked with the Burkina Faso national team.[12]

On 15 June 2016, he was officially appointed as manager of Rudar Velenje in Slovenia.[13][14] However, on 26 June 2016 he was appointed as manager of the Algerian national team.[15] He resigned from the position in October 2016, after two matches.[16]

In April 2017, after the resignation of Kiatisuk Senamuang,[17] he had an interview with Football Association of Thailand and was expected to become the head coach of the Thailand national football team.[18] Eventually, he was appointed on one-year deal with an option for another one year by Football Association of Thailand on 26 April 2017.[19][20]

On 5 February 2018, Football Association of Thailand announced the extension of Rajevac's contract to 2020.[21]

He was sacked on 7 January 2019 following a 4–1 defeat against India in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.[22][23]

He returned to manage the Ghana national team for a second time in September 2021.[24] He was sacked in January 2022 after the exit of the Black Stars at the delayed AFCON 2021 tournament.[25]

In October 2022 he became the technical director of Muangthong United.[26]

Honours

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Manager

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Thailand

Individual

References

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  1. ^ a b "MISL-Milovan "Mike" Rajevac". www.nasljerseys.com.
  2. ^ "Milovan Rajevac profile". ESPN. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  3. ^ Filip Bondy and Michael Lewis (26 June 2010). "Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac is concerned about injuries entering World Cup match with United States". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  4. ^ Stars from Yugoslav First and Second Leagues at zerodic.com
  5. ^ "Rajevac named new Ghana coach". Ghana Football Association. 12 August 2008. Archived from the original on 12 August 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  6. ^ "Serbian coach for Black Stars". BBC Sport. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  7. ^ Paul Wilson (2 July 2013). "World Cup 2010: Uruguay make Gyan and Ghana pay the penalty". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  8. ^ "Ex-Ghana coach Rajevac joins Saudi side". Ghana Soccernet. 9 September 2010. Archived from the original on 9 March 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  9. ^ "Qatar hires Milovan Rajevac as coach". ESPN. 27 February 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  10. ^ "Lazaroni replaces Rajevac as Qatar coach | Doha Stadium Plus". Archived from the original on 25 November 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  11. ^ "Egypt to choose between Bradley and Rajevac for coach". BBC Sport. 8 September 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  12. ^ "Nigerian Stephen Keshi on shortlist for Burkina Faso job". BBC Sport. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  13. ^ M.R. (15 June 2016). "Na klopi Rudarja mož, ki je Gano popeljal v četrtfinale SP-ja" [Manager, who reached the World Cup quarterfinals with Ghana, will manage Rudar] (in Slovenian). Radiotelevizija Slovenija. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  14. ^ "NK Rudar Velenje bo vodil Milovan Rajevac" [Milovan Rajevac will manage Rudar Velenje] (in Slovenian). NK Rudar Velenje official website. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  15. ^ "Ex Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac gets Algeria job". BBC Sport. 26 June 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  16. ^ "Milovan Rajevac quits as Algeria coach after two games". BBC Sport. 12 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  17. ^ "Sport Hero Co Ltd's contract to be terminated".
  18. ^ "คนนี้แหละ! 'สมยศ' เตรียมตั้ง 'ราเยวัช' คุมไทยเซ็น 1 ปีค่าจ้างเท่าซิโก้". Thai Rath (in Thai). 22 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  19. ^ "ANNOUNCEMENT : Milovan Rajevac appointed Thailand national head coach".
  20. ^ "เผยค่าเหนื่อย'ราเยวัช'สูงกว่า'ซิโก้'-เตรียมประเดิมงานแรกดูเกม'เมืองทอง'ฟัด'ราชนาวี'". Matichon (in Thai). 26 April 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  21. ^ "สิ้นสุดการรอคอย! ส.บอลจับ 'ราเยวัช' ต่อสัญญาถึงปี 2563". Thai Rath (in Thai). 5 February 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  22. ^ "ด่วน! ปลด "ราเยวัช" เซ่นพ่ายอินเดียหมดรูป ตั้ง "ศิริศักดิ์" คุมแทนชั่วคราว". Manager Online (in Thai). 7 January 2019.
  23. ^ "5 เรื่องน่าสนใจ หลังเกม 'ช้างศึก' กระเด็นตกรอบ ซูซูกิ คัพ 2018". Khao Sod (in Thai). 6 December 2018.
  24. ^ "Breaking! Ghana FA agrees two-year contract with incoming Black Stars coach Milovan Rajevac". GhanaSoccernet. 20 September 2021.
  25. ^ "Ghana sack Rajevac after early exit". BBC Sport. 27 January 2022.
  26. ^ "กิเลนช้างศึก! เมืองทอง แก้เกมดึง ราเยวัช ช่วยงานมาริโอ". 3 October 2022.
  27. ^ "Ex-Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac wins first silverware with Thailand". Footballghana.com. 19 July 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  28. ^ "FSS: Stanković i Rajevac najbolji u 2010. godini". Blic Sport. 23 December 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  29. ^ "Serbian coach Rajevac joins race for Egypt job". Ahram Online. 5 September 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
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