Branislav Ivanovic is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a defender for the Russian club Zenit from St. Petersburg. Since 2005, he has been playing for the Serbian national team. The footballer is a versatile defender. During the period of performances for the London Chelsea, Branislav Ivanovic demonstrated all his qualities - he played as a central, left and right defender. Sometimes he appeared on the field as a right and defensive midfielder. Branislav Ivanovich is 1 meter and 86 centimeters tall and weighs 86 kilograms.
Football player biography
Branislav Ivanovic was born on February 22, 1984 in the city of Sremska Mitrovica (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, now Serbia). Grew up and brought up in a family with a sports history: his father Rad played in the local club FK Srem as a defender. The rest of the family has maintained a sporting rhythm since childhood.
Branislav started playing football in the youth team of the Yugoslav club "Remont" from the city of Cacak. Until the age of fifteen, he played as a striker. Here Branislav began to play at a professional level in 2001. As part of the club spentonly one season and 14 official matches of the second division of Serbia and Montenegro.
Season in FC Srem
In 2002, Branislav signed an agreement with the Yugoslavian (at that time) Srem club, where 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 footballer with the greatest prospects.
Career in OFK club
In December 2003, Branislav Ivanovic 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 semi-finals of the Intertoto Cup (previously a summer tournament for teams that did not qualify for the Champions League or UEFA Cup), in which they lost to the Spanish club Atlético Madrid with a score of 2:0.
For three seasons in the club Branislav Ivanovic took part in 55 matches, in which he recorded 5 goals in his statistics. After two seasons with OFK Beograd, the defender has become an object of interest for many European clubs.
Season at Lokomotiv Moscow
In January 2006, Ivanovich signed an agreement with the Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow, where 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 Ivanovic entered the list of 33 best football playersRussian championship, in which he took first place. Based on this figure, we can safely say that the Serbian player was the best in the RFPL 2006/2007 season. Together with the "railroad" he won the Cup of Russia in 2007.
Played with the Pensioners until February 2017. During this time, the Serbian defender played 260 matches and scored 22 goals. With the arrival of a new head coach, Antonio Conte, Ivanovic stopped getting into the first team, so he decided to move to another club.
Chelsea career
On January 15, 2008, Branislav Ivanovic joined the English team from London - Chelsea. European clubs such as AC Milan, Ajax, Juventus and Internazionale also fought in the transfer battle for the Serbian defender. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but Ivanovic was rumored to be in the region of £9m. Later, Lokomotiv released information about the transfer of Branislav Ivanovic, which said that the player was sold for 13 million euros, which at that time was 9.7 million pounds. According to Russian media, this transfer was 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 the T-shirt, under which defender Glen Johnson, who at that time already played in Portsmouth, had previously played. In 10 seasons with the Blues Branislavwon nine trophies: 2 Premier League titles, three FA Cups, the Football League Cup, the FA Super Cup, as well as the Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
Transfer to St. Petersburg "Zenith"
Branislav Ivanovic signed a 2-year contract with Russian Zenit on February 1, 2017. He made his debut as part of the Blue-White-Blues on February 16 in the Europa League match against the Belgian Anderlecht (win 2: 0). Branislav scored his first goal for the Anti-Aircraft Gunners against Ural in the Premier League.
International career
Since 2003, he played for the youth teams of the Serbian national team (in total, he played 38 matches and scored 4 goals). In 2005, he played one match in the national team of Serbia and Montenegro against Italy (draw 1:1). After the collapse of the country, he began to play for the national team of Serbia. As of October 2017, he played 94 games for the national team and scored 12 goals.
Playstyle
Ivanovic is known for his "aerial" abilities, which, combined with his strength and speed, create useful and effective actions on the field. During the period of performances for Chelsea, the player participated in sixty goals (31 goals and 29 assists in all possible competitions), which is not typical for a defender. Manchester City player Raheem Sterling said in an interview: “Branislav Ivanovic is the scariest player I have played against. He didn't play dirty, he just fought like a tank!”
