NEMANJA VIDIC
Nemanja Vidic is a defender for Serbia and Manchester United in the English Premier League. He is a no-nonsense central defender who seems to emerge from each thunderous tackle unscathed. Nemanja is hard but fair when he tackles, and has the perfect combination of being able to read the game well and being comfortable on the ball. Vidic is also a notable threat with his aerial ability from set-plays, and has scored some important goals for the Reds over the years.Nemanja Vidic was born on 21st October 1981 in Uzice in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia. This town has since come to be recognised as part of Serbia. Vidic had one older brother, who he played football with everyday after school, and was renowned for never backing out of a challenge even at a young age. At the age of 15 he was scouted and signed up by Red Star Belgrade, who had the facilities and coaches to help Nemanja take the step to the next level.
Vidic signed professional forms on his eighteenth birthday, but he was still some way off the Red Star Belgrade first-team. A year on loan at Spartak Subotica gave him some first-team experience, and he was thrown into the first-team for Red Star in August 2001, when he was 20 years old.
Vidic’s uncompromising attitude made him an ideal leader on the pitch – someone willing to be the first to get a challenge in – so Nemanja was made captain. He had success in the Serbian SuperLiga and Serbian Cup, leading Red Star to a memorable double in 2003/04 before he was sold to Russian club Spartak Moscow for a fee of around £3m.
Vidic played for just over a year in the Russian league, playing the last few months of the 2004 season (and collecting the Serbian ‘Overseas Player of the Year’ in the process), and the entire domestic Russian 2005 season, helping Spartak to make the Champions League because of a top-two finish for the first time in their recent history.
At the end of the Russian season, Spartak Moscow received a bid of around £7m, which was too much for them to turn down. Nemanja Vidic joined up with Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in the January 2006 transfer window, and took some time to adapt to the pace and skill of the English Premiership. Indeed, Vidic had such a torrid time in his first few months that he considered returning to Russia, though thankfully he decided to hold out on making a decision until the next season.
Nemanja Vidic took a first-team spot ahead of Mikael Silvestre and Wes Brown, and started to form a fantastic partnership with Rio Ferdinand at the heart of the Manchester United defence. In his first full season at the club Vidic helped United to win the league title, nodding in 3 important goals on the way. The fans were starting to realise that this ruthless defending ‘machine’ was a key player for their team.
The Premier League and Champions League double-winning season of 07/08 saw him named in the UEFA ‘Team of the Season’. Vidic has refused to be complacent since his successes, and dedicates each match to his former team-mate and best-friend who was involved in a fatal accident when Vidic was his flat-mate at Red Star Belgrade.
Vidic is starting to be recognised as one of the very best defenders around, and was short listed for the 2008 FIFPro Award as well as the prestigious Ballon D’or. He remains an outside bet to win the 2009 PFA ‘Player of the Season’ because of his consistency and professionalism.
Nemanja Vidic made his debut for the Serbia and Montenegro national side on 12 October 2002, aged 21. Serbia took on Yugoslavia’s history and achievements because it held the capital city. Vidic was an integral member of Serbia & Montenegro’s ‘fantastic four’ defence which conceded just one goal in the run up to the 2006 World Cup. Vidic was suspended for the first game of the Finals tournament and then injured his knee, which mean he played none of Serbia & Montenegro’s matches.
After the World Cup, Serbia and Montenegro spit, with Vidic continuing to represent Serbia, though narrowly failing to qualify for Euro 2008.
