Mirko Vučinić

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Mirko Vučinić
Мирко Вучинић

Vučinić signing autographs in 2007.
Personal information
Full name	Mirko Vučinić
Date of birth	(1983-10-01) 1 October 1983 (age 28)
Place of birth	Nikšić, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Juventus
Number	14
Youth career
1998–1999	Sutjeska Nikšić
2000–2002	Lecce
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1999–2000	Sutjeska Nikšić	9	(4)
2000–2006	Lecce	111	(34)
2006–2011	Roma	147	(46)
2011–	Juventus	30	(9)
National team‡
2005–2006	Serbia and Montenegro	3	(0)
2007–	Montenegro	29	(12)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 April 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 25 May 2012

Mirko Vučinić (Montenegrin: Mиpкo Bучинић, pronounced [mîːrkɔ ʋǔtʃinitɕ]; born 1 October 1983) is a Montenegrin footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Juventus. Originally from the city of Nikšić, Vučinić found himself playing for the local team there during his early teen years. He quickly caught the attention of Pantaleo Corvino, the sporting director of the Italian football club Lecce and was transferred to Lecce in the summer of 2000. Between 2000 and 2006, Mirko played for Lecce as they moved between Serie A and B. His most impressive season was 2004–05, where the then 21-year-old netted 19 goals in 28 games while Lecce was in Serie A.

On the international stage, Vučinić played for the Serbia and Montenegro under-21 team, with a notable performance against the under-21 Croatian team in 2005, where he scored three goals. Due to injury, he was unable to represent Serbia and Montenegro at the FIFA World Cup in 2006. Following the split of Serbia and Montenegro in spring of 2006, Vučinić chose to represent Montenegro. He participated in Montenegro's World Cup 2010 qualifying stage, where he contributed two goals. Vučinić also scored two goals for Montenegro in their qualifying stages of the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying matches.

Club career

Early career

Vučinić started out at his hometown club Sutjeska Nikšić before being snapped up by Lecce in Italy during the summer of 2000 at age 16. The man who initiated the transfer was the club's sporting director at the time, Pantaleo Corvino, who has since developed a reputation for having a good eye when it comes to football talent coming out of Eastern Europe.

In his fourth season for the club, the 21-year-old Vučinić hit a blistering goalscoring form with 19 goals in 28 Serie A games, including a hat-trick versus Lazio on 1 May 2005.^[1] Following that successful season, his progress came to a halt with only nine goals recorded in 31 games as his career stalled due to injury.

Roma

On 30 August 2006, Vučinić signed a one-year loan contract with Roma worth €3.25 million, with an option of buying 50 percent of his rights from Lecce at the season's conclusion for an additional €3.75 million.^[2]

2006–07 season

During his first season in Rome, he did not feature much as he had operations on his left knee twice.^[3] Also, the presence of the European Golden Boot winner Francesco Totti as the lone forward of Roma's tactical formation under head coach Luciano Spalletti did not give Vučinić much playing time. Despite this, he succeeded in scoring three goals: his first goal for Roma in the 1–0 victory against Siena on 28 January 2007,^[4] his first goal in the UEFA Champions League during the quarter-finals match 2–1 victory against Manchester United on 4 April 2007.^[5] He also scored another Serie A away goal against Catania in a game that saw roma beat the Sicilians 2–0.

2007–08 season

At the beginning of the 2007–08 season, Roma paid Lecce the pre-agreed price of €3.75 million to sign 50 percent of Vučinić's rights.^[6] He decided to wear the #9 jersey, previously owned by Vincenzo Montella in the last eight seasons, and also stated that he would like to do the same that Montella did at Roma.^[7]

As veteran Francesco Totti was usually deployed as a lone striker, Vučinić began to play as left winger in Luciano Spalletti's 4-2-3-1. He scored his first goal of the season in the 2–1 victory against Sporting Clube de Portugal, in the Champions League group stage, allowing Roma to get the vital goal to earn them three points.^[8]

In the following game, away to Milan at the San Siro, with Francesco Totti injured, Vučinić started as a striker and scored a header, from a cross by his teammate Cicinho. It was the only goal of the game as Roma picked up a win over its rival. This proved decisive again, as in the game against city rivals Lazio, Roma won by 3–2, with Vučinić leaving his mark with a left-foot equalizer and an assist to Simone Perrotta's goal. Another decisive goal of Vučinić was a header against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu, securing a 2–1 win for his side as well as qualification to the successive round.

2008–09 season

In June 2008, Roma finally bought Vučinić outright by paying Lecce €12 million.^[9]

On 4 November 2008, he scored two goals in Roma's UEFA Champions League group stage match against Chelsea, emerging 3–1 winners.^[10] Roma made it to the first knockout stage where they lost to Arsenal on penalties, with Vučinić missing the target in the shootout with a weak shot down the middle that was easily saved by goalkeeper Manuel Almunia.^[11]

2009–10 season

On 1 June 2009, Roma announced Vučinić had signed a new four-year contract, with his gross annual salary progressively increasing from €4 million in 2009–10 season to €4.7 million in 2012–13 season.^[12] The 2009–10 Serie A campaign started off poorly for Roma, forcing head coach Luciano Spalletti to resign after two opening losses. Arrival of new head coach Claudio Ranieri initially failed to change matters with the team continuing to slide down the standings as Vučinić got soundly booed by Roma fans in early November 2009 against Bologna when he finally scored his first goal of the season. After winning that match, however, Roma went on a 24-match unbeaten run in the league, mounting a credible title challenge by the end of the season, in large part thanks to Vučinić's improved form and steady goalscoring efforts that included a hat-trick versus Udinese and a brace in the win against heated crosstown rivals Lazio.

2010–11 season

The 2010-11 season began well for Vučinić, scoring the injury-time winner against defending league champions Internazionale.^[13] As the season progressed, however, he experienced a loss of form and his goals output dipped dramatically. Later in the season he was linked with a move to Tottenham.

The team was also going through turmoil as it was way off pace for the title after challenging for the Scudetto the previous few seasons. Head coach Ranieri was sacked and replaced with Vincenzo Montella. Vučinić's form didn't improve much as his loss of confidence became very evident in April when he missed open net sitters in two consecutive home matches - first in Serie A versus Palermo with the score tied at 1–1 (Roma eventually lost 3–2) and then three days later in Coppa Italia semi-final first leg versus Inter (Roma lost 1–0).^[14]

Juventus

On the 30th of July 2011, it was confirmed that Juventus F.C signed Vučinić for €15 million from A.S. Roma, with a 4 year deal worth €3.5 million per year.^[15][16] He scored his first goal for the club on 21 August 2011 in the 2-1 defeat to AC Milan in the annual Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi curtain raiser to the Italian season.^[17]

Vučinić scored on an exceptional 35 yard strike in extra time to help Juventus to a 2-2 draw against Milan on 20 March 2012, helping his side to a 4-3 victory on aggregate and progression to the 2012 Coppa Italia Final.^[18]

International career

Vučinić was one of the two Montenegro-born players who had been chosen to play for Serbia and Montenegro at 2006 FIFA World Cup (the other one was Dragoslav Jevrić); he had been capped already three times for the Serbia and Montenegro team, but on 23 May 2006 he got injured and could not participate in the competition.

After Montenegro became an independent country, and a new national team was established, Vučinić chose to play for it and, when on 24 March 2007, the Montenegro national team played its first international match against Hungary; Vučinić scored the first goal, a penalty, of Montenegro's history, of whom currently he is also the captain.^[19]

During the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, Vučinić's most famous goals came when he netted a free kick in the 60th minute against Bulgaria and also scored a remarkable goal against Italy. Montenegro, however, failed to qualify and finished in fifth place in their qualifying group. So far in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers, Vučinić has produced two key goals that have contributed to two victories for Montenegro.

International goals

Scores and results list Montenegro's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	24 March 2007	Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica	Hungary	1–1	2–1	Friendly
2.	22 August 2007	Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica	El Salvador	1–0	1–1	Friendly
3.	12 September 2007	Podgorica City Stadium, Podgoric	Sweden	1–0	1–2	Friendly
4.	17 October 2007	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn	Estonia	1–0	1–0	Friendly
5.	6 September 2008	Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica	Bulgaria	1–1	2–2	2010 WC qualifier
6.	15 October 2008	Stadio Via del Mare, Lecce	Italy	1–1	1–2	2010 WC qualifier
7.	9 September 2009	Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica	Cyprus	1–0	1–0	2010 WC qualifier
8.	18 November 2009	Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica	Belgium	1–0	1–0	Friendly
9.	29 May 2010	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo	Norway	1–1	1–2	Friendly
10.	3 September 2010	Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica	Wales	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier
11.	8 October 2010	Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica	Switzerland	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier
12.	25 May 2012	King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels	Belgium	1–0	2–2	Friendly

Honours

Roma

• Supercoppa Italiana (1): 2007
• Coppa Italia (2): 2007, 2008

Juventus

• Serie A: (1) 2011–12

Career statistics

(Correct as of 29 April 2012)

Footnotes

External links

• Profile on AS Roma website
• Mirko Vučinić career and stats at soccerway.com
• World Cup 2006 Official Site – Upcoming Talents to Watch For
• UEFA U-21 Championship – Serbo-Montenegrin coach Okuka missing key players
• Mirko Vučinić profile, career timeline and detailed statistics

v t e Serbia and Montenegro squad – 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship 1 Stojković (c) 2 Ivanović 3 Tošić 4 Rnić 5 Stepanov 6 Biševac 7 Milijaš 8 Janković 9 Vučinić 10 Vukčević 11 Pavlović 12 Jović 13 Lomić 14 Babović 15 Milovanović 16 Rakić 17 Krasić 18 Basta 19 Todorović 20 Purović 21 Burzanović 22 Vujadinović Coach: Okuka