Antonio Rukavina

Not to be confused with Ante Rukavina.

Antonio Rukavina

Rukavina with 1860 München in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Antonio Rukavina
Date of birth	(1984-01-26) 26 January 1984
Place of birth	Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Height
Position(s)	Right back
Team information
Current team	Villarreal
Number	22
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2007	Bežanija	142	(26)
2007	Partizan	32	(4)
2008	Borussia Dortmund	19	(0)
2009–2012	1860 München	112	(1)
2012–2014	Valladolid	71	(2)
2014–	Villarreal	39	(0)
International career‡
2007–	Serbia	32	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 May 2016 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 25 May 2016

Antonio Rukavina (Serbian Cyrillic: Антонио Рукавина, born 26 January 1984) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Villarreal CF and the Serbian national football team as a right back.

Club career

Rukavina joined FK Partizan in January 2007 after an impressive spell with FK Bežanija, and eventually became team captain. On 5 January 2008, Rukavina was transferred to German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund for a fee of €2.5m. After one year Rukavina left Dortmund on 2 February 2009; he was loaned to TSV 1860 München until the end of the season. In July 2009, he transferred permanently to 1860 Munich, with Sven Bender making the opposite move to Borussia Dortmund in lieu of a transfer fee. In June 2012, he was released from 1860 Munich and signed for Spanish side, Real Valladolid, who recently won promotion to La Liga under the guidance of Rukavina's countrymen and former coach Miroslav Đukić. On 8 July 2014, he completed his move to La Liga side Villarreal, signing a two-year deal.

International career

Rukavina is a member of the Serbian national team after being called up from the U21 team. He made his international debut for Serbian national team on 6 June 2007, in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match in Helsinki against Finland. He was part of the Serbian 23-man squad at the FIFA World Cup 2010.

International statistics

Serbian national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2007	7	0
2008	7	0
2009	4	0
2010	4	0
2011	0	0
2012	1	0
2013	5	0
2014	2	0
2015	0	0
2016	2	0
Total	32	0

Personal life

In 2006, Croatian newspapers erranously claimed that he is of Croatian descent, and thus eligible to play for the Croatian national team, the leaders of the Croatian team seeking to win him over, however, Rukavina stated that "I have to disappoint all of the leadership of the Croatian Football Association, because I'm a Serb and I intend to play exclusively for the country where I was born. There has never been talks of me playing for Croatia, nor have I thought about it. Serbia is my choice, and every time I hear the hymn Bože pravde I have goose bumps and feel joy." Sharing the surname with Ante Rukavina, a Croatian footballer, the newspaper said that the surname was Croatian, upon which he replied: "What about the surname? So many people, Serbs and Croats, have the same surnames. I know that my dad's grandmother was born in Croatia and that is my only connection with Croatians. My mother and father are from here [Serbia], and I repeat once again that Serbia is my choice.

External links

• Villarreal official profile (Spanish)
• Antonio Rukavina profile at BDFutbol
• Antonio Rukavina at Soccerway
• Antonio Rukavina at National-Football-Teams.com
• Antonio Rukavina – FIFA competition record
• Antonio Rukavina at reprezentacija.rs (Serbian)
• Antonio Rukavina profile at Fussballdaten

Sporting positions
Preceded by Milan Smiljanić	Partizan captain 2007–2008	Succeeded by Stevan Jovetić