Full name Nemanja Nikolić Playing position 1996–2006 Senta Spouse Nóra Csécs (m. 2012) | Place of birth Senta, SFR Yugoslavia Number 23 Height 1.8 m Siblings Vukan Nikolics | |
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Date of birth (1987-12-31) 31 December 1987 (age 29) Current teams Hungary national football team (Forward), Chicago Fire Soccer Club (Forward) Children Tijana Nikolics, Marko Nikolics Similar Aleksandar Prijović, Guilherme Costa Marques, Michał Kucharczyk, Arkadiusz Malarz, Miroslav Radović | ||
Nemanja Nikolić (Serbian Cyrillic: Немања Николић, [němaɲa nǐkolitɕ]; Hungarian: Nikolics Nemanja [ˈnikolitʃ ˈnɛmaɲa]; born 31 December 1987) is a Yugoslavian-born Hungarian footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire. Born in Serbia, he never got a call from the Serbian national team so he chose to represent the Hungarian national team.
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Early life
Nikolić was born in Senta, Yugoslavia to a Serbian father and a Hungarian mother. He began his career with his brother at FK Senta.
Kaposvár
On 7 February 2008 Nikolić was signed by Kaposvár. He played his first match against Videoton. He managed to score thirty goals in just 49 matches therefore many top Hungarian sides wanted to sign him such as Újpest, Ferencváros and Videoton.
Videoton
In 2010 Videoton signed Nikolić. He became top scorer in the 2009-10 season of the Hungarian League.
Nikolić won the 2010-11 season of the Hungarian League with Videoton. With the arrival of the Portuguese coach Paulo Sousa he was often left out from the first squad in the early matches of the 2011-12 season of the Hungarian League. However, as a substitute he managed to score against Paks, Siófok (twice), Újpest (twice) and Pápa in a row in the Hungarian League.
On 2 August 2012, Nikolić scored the only goal of the first leg of the third round of the Europa league 2012-13 season, when Videoton beat the Belgian KAA Gent 1–0 at the Sóstói Stadion. He also scored in the second leg of the tie which was won by 3–0 by Videoton at the Jules Ottenstadion. On 4 September 2012, he scored a goal in the Europa league 2012-13 season when Videoton beat Portugal's Sporting CP 3-0 at Stadion Sóstói.
On 26 October 2014, Nikolić set a new record scoring in 12 consecutive league matches in the 2014–15 season.
Legia Warsaw
On 8 June 2015, Nikolić joined Ekstraklasa club, Legia Warsaw. On 19 July 2015, Nikolić debuted in the 2015-16 season of the Ekstraklasa by scoring two goals against Śląsk Wrocław at the Stadion Miejski, Wrocław. On 16 March 2016 Nikolic scored a hat-trick against Zawisza Bydgoszcz at the Pepsi Arena, Warsaw. The match ended with a 4–0 win for Legia Warsaw. On 15 May 2016 Legia became champions of the 2015–16 Ekstraklasa season by beating Pogoń Szczecin 3–0 at home. He was the top scorer of the 2015–16 Ekstraklasa season, scoring 28 goals in 37 matches.
Chicago Fire
On 20 December 2016, it was announced that Nikolić would join Chicago Fire.
International career
On 11 October 2013, Nikolić debuted in the Hungary national football team against the Netherlands in an 8–1 defeat at the Amsterdam Arena in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification. On 14 October 2013 Nikolić scored his first goal in the national team against Andorra in the 51st minute. His second goal was recorded as an own goal by Lima.
On 18 November 2014, Nikolić scored against Russia in a 2–1 defeat in a friendly match at the Groupama Arena, Budapest, Hungary.
Nikolić was called up to Hungary's squad for UEFA Euro 2016. On 18 June 2016 he played in a 1–1 draw against Iceland at the Stade Vélodrome, Marseille in which his run and far post drive was re-directed in by Iceland for the last minute equalizer.
Club
As of 18 December 2016Club
Individual
Personal life
On 28 January 2011, Nikolić obtained Hungarian citizenship. András Cser-Palkovics, mayor of Székesfehérvár said that "We know about him that he knows the country, speaks the language since he has big plans with Videoton this year". Nikolić said that "I knew that it is not easy to obtain Hungarian citizenship but I hoped that due to the fact that my mother is Hungarian it would be easier but it turned out to be a bit more difficult".