Full name Saša Ilić Playing position Team Apps Position Goalkeeper | Place of birth Melbourne, Australia Years Team Height 1.93 m | |
Date of birth (1972-07-18) 18 July 1972 (age 44) Similar Russell Slade, Karl Robinson, Guy Luzon | ||
Saša Ilić (Serbian Cyrillic: Саша Илић, [sâʃa ǐːliːt͡ɕ] or [îːliːt͡ɕ]; born 18 July 1972) is a retired Serbian-Australian football goalkeeper.
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Club career
Born in Melbourne, Ilić started his career with Sydney-based Bonnyrigg White Eagles before transferring to Borac Banja Luka in Bosnia.
Ilić later joined Charlton Athletic, where he became most well-known. He was a regular in goal in the latter half of the 1997–98 season and kept a record 10 clean sheets in a row, including both play-off semi-finals against Ipswich Town. The run was ended as Charlton gained promotion after a classic 4–4 play-off final, in which he saved the deciding penalty from Michael Gray in a 7-6 win over Sunderland on penalties in the First Division play-off final. After Charlton's relegation in 1998–99, Ilić lost his place in the team to new signing Dean Kiely.
In February 2000 he went on loan to West Ham United but made just one appearance - a 4-0 defeat at home to Everton in the Premier League. In September 2001 he went on loan to Portsmouth and made seven appearances.
Ilić left Charlton in 2002 and joined Hungarian side ZTE where he played against Manchester United in a UEFA Champions League qualifier. ZTE won the first leg 1-0 but lost the second leg 5-0, a game in which Ilić was also sent off for a foul on Ruud van Nistelrooy.
International career
Ilić made two appearances for the Serbia and Montenegro national football team. His debut was against in 1998 in a friendly match Israel as a second-half substitute and his second and last appearance was in a home loss against Russia during the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification.