Veljko Paunović
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Paunović managing Chicago Fire in 2017 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Veljko Paunović | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 21 August 1977 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Strumica, SFR Yugoslavia | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder, striker | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Oviedo (manager) | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1983–1994 | Partizan | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1994–1995 | Partizan | 13 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1995–2002 | Atlético Madrid | 52 | (9) | ||||||||||||||
| 1995–1996 | → Marbella (loan) | 20 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 1996–1998 | Atlético Madrid B | 22 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–1999 | → Mallorca (loan) | 24 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2001 | → Oviedo (loan) | 22 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | → Mallorca (loan) | 33 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Tenerife | 38 | (18) | ||||||||||||||
| 2003–2005 | Atlético Madrid | 35 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Hannover 96 | 6 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2005–2007 | Getafe | 44 | (10) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Rubin Kazan | 16 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Almería | 7 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Partizan | 9 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Philadelphia Union | 17 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 358 | (76) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2004 | Serbia and Montenegro | 2 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | Serbia U18 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Serbia U19 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Serbia U20 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2019 | Chicago Fire | ||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2022 | Reading | ||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Guadalajara | ||||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Tigres UANL | ||||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Oviedo | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Veljko Paunović (Serbian Cyrillic: Вељко Пауновић, pronounced [ʋěːʎko paǔ:noʋitɕ]; born 21 August 1977) is a Serbian football manager and former player. He is the head coach of Spanish club Real Oviedo.
A versatile attacking unit, he could operate as an attacking midfielder or a striker, and spent most of his professional career in Spain where he represented eight clubs, amassing La Liga totals of 212 matches and 38 goals over 11 seasons and having several spells with Atlético Madrid. Other than in his own country, he also played in Germany, Russia and the United States.
Paunović began working as a manager in 2012, starting with Serbia's youth teams and later being in charge of Chicago Fire, Reading, Guadalajara and Tigres UANL.