Vladimir Petrović

Serbian footballer and manager (born 1955)

Vladimir Petrović (, ; born 1 July 1955) is a Serbian football manager and former player. He is widely known domestically by his nickname Pižon , after the French for pigeon.

During his playing career, he mostly played for Red Star Belgrade and is one of the five Zvezdine zvezde (The Stars of Red Star) — the legends of the club. He started out at Red Star making his debut in 1971, at the age of 16. With the team, he won four Yugoslav League Championship titles, one Yugoslav Cup and reached the final of the 1979 UEFA Cup Final, losing to Borussia Mönchengladbach. In 1980, he was named the Yugoslav Footballer of the Year. In 1982, he moved abroad, and briefly played for Arsenal; he joined the London side in December 1982 and made 22 appearances in the 1982–83 season. At Arsenal he had a brief but memorable career and helped them reach the semi finals of both domestic cups (losing both to Manchester United). He scored twice in the league against Stoke City and West Ham United and once in the FA Cup quarter final against Aston Villa. In June 1983 he left Arsenal and subsequently played for Brest and AS Nancy in France, and Royal Antwerp (1) and Standard Liège (16) in Belgium. In all he played 526 matches for the clubs.

He also represented Yugoslavia 34 times and played in the 1974 World Cup and 1982 World Cup.

As assistant coach, Petrović won the 1990–91 European Cup with Red Star, and as head coach when they won the 1996–97 FR Yugoslavia Cup. He guided the Serbia and Montenegro national under 21 football team to a runners up finish at the 2004 UEFA European Under 21 Championship. In 2005, Petrović managed the Chinese Dalian Shide team to the double. On 14 September 2007, Petrović was named as coach of the Chinese national team. After China failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, he was sacked. On 2 June 2009, Petrović returned to Red Star Belgrade. As manager, Petrović was part of takeover of Red Star by the club's veterans, replacing caretaker/interim coach Siniša Gogić. On 21 March 2010, Red Star officials unexpectedly sacked Petrović after a league defeat against Metalac. On 4 June 2010, he was named the manager of Romanian club Politehnica Timișoara. On 15 September 2010, Petrović was named the new head coach of Serbia. On 14 October 2011, the football association of Serbia announced they had terminated their contract with Petrović. In 2013, he was the head coach of the Iraq national team. On 13 December 2013, he was named the head of coach of the Yemen national team. In May 2014, he resigned following the expiration of the contract. In 2015, Petrović managed OFK Beograd.