Background and career
Dragan Stojković (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Стојковић, pronounced [drǎɡan stǒːjkoʋitɕ]; born 3 March 1965), also known by the nickname Piksi (Serbian Cyrillic: Пикси), is a Serbian professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He was most recently the head coach of the Serbia national team. Stojković was a long-time captain of the Yugoslavia national team and Red Star Belgrade, and is considered one of the greatest Yugoslav and Serbian footballers ever.
He was a star player for Yugoslavia at the 1990 (where he was selected for the World Cup All-Star Team) and 1998 FIFA World Cup, serving as captain at the latter.
He is one of only five players to be awarded the "Star of the Red Star" and is widely considered to have never shown his true potential in Europe, as injury prevented him from establishing himself at Marseille over the long term. Despite this, there is consensus among critics that he displayed an extraordinary ability throughout his career in spite of his chronic injuries, he is renowned to be the greatest in the Japanese football.
In 2021, he was appointed as coach of the Serbia national team, leading them to qualification for both 2022 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2024.
