Dragan Stojkovic Piksi Best Tribute Ever- Football Legends

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Dragan Stojković (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Стојковић, born 3 March 1965 in Niš, Serbia), also known under the nickname Piksi (Пикси) is a Serbian former footballer, and current manager.

Stojković was long time captain of the Yugoslavia national football team and Red Star Belgrade, and is considered one of the best players in the history of Yugoslavian and Serbian football. He starred for Yugoslavia at the 1990 FIFA World Cup (where he was named in the World Cup All-Star Team) and 1998 FIFA World Cup where he captained the team.

He is one of the five players to be awarded the title Star of the Red Star. He 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 general consensus among critics that he displayed extraordinary ability throughout his career in spite of his chronic injuries, being most renowned in Japan.Usually a playmaker, Stojković was especially famed for his vision, technique and passing ability.

Club career
Radnički Niš
A 175 cm, 73 kg midfielder and occasional forward, Stojković began his professional playing career with Yugoslav First League and hometown side Radnički Niš in 1981–82 when he made one first-team appearance. The next four seasons, Stojković appeared in 69 matches for Radnički and scored eight goals.

Red Star Belgrade
In the summer of 1986, twenty-one-year-old Stojković moved to Red Star Belgrade where he would spend the next four seasons, scoring 54 times in 120 appearances.[citation needed]

Olympique de Marseille
In the summer of 1990, twenty-five-year-old Stojković made the much publicized move to Olympique de Marseille for a transfer fee of £5.5 million, joining the star-laden squad bankrolled by French businessman/politician Bernard Tapie. The expectations were sky-high with a team featuring world-class players such as Jean-Pierre Papin, Éric Cantona, Chris Waddle, Carlos Mozer, Manuel Amoros, Didier Deschamps, Jean Tigana, Abédi Pelé, etc. as well as newly arrived midfielder Basile Boli and new head coach Franz Beckenbauer fresh off winning the 1990 FIFA World Cup with Germany. Stojković had his own shining moments at the said World Cup, all of which only contributed to Marseille’s interest.

Early into his debut season, Stojković sustained a knee injury for which he had to have surgery in Germany, forcing him to the sidelines for months. In fact, the entire 1990–91 league season was injury riddled for the Serb and he ended up making only eleven league appearances. Beckenbauer stepped down from the coaching post during the winter break although he remained with the club in an adviser capacity. The new head coach to replace the famous German was Raymond Goethals. In the final of the UEFA European Champions’ Cup, Marseille played against Stojković’s former team Red Star. Stojković, a penalty kick specialist, entered the game late during the extra-time as a substitute, but as the match eventually went to penalty shootout, he informed head coach Goethals that he did not want to take a penalty shot against his former team. Red Star won the European Cup in the shootout.

He would remain Marseille player for the next four seasons with a half-season loan move to Hellas Verona sandwiched in-between his stints in Marseille.

Nagoya Grampus Eight
In the spring of 1994 Stojković signed with Japanese J-League team Nagoya Grampus Eight, then managed by Arsène Wenger and featuring Gary Lineker. He spent seven seasons with the Grampus Eight, retiring as a player in 2001. Stojković played 183 matches for the club, scoring 57 times. He was named J-League MVP for the 1995 season.

International career
Youth level
Stojković made his under-21 debut on 11 October 1983 versus Norway in Pančevo as part of qualifying for the 1984 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. Playing under head coach Ivan Toplak, the youngster from Radnički Niš scored on his debut as Yugoslavia won 6–2.

National team
Stojković made 84 career international appearances, scoring 15 times, those split between the SFR Yugoslavia national team and the FR Yugoslavia national team. He played for the former in UEFA Euro 1984, 1984 Summer Olympics, 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1990 FIFA World Cup and for the latter in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000. He made his international debut on 12 November 1983 in a scoreless draw against France.

At the 1990 World Cup, Stojković scored both goals in Yugoslavia’s 2–1 round-of-16 defeat of Spain in Verona. In the quarter-final, he was one of three Yugoslavs to miss in the 3–2 penalty shootout defeat to world champions Argentina.

His final international match was against the country he spent much of his playing career in, Japan, on 4 July 2001.