Damir Kojašević


Damir Kojašević is a Montenegrin professional footballer who plays as a winger for Sutjeska Nikšić and the Montenegro national team.
While playing as a professional in Kazakhstan, Talgat Baysufinov called him "the little scoundrel", referring to his playing style on the field.

Club career

Early career

Kojašević signed his first professional contract with Montenegrin club Dečić at the age of 16. At the age of 18, he completed his first international transfer to Polish team Jagiellonia Białystok in 2008. At the age of 19, he was named the best foreign player in the Ekstraklasa. He left after a season due to a disagreement with the coach. He then returned to Montenegro and joined Zeta, with whom he played for three months.

Sarajevo

In 2010, Kojašević joined Bosnian team Sarajevo after being scouted by the club president at the time, Zijad Blekić. Over the course of two seasons with Sarajevo, he was considered to be one of the best players in the Premijer Liga. After the club told him they could not afford to pay his salary, Kojašević voluntarily terminated his contract. He subsequently joined Budućnost in a free transfer in January 2012, but played for them for only three months.

Astana

After only a brief period with Budućnost, Kojašević joined Kazakh side FC Astana in the spring of 2012. During his time with Astana, he enjoyed clubbing after games. In February 2015, Kojašević moved from Astana to Lokomotiv Tashkent on loan.

Mladost Podgorica

In August 2015, Kojašević turned down clubs from other countries to join Mladost Podgorica, citing family reasons. At Mladost his coach was Nikola Rakojević. In November 2015 he suffered a calf injury. Although he only spent a half-season at Mladost, Kojašević contributed to Mladost winning the league that season with seven goals.

Vardar

In December 2015, Kojašević signed with Vardar. He contributed in Vardar's first ever successful qualifying campaign to the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, and played in their historic upset of heavily favored Fenerbahçe in front of an audience of 45,000 at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium on 24 August 2017. Despite Vardar entering the Europa League group stage for the first time, Kojašević left the team before the group stage allegedly due to financial issues with club owner Sergey Samsonenko. Vardar ended up without a single win in Europa League Group L that season.

Vojvodina

In September 2017, Kojašević signed a one-year contract with Serbian club Vojvodina. On 29 September 2017, he scored two goals against Mladost Lučani. On 28 October 2017, he scored an olympic goal in a 3-0 win against Rad. On 3 December 2017, Kojašević scored a goal in a 1-1 tie against Partizan at their stadium in snowy conditions. In the half-season he played for Vojvodina, he scored four goals over the course of 14 matches. He was a teammate with Dušan Jovančić. Although he allegedly agreed to remain in Vojvodina for the remainder of the season, he terminated his contract in late January 2018.

Shakhter Karagandy

On 12 February 2018, Shakhter Karagandy announced the signing of Kojašević. At the time he joined, the team was coached by Uladzimir Zhuravel, with whom Kojašević worked well and got playing time. However, the team's record under Zhuravel experienced a period of losses in addition to Zhuravel's health problems. Later in 2018 Zhuravel was replaced by Nikolay Kostov, with whom Kojašević also saw playing time in addition to a significantly improved record during the season.
In August 2018, Kojašević went to the coal mine in Karaganda with the rest of the team. Although he was initially scared, the mine left a strong impression with him, as he had never gone down a mine before.

Radnički Niš

On 16 January 2019, Kojašević joined Serbian club Radnički Niš. Coach Nenad Lalatović had insisted on Kojašević's signing, referring to him as one of the best playmakers in the Serbian SuperLiga. On 29 January 2019, he scored his first goal for Radnički Niš in a 3-0 friendly win against Russian club Avangard. On 7 April 2019, he scored two goals in a 5-1 win against OFK Bačka.

Sutjeska Nikšić

On 14 June 2019, Kojašević signed a one-year contract with Montenegrin club Sutjeska Nikšić. On 10 July 2019, he scored a goal in a 1-1 tie against Slovan Bratislava in the first leg of the first qualifying round for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League. On 6 August 2019, he scored from a free kick in a 1-2 loss against Linfield in the first leg of the third qualifying round for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League.

International career

Kojašević was called up to the senior Montenegro squad for a friendly against Turkey in June 2016. However, he did not make his debut until substituting Marko Vešović in a match against Romania on 4 September 2016. Less than 10 minutes after coming on the field, Kojašević made an assist for teammate Stevan Jovetić, whose goal tied the game 1-1. On 27 March 2017, he made another assist for teammate Stefan Mugoša in his goal against Poland, although Montenegro ended up losing 1-2.

Career statistics

International goals

NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.11 November 2016Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia1–02–32018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Budućnost Podgorica
Astana
Vardar