Mateja Kežman

Partizan

In the summer of 1998. At the age of 19, Kežman joined Partizan. In the 1998/99 season. He scored six goals in 22 league games, and won the championship title. In that season, he drew attention to himself when, in the 111-th Eternal derby against Red Star, he scored a goal in the last minute, which gave Partizan a 2–1 victory. In the 1999/00 season. Coach Miodrag Ješić takes the helm on the Partizan bench and then Kežman plays even better games. He scored 27 goals in 32 league games. However, (The Black-Whites) ended that season without a trophy. In his two seasons at the club, Kežman made a name for himself. He scored a total of 33 league goals in 54 appearances and was the top scorer of the national championship in the 1999–2000 season. He was especially good in the eternal derbies with Red Star, because he scored the same number of goals in 5 games he played.

PSV

In the summer of 2000, Kežman completed his move to Dutch club PSV. In his debut season, he was the league's top scorer, achieving 24 goals in 33 games as PSV won the title. He also picked up the nickname 'Batman', because the famous theme song was played at Philips Stadion every time he scored. He formed a successful partnership with Arjen Robben, and they gained the epithet 'Batman and Robben', a pun on Batman and Robin. Kežman went to score 81 goals over the following three seasons with PSV. His best season in terms of both goals and appearances was 2002–03 when he played 33 out of…

Kežman marked his senior international debut for FR Yugoslavia during March 2000 with a goal against China in a friendly match as part of the preparations for UEFA Euro 2000. Head coach Vujadin Boškov included him in the final 23-man roster that he took to Belgium and the Netherlands. Despite being the fourth attacking option behind Predrag Mijatović, Savo Milošević and Darko Kovačević, 21-year-old Kežman got his chance as substitute late in the group match versus Norway. However, after being on the pitch for about 90 seconds, he was sent off following a rash tackle on Erik Mykland. In February 2003, after embarrassing performances of the team during UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying, Kežman announced that he retired from the national jersey. However, Kežman returned to the team few months later, after Ilija Petković was appointed as the new coach. Kežman led Serbia and Montenegro's scoring during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifications with five goals, including the only goal in the final game against Bosnia and Herzegovina which in turn allowed Serbia and Montenegro to qualify directly, having come first in their group. During the competition, he was sent off in a group match against Argentina by referee Roberto Rosetti. After his sending off against Argentina at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Kežman did not receive any call up for his country's national team. During his six-year career in the national team, Kežman scored 17 goals in 49 appearances.

Club

International

Scores and results list Serbia and Montenegro's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kežman goal.

Kežman's father Zlatko was also a footballer who played as a goalkeeper, spending the majority of his career with Zemun. His early career at Partizan was disrupted by NATO's airstrikes on Belgrade in 1999. In 2003, he took protection when a Yugoslav criminal threatened to kidnap him and hold PSV to ransom. Kežman is a devout member of the Serbian Orthodox Church. During his time in the Netherlands, he prayed in the German city of Dortmund to retain his privacy. Although he considers his addiction to tattoos to be a vice, his tattoos are of a religious theme, and while playing he wore an undershirt with a printed icon of Jesus; this drew media attention during his spell in Turkey. He pledged to become a monk in the church.