Mile Svilar
Миле Свилар
Svilar in 2017
Personal information
Full name Mile Svilar[1]
Date of birth (1999-08-27) 27 August 1999 (age 24)
Place of birth Antwerp, Belgium
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Roma
Number 99
Youth career
2008–2009 KFCO Wilrijk
2009–2010 Beerschot A.C.
2010–2017 Anderlecht
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Anderlecht 0 (0)
2017–2022 Benfica 7 (0)
2019–2022 Benfica B 56 (0)
2022– Roma 4 (0)
International career‡
2014 Belgium U15 3 (0)
2014–2015 Belgium U16 3 (0)
2016 Belgium U17 7 (0)
2016 Belgium U18 1 (0)
2016–2017 Belgium U19 5 (0)
2019–2020 Belgium U21 5 (0)
2021– Serbia 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 January 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 1 September 2021

Mile Svilar (Serbian Cyrillic: Миле Свилар; born 27 August 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Roma. Born in Belgium, he plays for the Serbia national team.

Club career

Early career and Anderlecht

Svilar is a product of the Belgian youth teams of KFCO Wilrijk and Beerschot A.C., while in 2010 he joined the Belgian giant Anderlecht in which during the 2016–17 season, he became part of the first team as the third choice goalkeeper,[3] but he did not appear in any game.

Benfica

Svilar signed a five-year contract with Portuguese champions Benfica on 28 August 2017.[4] On 14 October, he made his debut with the club in a 1–0 victory over Olhanense,[5] becoming the youngest goalkeeper to ever play for Benfica.[6] In international competition, he broke Iker Casillas' record as the youngest goalkeeper to ever play in the Champions League on 18 October 2017, in a 1–0 home defeat to Manchester United, aged 18 years and 52 days.[7][8] In the return leg against the English side, aged 18 years and 65 days, he became the youngest goalkeeper ever to save a penalty in a Champions League match. In the same match, which ended in a 2–0 away defeat, he also became the youngest player ever to score an own goal in the competition.[9][10]

Roma

On 1 July 2022, Svilar signed a contract with Serie A club Roma until 30 June 2027.[11] On 22 February 2024, he saved two penalties during the shootouts which ended in a 4–2 victory over Feyenoord in the 2023–24 Europa League knockout round play-offs.[12]

International career

Youth

Svilar was a member of Belgium U-16, Belgium U-17, Belgium U-18 national teams and was also a member of Belgium U-19. He was the first choice goalkeeper for the Belgium U-17 team at the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Azerbaijan.

Senior

Born in Belgium to Serbian parents, Svilar is eligible to represent Belgium or Serbia.[13] On 4 November 2017, he announced that he would play his first game for the Serbia national team in March 2018, as he accepted the call from the Football Association of Serbia.[14] He debuted with Serbia in a friendly 4–0 win over Qatar on 1 September 2021.[15]

Personal life

Svilar has a Serbian passport.[16] His father, Ratko, is a former Serbian goalkeeper.[4]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 14 January 2024[17][18]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Anderlecht 2016–17 Belgian Pro League 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Benfica 2017–18 Primeira Liga 3 0 1 0 3 0 2 0 9 0
2018–19 1 0 6 0 0 0 4 0 11 0
2019–20 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2020–21 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Total 7 0 7 0 3 0 6 0 23 0
Benfica B 2018–19 LigaPro 2 0 — — — 2 0
2019–20 20 0 — — — 20 0
2020–21 Liga Portugal 2 21 0 — — — 21 0
2021–22 13 0 — — — 13 0
Total 56 0 — — — 56 0
Roma 2022–23 Serie A 3 0 0 0 1 0 — 4 0
2023–24 1 0 1 0 6 0 — 8 0
Total 4 0 1 0 7 0 — 12 0
Career total 67 0 8 0 10 0 6 0 91 0

International

As of 1 September 2021
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Serbia 2021 1 0
Total 1 0

Honours

Anderlecht

Benfica

Roma

See also

References

  1. ^ "Comunicado Oficial N. 131" [Official Announcement No. 131] (in Portuguese). Portuguese Football Federation. 7 January 2020. p. 13. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Svilar – Official Profile". AS Roma. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Anderlecht 2016-2017". footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  4. ^ a b Garcia, Filipa Fernandes (28 August 2017). "Svilar assina por cinco épocas" [Svilar signs for five seasons]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  5. ^ "Taça de Portugal Placard 2017/2018 - Third Round: Olhanense 0-1 Benfica". thefinalball.com. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  6. ^ Svilar, o mais novo de sempre na baliza do Benfica Maisfutebol (in Portuguese)
  7. ^ "Benfica goalkeeper breaks Iker Casillas' record in Champions League clash with Man Utd | Goal.com". www.goal.com.
  8. ^ Michael Yokhin (31 October 2017). "Meet Mile Svilar, the youngest keeper in Champions League history". ESPN FC. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Man. United 2-0 Benfica". uefa.com. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  10. ^ Mark Critchley (31 October 2017). "Manchester United make it four from four on another night to forget for Benfica youngster Mile Svilar". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  11. ^ "SVILAR COMPLETES ROMA MOVE!". Roma. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  12. ^ "SVILAR: "I HAVE WORKED ALL MY LIFE FOR THIS MOMENT"". Roma. 22 February 2024.
  13. ^ "Mladi Srbin protiv Manchester Uniteda srušio rekord Lige prvaka". index.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Svilar odlucio - igra za Srbiju". rts.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  15. ^ "Match Report of Qatar vs Serbia - 2021-09-01 - FIFA Friendlies - Global Sports Archive".
  16. ^ "Jedan Srbin može protiv Junajteda da ispiše istoriju Lige šampiona". sport.blic.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  17. ^ Mile Svilar at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 October 2017. Edit this at Wikidata
  18. ^ "BDFutbol Player Profile". BDFutbol. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  19. ^ "Mile Svilar Titles". thefinalball.com. Retrieved 16 October 2017.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mile Svilar.
AS Roma – current squad
Categories