Nikola Lazetić was born in Mitrovica, Kosovo, February 9, 1978.
He started playing football in his local club Trepča but at 17 joined the mighty Red Star Belgrade. In December 1995 he made his league debut against Proleter Zrenjanin. In total he played 15 times for The Star. In 1996 he was loaned to Budućnost Valjevo (8 appearances- 2 goals) and in 1997 to Hajduk Belgrade and then Milicionar without getting any playing time. In 1998 he was loaned to Vojvodina (12 appearances) and in 1999 joined Obilić where he played 35 games and scored 9 goals.
In 2000 he closed his first Slav phase and left to play in Turkey. He joined Fenerbaçhe. He stayed with Fener for two seasons, playing 46 games and scoring 6 goals. He won the Süper Lig in 2001.
In 2002 he started his Italian adventure. He joined Como in Serie B. He was however immediately loaned to Chievo in Serie A where he played 11 games. In January 2003 he arrived at Lazio on loan.
His experience in the capital was brief and only lasted six months. He played 5 games in Serie A, 1 in Coppa Italia and 4 in the UEFA Cup (scoring a goal against Wisla Krakow).
In July 2003 he was loaned to Siena by Como but subsequently sold to Genoa however staying in Siena in Serie A and playing 31 games with 2 goals (Parma, Modena). In 2004-05 he actually physically went to Genoa in Serie B making 39 appearances for the Grifoni and scoring 1 goal (Vicenza). The Rossoblu won the league and promotion but were subsequently accused of match fixing and relegated to C1.
At this point Lazetić moved on and joined Livorno. The Labronici (The Lightbourners) had a fantastic season finishing 6th in Serie A and qualifying for the UEFA Cup (In reality they came 9th but were upgraded due to three teams involvement in Calciopoli, including Lazio). Lazetić played 16 league games for the Amaranto from Leghorn but at the end of the season moved on again.
In 2006 he joined newly promoted Torino. He stayed with the Granata for two seasons playing 57 games in Serie A.
In 2008 it was time to return home and he re-joined Red Star Belgrade. He played two seasons making 41 appearances and scoring 3 goals. In 2009-10 he won the Serbian Cup defeating Vojvodina 3-0.
It was curiously the defeated finalists, Vojvodina, who Lazetić joined next. It was of course a return and he stayed just one season, playing 19 games and scoring 2 goals.
In 2012 until 2014 he was on the books at Smederevo but there are no records of him playing (they suffered two relegations from Serbian Division 1 to Division 3). The club's biggest ever game was probably a UEFA Cup tie versus Ipswich Town in 2002-03, lost 2-1 on aggregate.
So, Lazetic nomadic club career came to an end. He had endless different experiences, won some silverware, earned 22 caps for Yugoslavia and 3 for Serbia and Montenegro (scoring 1 goal versus Azerbaijan, in Euro 2004 qualifiers).
Lazetić did not have the best of careers and was by no means a champion. At Lazio he passed without leaving much trace but he had an honest career, played for some good teams, travelled the world playing football, earned decent money and no doubt spent a satisfying 16 years in professional football.
A curious fact to finish, his nephew Marko, born in 2004, is now part of A.C Milan's squad and is a centre-forward. Maybe it's not the last we've heard of Lazetić.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
Jan-Jun 2003 | 10 (1) | 5 | 1 | 4 (1) |
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