A-League Women: How Canberra United landed midfield 'dynamo' Vesna Milivojevic

Popovich took no time at all to recall the quality in 20-year-old midfielder Vesna Milivojevic after her agent reached out to him, and without hesitation he brought her to Canberra on a one-year deal.

"I knew she had the goods," the United coach said.

"She's quite shy in person, but when she gets on the pitch this season, I'm banking on her to be a dynamo."

The Sydney-born Serbian international had been on Popovich's radar before, identified for the Junior Matildas when he was assistant coach of the national team.

"I recognised the name instantly when it came up," he said. "What I remembered was her technical ability was very good.

"But because of her December birthday and the two-year cycle with the Junior Matildas, she wasn't physically as strong as the other girls.

"When I looked at her highlight videos from the last few years I saw how much she had improved.

"I want to see Vesna do what she did as a kid too, with tricks and goal-scoring."

Milivojevic played her junior football and futsal in NSW and made her A-League Women debut for the Wanderers in the 2019-20 season before heading overseas to develop further.

There she played in Germany and Serbia, and got a taste of the Champions League with ZFK Spartak Subotica, leading to a call-up from the Serbian national side.

With dual-nationality Milivojevic was somewhat conflicted at first on choosing the birthplace of her parents over Australia. But she grabbed the opportunity, and looking back even she didn't realise how much it meant to her.

"Of course you go through all those development systems here so your goal is to play for the Matildas," she said. "But when that chance with Serbia came up, I couldn't say no.

"I felt such a deep connection to play for them, especially for my parents. And I remember when I scored my first goal, I had tears in my eyes."

READ MORE CANBERRA UNITED NEWS:

Milivojevic still had the desire to return to Australia though, with unfinished business in the domestic competition following her Wanderers exit.

"The A-League has always been a really good league, so I wanted to come back in this environment and also be closer to home," she said.

"I hope I can bring an X-factor and unpredictability. I love to dribble the ball, I love to create chances and score goals. I want to be an impactful player here."

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: