PICTURE: Vladimir Zelenbaba, a standout with several teams in Europe and twice with SC Waterloo in Canada has signed for CSL current champions Scarborough SC
Scarborough SC has started the ball rolling in defense of last season’s Canadian Soccer League championship victory with the signing of Vladimir Zelenbaba, an impressive defender, sometimes midfielder from Europe who in recent times has been a standout with SC Waterloo.
Croatia-born Zelenbaba, who is now a Serbian national, first signed for Waterloo in 2012 to play in Canada for three seasons before being loaned to NK Travnik of Bosnia-Herzegovina. He then played in Thailand and Serbia before returning to Waterloo in 2017.
In earlier times his pro soccer career started in Belgrade, Serbia and included stints in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
Zelenbaba made a strong impression on first arriving in Canada in 2012 and scored a goal in each half for the memorable SC Waterloo 3-1 CSL Championship final victory over Kingston FC in 2013.
Scarborough SC has strengthened its First Division side each season since launched by GM Kiril Dimitrov in 2014, including import players Dobrin Orlovski from Bulgaria, Serbian prolific striker Aleksander Stojiljkovic, Zoran Knezevic, who earlier played in Serbia and Russia, Kavin Bryan, a Jamaican international forward who played in the Jamaican Premier League, Norway and Vietnam who joined York Region Shooters before moving to Scarborough SC. Goalkeeper Mladen Kukrika played in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania also signed and Dimitrov came from the Belasitsa Petrich team in Bulgaria to play for Serbian White Eagles and SC Waterloo before returning professional soccer back to Scarborough and eventually guiding the team to the 2019 championship.
“ I know Vladimir Zelenbaba to be a great player and we are pleased to announce his signing while we look forward to playing the games in defense of the championship won last year,” said Dimitrov.
The Canadian Soccer League has scheduled to kickoff an abbreviated 2020 season on Saturday, August 8.