page_title: Nemanja Matić
section_title: International career
hierarchical_section_title: Nemanja Matić / International career
caption_attribution_description: English: Nemanja Matić
context_page_description: Nemanja Matić is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for English Premier League club Manchester United. Starting his career as an attacking midfielder, Matić shifted to a defensive midfielder during his spell at Benfica. He is known for his consistent performances on the pitch and his combative style of play.
  Matić began his senior career at Kolubara, before joining Slovak side Košice in 2007. He moved to English club Chelsea for £1.5 million in 2009. Used sparingly during his first spell at Stamford Bridge, he spent the 2010–11 season on loan at Dutch club Vitesse, and in the summer of 2011, he moved to Benfica as part of a swap deal involving David Luiz. He won the Primeira Liga Player of the Year award for his performances in the 2012–13 season. Matić returned to Chelsea in January 2014, for £21 million. He was named in the PFA Team of the Year for the 2014–15 season. In July 2017, he was reunited with former Chelsea manager José Mourinho after signing for Manchester United.
  Matić represented Serbia at under-21 level. He made his senior international debut in 2008 and scored twice in 48 appearances.
context_section_description: Matić's debut for the Serbia under-21 team came in a match against Denmark on 11 October 2008. After three matches and two goals for the Serbia under-21 squad, he was called up to the Serbian senior squad and made his debut in a friendly against Poland on 14 December 2008, in a 1–0 loss.
  He played at Cyprus International Football Tournament 2009 where Serbia made it to the final
  Matić took part in the 2009 UEFA Euro Under-21 Championship, where he played 85 minutes in the first group match against Italy in a 0–0 draw. Matić, however, injured himself after contact with Italian forward Sebastian Giovinco. He broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot and was forced to undergo surgery.
  In December 2012, Matić announced he would not play for the Serbian national team while Siniša Mihajlović was the coach. The reason he gave for this decision is that he felt he was not given the right opportunity by the coach not playing a single minute in his last five call-ups. On 6 September 2013, Matić returned to his national team on a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Croatia, being sent off in the 75th minute.
  He scored his first international goal on 29 March 2015, in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match away to Portugal at the Estádio da Luz, equalising via an overhead kick, albeit in a 2–1 defeat. On 11 October, in a loss against the same opponents by the same score at the Partizan Stadium, Matić received a straight red card within a minute of teammate Aleksandar Kolarov's dismissal.
  In June 2018, he was selected in the Serbian squad for the 2018 World Cup, playing all three group stage matches.
  On 28 August 2020, the Football Association of Serbia announced that he had retired from international football; he made 48 appearances and scored two goals for Serbia. He earned his final cap against Luxembourg on 10 September 2019.
caption: Matić playing for Serbia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
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