Vrbica Stefanov (born December 19, 1973 in Kavadarci

Kavadarci

Kavadarci is a town located in the Tikveš region of the Republic of Macedonia. Situated in the heart of Macedonia’s wine country, it is home to the largest winery in south-eastern Europe, named after the Tikveš plain. The town of Kavadarci is the seat of Kavadarci Municipality...

,Republic of Macedonia) is a Macedonian

Macedonians (ethnic group)

The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...

 professional basketball player.

Pro career

He played six seasons with the MZT Skopje (1992–98), then passed to the Rabotnicki Skopje (1998–99), the Karsiyaka Izmir (1999–2000, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

), AEK Athens BC

AEK Athens BC

AEK BC , the Athletic Union of Constantinople, is a Greek professional sports basketball club based in Athens, Greece. The club was established in Athens in 1924 by Greek refugees from Constantinople in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War ....

 (2000–01, Greece). He then remained for four years in Italy, in the Montepaschi Siena

Mens Sana Basket

Mens Sana Basket, more frequently referred to as Montepaschi Siena, is an Italian League professional basketball club from Siena. More precisely, it is the now-autonomous basketball section of the comprehensive sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana...

 (2001–05), where he reached a Euroleague Final Four

Euroleague

Euroleague Basketball, commonly known as the Euroleague, is the highest level tier and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe, with teams from up to 18 different countries, members of FIBA Europe. For sponsorship reasons, for five seasons starting with 2010–2011, it is...

.
He has won the 1998-99 Macedonian National Championship with Rabotnicki Skopje, the 2001 Greek National Cup

Greek basketball Cup

The Greek Basketball Cup or Hellenic Basketball Cup is an annual pro basketball national cup competition. It is organized by the Hellenic Basketball Federation .-History and format:...

 with AEK Athens, the 2002 Saporta Cup

Saporta Cup

Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European professional club basketball competition, where the National Cup winners from all over Europe played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA Europe...

 with Mens Sana Basket Siena, the 2003-04 Italian National Championship with Mens Sana Basket Siena, and the 2005-06 Turkish National Championship with Ulker Spor Kulubu Istanbul. He was also the captain of the Macedonian National Team and played at the 1999 European Championship and the 2007 PreEuropean Championship.

After he signed with KK Crvena Zvezda - Belgrade, he played only 1 match, in October 2006 and said that would retire from playing basketball.

In February 2007 he signed for the ACB

Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto

The Liga ACB, known as the Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Spain. It was founded in 1956 with the name of Liga Nacional. The league changed its name to the current one in 1983. The league is rated as one of the three "A" level European...

's ViveMenorca in Spain, for all the remaining season and the following one.

On 23 March 2009, Vrbica Stefanov was awarded the Medal for Service to the Country by the then-president of the Republic of Macedonia

President of the Republic of Macedonia

The President of the Republic of Macedonia is the head of state of the Republic of Macedonia. The institution of the Presidency of the modern Republic of Macedonia began after the Macedonian declaration of independence on 8 September 1991. Its first president was Kiro Gligorov, the oldest president...

 Branko Crvenkovski

Branko Crvenkovski

Branko Crvenkovski leads the Republic of Macedonia's largest opposition party, the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia. He was Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2002 to 2004, then President of the Republic of Macedonia from 2004 to 2009.Crvenkovski was...

 in acknowledgement of his sport achievements and his contribution to developing and popularizing sport in Macedonia as well as promoting the country abroad.

Pro clubs

• MZT Skopje
  KK MZT Skopje
  KK МЗТ Скопје is a basketball club based in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. They currently play in the Macedonian First League.-History:Name: MZT Boss , MZT 2000 , MZT Skopje League Achievements:*Macedonian League Champion -...
  
  - (Macedonia) - 1992/1998
• Godel Rabotnički
  KK Rabotnički
  KK Rabotnički is a basketball club based in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. They currently play in the Macedonian First League and are the most successful Macedonian basketball team of all time.-History:...
  
  - (Macedonia) - 1998/1999
• Pınar Karşıyaka
  Pinar Karsiyaka
  Pınar Karşıyaka is a professional basketball team based in the city of İzmir in Turkey. It is a section of the Karşıyaka SK. The team was sponsored by Pınar since 1998. It is the product of Yasar Holding's Food and Beverage Group....
  
  - 1999/2000
• AEK - (Greece) - 2000/2001
• Montepaschi Siena
  Mens Sana Basket
  Mens Sana Basket, more frequently referred to as Montepaschi Siena, is an Italian League professional basketball club from Siena. More precisely, it is the now-autonomous basketball section of the comprehensive sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana...
  
  - (Italy) - 2001/2005
• Ülkerspor
  Ülkerspor
  -History:Ülkerspor had been founded in 1975 but its basketball department was created in 1993 by buying a Turkish League spot from Nasaşspor. It won Turkish League titles in 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2006 with greats including Harun Erdenay, İbrahim Kutluay, Michael Anderson, Orhun Ene, Kevin Rankin and...
  
  - (Turkey) - March 2005/2006
• KK Crvena zvezda
  KK Crvena zvezda
  Košarkaški klub Crvena zvezda is a professional basketball club based in Belgrade, Serbia. Its name Crvena zvezda means Red Star and it's part of the Red Star Belgrade sports society ....
  
  - (Serbia) - 2006 (left in October 2006)
• Olympiacos BC
  Olympiacos BC
  Olympiacos B.C. , also known simply as Olympiacos and Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional basketball club, part of Olympiacos CFP, based in Piraeus. The basketball club, founded in 1931, is one of the most successful in Greece and a traditional powerhouse in European competitions...
  
  - (Greece) - 2007
• Montepaschi Siena
  Mens Sana Basket
  Mens Sana Basket, more frequently referred to as Montepaschi Siena, is an Italian League professional basketball club from Siena. More precisely, it is the now-autonomous basketball section of the comprehensive sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana...
  
  - (Italy) - 2007
• Mersin BŞB. S.K. - (Turkey) - 2007/2008
• ViveMenorca - ACB (Spain) - 2008/2009

Honors

• Club honors
  • Macedonian League - 1999 with Skopje
  • Greek Cup - 2001 with AEK
  • Saporta Cup
    Saporta Cup
    Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European professional club basketball competition, where the National Cup winners from all over Europe played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA Europe...
    
    - 2002 with Montepaschi
  • Italian League - 2004, 2007 with Montepaschi
  • Turkish League - 2006 with Ülker

• Individual honors
  • Macedonian Sportspersonality of the year - 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003
  • Greek All Star - 2001
  • Italian All Star - 2005