Serbian central defender Nenad Djordjevic has joined J. League first-division side JEF United Chiba, team officials said Monday.

Capped 18 times for his country, Djordjevic rose to prominence with FK Obilic, where his performance prompted Partizan Belgrade and Crvena Zvezda to chase his signature in 2003.

The 27-year-old, who played twice at last summer's World Cup finals in Germany, eventually signed for Partizan, where he won a Serbian title with the Belgrade giants in the 2004-05 campaign.