Basta made his international debut for Serbia and Montenegro in 2005, and later was selected in the squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was also capped for Serbia, making his final cap in 2018.
Club career
Early years
The first football step Basta made was when he was eight – in local football club PKB from Padinska Skela, the suburb where he lived and where he was born. He then signed for Red Star aged thirteen, becoming a part of one of the most talented generations in the history of Red Star's youth academy.
Red Star Belgrade
Basta signed his first professional contract at the age of 17, when he together with a few teammates from Red Star's youth team broke out into the senior squad. He made his professional debut on his 18th birthday (18 August 2002) in a 1–0 defeat from Sutjeska in Nikšić, Montenegro. In the following, his second season, he played on loan in Jedinstvo Ub (along with Aleksandar Luković and Boško Janković). Over the season Basta displayed great technique, skills, and pass accuracy and very soon he became one of the most important players for Red Star Belgrade. In April 2005 Basta suffered an injury which kept him out of football for five months. By the end of his spell at Red Star, Basta won six trophies with Red Star Belgrade, including three domestic doubles.
Udinese
In July 2008 he moved from Red Star Belgrade to Udinese. He played in pre-season friendlies for Udinese.[2] However, Udinese did not wish to allocate one of the two non-EU registration quota on Basta, and Basta moved to Lecce on loan from Red Star Belgrade,[3] in order to borrow the quota from Lecce, like his teammate and countryman Aleksandar Luković.
After returning to Udinese in summer 2009, he became the starting right wing-back soon after the season started instead of his usual midfield position. He made his debut on 23 September 2009 against AC Milan, replacing Mauricio Isla after 27 minutes. Udinese won the match 1–0. After injuries to Simone Pepe, he played as a right-sided midfielder in their 3–5–2 formation for a few matches. Basta was later injured and missed the whole 2010–11 Serie A season, meaning that Mauricio Isla secured Basta's place in the team.
Basta made his return after 18 months on 11 September, the first gameweek of the 2011–12 Serie A season. In that match the coach Francesco Guidolin rested Isla, using Basta as the right wing-back in their 3–5–2 formation. He scored a goal, beating Lecce 2–0. In the next match, the first group stage match of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, Basta returned to the bench. On 6 November 2011, Basta scored the first goal in a 2–1 victory against Siena. On 11 December 2011, the Serb headed in Udinese's second goal in a 2–1 victory against Chievo. He then scored a powerful shot against struggling Cesena.
Lazio
Basta signed with Lazio on 23 June 2014 in a temporary deal, with an obligation to buy.[4][5] Eventually Basta cost Lazio €10.5 million.[6]
On 30 April 2017 Basta returned to score a goal in the Serie A, three years later the previous one (Udinese-Roma 2–3, 17 March 2014[7]) and against the same opponent team: his goal allowed Lazio to win the Derby della Capitale against the city rivals of Roma (Lazio won the match 3–1 away and Basta scored the second goal).[8]
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