Andrej Prskalo (; born 1 May 1987) is a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, who plays for

NK Opatija NK may refer to: Businesses *Imerys (Euronext ticker code NK) *Nordiska Kompaniet, a department store in Stockholm, Sweden *Northrup-King Seed Company *Spirit Airlines (IATA code NK) *NK.pl, a Polish school-based social networking service Places ...

Career

Early years in HNK Rijeka

Prskalo signed his first professional contract with

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka ( en, Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as NK Rijeka or simply Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football, football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka compete in Croatia's top ...

on 5 August 2005. During his first season at the club they won the 2006 Croatian Cup. Prskalo was the third choice goalkeeper and did not play a single match. During his next four seasons at the club he was loaned out to low tier clubs

NK Rudar Labin NK Rudar is a Croatian football club based in the town of Labin. They are currently competing in the Croatian Third Football League The Treća nogometna liga ( eng, Third football league), commonly Treća NL or 3. NL) is the fourth tier of the ...

NK Pomorac Kostrena NK Pomorac 1921 is a Croatian football club based in Kostrena, a suburb of Rijeka which currently plays in Croatian third tier 3. HNL West. Kostrena is known for its maritime tradition, which is reflected in the club's name, as the word " pomora ...

and NK Orijent Rijeka.

NK Istra 1961

On 2 July 2010 Prskalo signed to

NK Istra 1961 Nogometni klub Istra 1961 ( en, Istra 1961 Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Istra 1961, or simply Istra 1961 or Istra, is a Croatian professional football club from Pula, currently playing in the Croatian First League. It is a common ...

on a free transfer. Prskalo played his first match during the first match of the season against

Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...

coming in as a substitute for Igor Lovrić who had conceded five goals. The match ended 6:1 for

Hajduk A hajduk ( hu, hajdúk, plural of ) is a type of irregular infantry found in Central and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries. They have reputations ranging from bandits to freedom fighters depending on time, p ...

with Prskalo conceding a goal from a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

in the '81 minute. Prskalo competed in 49 competitive matches for Istra.

HNK Rijeka

On 14 January 2014 Prskalo returned to

on a free transfer. Prskalo made his debut for the club 5 days later on 19 January in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Videoton FC Videoton may refer to: *Videoton (company), Hungarian electronics company *Fehérvár FC, formerly known as Videoton FC, Hungarian football club See also *Vidéotron Vidéotron is a Canadian integrated telecommunications company active in cable t ...

in which the match ended in 2:2 draw. He made his competitive debut for the club on 10 May against

Lokomotiva Zagreb Nogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb ( en, Lokomotiva Zagreb Football Club), commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First Football League, the c ...

in 1:5 win for

. Prskalo spent the next two seasons as a substitute for

Ivan Vargić Ivan Vargić (; born 15 March 1987) is a Croatian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Krk. He had played for Slovenian club FC Koper in the years before returning to Croatia. Club career Osijek Following two loans to HNK Vukovar '91 in Cro ...

playing 18 matches in official competitions. He played his first

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

match during the

Third qualifying round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

of the 2014-15 Europa League against

Víkingur Gøta Víkingur is a semi-professional association football, football club in the Faroe Islands. The club was founded in 2008 after the merger of GÍ Gøta and Leirvík ÍF. The club is based in Leirvík, while the Serpugerði Stadium, stadium is in No ...

. Rijeka won the match 4:0. Prskalo played in a notable 3:0 win against

on 18 February 2015. The match was the last

Adriatic derby Adriatic derby ( hr, Jadranski derbi) is the name given to matches between two largest Croatian football clubs coming from the Adriatic coast, Hajduk Split and Rijeka. The teams are supported by their fanbases called Split's Torcida and Rijeka's ...

to be played on

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

's stadium Kantrida. At the beginning of the 2016–17 season Prskalo became the first choice

for the club. During the season due to the injury of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Mate Maleš Mate Maleš (; born 11 March 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder in Croatian club Lokomotiva Zagreb. Club career Maleš started his football career with HNK Šibenik, debuting for the first team at the age of ...

Prskalo captained his side to winning the clubs first league title and first

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

. Prskalo was the best

of the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

that season having 21

clean sheets In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

. Prskalo missed out on the next season due to a

muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscl ...

injury An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, o ...

. He was only able to play 14 matches in all competitions and was replaced by

Simon Sluga Simon Sluga (; born 17 March 1993) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bulgarian club Ludogorets Razgrad and the Croatia national team. Club career Rijeka In the first two seasons of his professional career HNK ...

International

He made his debut and played his sole international game for

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

in a January

2017 China Cup The 2017 Gree China Cup International Football Championship () was the inaugural edition of the China Cup, an international football tournament. It was held from 10 to 15 January 2017 in Nanning, Guangxi, China. The tournament was hosted by t ...

match against the hosts.

Personal life

His father Mirko was also a

player. He is the nephew of former

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

player

Mladen Prskalo Mladen Prskalo (born 16 June 1968) is a Croatian handball coach and former player who player at the line position. He is currently head coach of Rudan Labin from Labin. He is the uncle of goalkeeper Andrej Prskalo. Career Prskalo spent the maj ...

Career statistics

Club

:¹Played in

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup * Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup *Croatian Minute Movie Cup ...

and

Croatian Super Cup The Croatian Football Super Cup is a football match between the winners of the Croatian national top league and football cup. The Super Cup is always held at the beginning of a new football season, and is only held when different clubs win the tw ...

with ''

'', '' Rudar Labin'', '' Pomorac'' and '' Istra 1961''. :²Played in

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

and

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

with ''

''. :³Includes

friendly matches An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

with '' Istra 1961'' and ''

''.

International appearances

Honours

;Rijeka *

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, it was called Prva H ...

: 2016–17 *

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

;Performance *Most clean sheets in

: 2016–17 season *Best goalkeeper in

: 2016–17 season *

goalkeeper of the decade (2010-2020)

References

External sources

* * *
Andrej Prskalo
at nk-rijeka.hr

at national football teams {{DEFAULTSORT:Prskalo, Andrej 1987 births Living people People from Labin Footballers from Rijeka Association football goalkeepers Croatian footballers Croatia international footballers HNK Rijeka players NK Rudar Labin players HNK Orijent players NK Pomorac 1921 players NK Istra 1961 players HNK Rijeka II players NK Opatija players Croatian Football League players Second Football League (Croatia) players