Danijel Pranjić (born 2 December 1981) is a Croatian professional

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 ...

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and former player. Being a versatile left-footed player, he could play all across the left

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and could also be used as a

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midfielder.

Club career

Pranjić started his career at

Papuk Papuk is the largest mountain in the Slavonia region in eastern Croatia, near the city of Požega. It extends between Bilogora to the northwest, Krndija to the east, and Ravna gora and Psunj to the southwest. The highest peak is the eponymous ...

. He played for NAŠK, Papuk,

Belišće Belišće () is a town in Croatia, located in the region of Slavonia, Osijek-Baranja County, at the altitude of 93 m. The population of the town is 6,518 (2011), with 10,825 in the municipality. In 2011 census, the majority were Croats. This indus ...

, and

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

before making his move to a bigger stage at

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

in 2004. While at Dinamo Zagreb, he also played regularly during their 2004–05

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

campaign, making six appearances and scoring one goal in the competition. In 2005, he was transferred to Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

side

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherlands. History Sportclub Heerenveen was founded on 20 July ...

. His good performances as an offensive winger secured him a return to international football with

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 2007. He started the

2008–09 Eredivisie The Eredivisie 2008–09 is the 53rd season of Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. PSV were the reigning champions. The season began on 29 August 2008 with a game between Vitesse Arnhem and FC Groningen and ended on 10 May 2009. A tota ...

season well, netting four goals in his first three league matches. Pranjić scored his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in the

Dutch Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

on 12 November 2008 in a huge 7–0 win against

Haaglandia VV Haaglandia was an association football club from Rijswijk, Netherlands. The club was established on 1 July 2005 through a merger of amateur sides RVC/Rijswijk (who merged years earlier themselves) and FC Kranenburg. It later played in the Hoofd ...

. On 31 January 2009, he made the lone goal in a Heerenveen victory at

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

. A month later, he scored a late penalty that gave Heerenveen a 3–2 win at PSV. He won the Dutch Cup with Heerenveen at the end of the 2008–09 season, which turned out to be his last match for the club. In June 2009,

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

announced Pranjić would join the club. He struggled to make an impact in his first season with the club, starting only 14 matches and losing out to first choice left-back Holger Badstuber. Due to his utility and injuries to other teammates, however, he started an increasing number of games in his second season with the Bavarian club. On 13 July 2012, after the expiration of his Bayern contract, Pranjić was announced as a new signing for Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

team Sporting CP. He played nine games for ''Os Leões'' before joining Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

club

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

in January 2013 on loan until the end of the season. On 30 August 2013, Pranjić and Sporting terminated the contract in mutual agreement. On 2 September 2013, it was officially announced that Pranjić had signed with

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

for three years. He made his professional debut in a 1–1 away draw against

Platanias F.C. Platanias Football Club ( el, Π.Α.Ε. Πλατανιάς Χανίων) was a Greek professional football club based in Platanias, Chania, Greece. The club hosted its home games at the Perivolia Municipal Stadium. Platanias was the first, and t ...

On 11 September 2016, Pranjić joined Slovenian club

FC Koper Football Club Koper, commonly referred to as FC Koper or simply Koper, is a Slovenian football club based in Koper that competes in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top flight of Football in Slovenia, Slovenian football. The club was founded in 1920. ...

on free transfer. On 21 July 2017, Pranjić signed with Cypriot club Anorthosis. On 1 July 2019, Pranjić signed with

Ayia Napa Ayia Napa ( el, Άγια Νάπα tr, Aya Napa, ), officially romanised Agia Napa, is a tourist resort at the far eastern end of the southern coast of Cyprus. Etymology The name Ayia Napa is derived from a Venetian-era monastery of the same ...

, competing in the Cypriot Second Division.

International career

Pranjić started his international career with the Croatian national under-21 football team, winning a total of 15 international caps and scoring one goal for the team between 2002 and 2004. On 16 November 2004, Pranjić made his full international debut 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 friendly match against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. After two years of absence from the national team, he was called up for a friendly match against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

in February 2007. Later that year, he also appeared in three UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers. Asked to play a defensive role by Croatia coach Slaven Bilić, although still predominantly a midfielder in his club career, Pranjić was the only Croatian to start all four games at the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

finals. Pranjić provided an assist to

Darijo Srna Darijo Srna (; born 1 May 1982) is a Croatian former professional footballer and current director of football of Ukrainian Premier League club Shakhtar Donetsk. During most of his career he played as a right wing-back. He began his career at Haj ...

to score the opener in Croatia's 2–1 victory over

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and an assist to

Ivan Klasnić Ivan Klasnić (; born 29 January 1980) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He began his career with local side FC St. Pauli, and moved to Werder Bremen in 2001 after helping his previous team to promotion to th ...

to score the only goal in their next game, a 1–0 win over

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. He kept his place as a regular in the national team during their unsuccessful qualifying campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, appearing in a total of nine matches. On 28 September 2012, Pranjić retired from the national team in protest to the call up of Brazilian-born player

Sammir Jorge Sammir Cruz Campos (born 23 April 1987), commonly known as Sammir, is a Brazilian-Croatian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Born in Brazil, Sammir became a naturalized Croatian citizen and has been ca ...

. On 10 November 2013, Kovač called up Pranjić to the national team after

Ivan Strinić Ivan Strinić (; born 17 July 1987) is a Croatian retired footballer who played as a left-back. Strinić spent his professional career playing in a number of clubs from Croatian, Ukrainian and Italian top flight, including Hajduk Split, Napoli a ...

sustained an injury that made him ineligible for the playoffs against Iceland. Pranjić was called to the Croatia's 23-man squad for

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. He earned a total of 58 caps, scoring 1 goal. His last match for Croatia happened at a

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

qualification match against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

in 2015.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and Results show Croatia's goal tally first'' , - , 1 , , 28 March 2015 , , Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia , , , , , , , , UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying

Honours

Heerenveen *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

: 2008–09 Bayern Munich *

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

: 2009–10 * DFB-Pokal: 2009–10 * DFL-Supercup:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

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 ...

runner-up: 2009–10, 2011–12 Panathinaikos * Greek Cup: 2013–14

References

External links