Mladen Krstajić ( sr-cyr, Младен Крстајић, ; born 4 March 1974) is a Serbian professional

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He represented

Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. From January 2015 until March 2020, Krstajić served the role of chairman of the board of Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Premier League club FK Radnik Bijeljina, Radnik Bijeljina. Krstajić became head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C., Maccabi Tel Aviv in December 2021. He is the current manager of the Bulgaria national football team.

Club career

Early career

Krstajić was born and raised in Zenica, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia, present day Bosnia and Herzegovina to a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb mother from Bijeljina and a father from Žabljak, Montenegro. After playing in the youth teams of NK Čelik Zenica, Čelik Zenica, Krstajić moved to Kikinda, Serbia and Montenegro, FR Yugoslavia, present day Serbia in April 1992, following the breakout of the Bosnian War. He started playing with FK Senta, Senta for six months. He then moved to OFK Kikinda, at that time a Serbia and Montenegro First League, first league club. At some point of a successful career as a Serbian football player, there comes the time, to decide, whether one wants to play for FK Partizan, Partizan or for Red Star Belgrade, and Krstajić decided to take the move to Partizan in 1996. According to Krstajić himself, Red Star was interested in him, but as he comes from a family that cheers for Partizan, he decided to sign a contract with his favourite club. His four and a half years at Partizan were more than successful, winning the national championships three times (1996, 1997, 1999) and also the Yugoslav Cup, national cup in 1998.

Werder Bremen and Schalke 04

In 2000, Krstajić joined German Bundesliga club SV Werder Bremen, Werder Bremen who paid a Deutsche Mark, DM 1.8 million (about €950,000) transfer fee to Partizan. At Werder Bremen he was initially deployed at left-back in his first season but became one of the best central defenders in the Bundesliga, winning the Double (association football), double of Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal, cup with Werder in 2004. In 2004 he joined FC Schalke 04, Schalke 04, where he was named the new captain on 17 March 2009.

Partizan

On 5 June 2009, Krstajić signed a two-year contract with his former club Partizan. In January 2010, after the departure of Nenad Đorđević, he was named the new Partizan captain. After two very successful seasons, Krstajić played his last professional match on 21 May 2011.

International career

Krstajić was a part of the Serbia and Montenegro national football team, Serbia and Montenegro national team "Famous Four" defence, which conceded just one goal during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA), qualifying for the

. The other members of the famous four were Ivica Dragutinović, Goran Gavrančić and Nemanja Vidić. Between 1999 and 2008 he made 58 international appearances scoring 2 goals. He represented three senior national sides: Serbia and Montenegro national football team, FR Yugoslavia (1992–2002; 20 appearances, 2 goals),

(2002–2006; 27 appearances), and Serbia national football team, Serbia (2006–2008; 11 appearances).

Managerial career

Serbia

Krstajić began his managerial career as assistant coach of the Serbia national football team, Serbia national team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group D, 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. In October 2017 after head coach Slavoljub Muslin's dismissal, Krstajić succeeded him as head coach of the Serbia national team, initially as Caretaker manager, caretaker. Krstajić led the team on the Asian tour where Serbia defeated China national football team, China (2–0) and drew with South Korea national football team, South Korea (1–1). In December, it was announced he would take on the role permanently and at least until the end of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. On 13 June 2019, Krstajić was sacked from the position after a dismal 5–0 loss in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group B, UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier against Ukraine national football team, Ukraine.

TSC

Krstajić became head coach of FK TSC Bačka Topola, TSC in January 2021. He left the club in October.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

On 9 December 2021, Krstajić was appointed manager of Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C., Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Bulgaria

On 21 July 2022, Krstajić was named head coach of the Bulgaria national football team, Bulgaria national team until 2024.

Administrative career

Immediately after retiring from playing, Krstajić was appointed as the new director of football of FK Partizan on 1 June 2011. During the mid-season break, Krstajić attacked club president Dragan Đurić through the media, following Đurić's claim that Krstajić and head coach Aleksandar Stanojević were solely responsible for the unsuccessful campaign in UEFA competitions for the 2011–12 season. Krstajić stated that he and Stanojević did not have full control over the sale and acquisition of players during the summer transfer window, which affected the results on the field. On 26 December 2011, after less than six months as director of football, he was sacked. Before becoming a manager, Krstajić became the new chairman of the board of Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Premier League club FK Radnik Bijeljina, Radnik Bijeljina on 23 January 2015. During his time as club chairman, Radnik became a stable Bosnian Premier League club, finishing almost always in the top five or six. It won its first ever national and major trophy, the Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Cup, Bosnian Cup in the 2015–16 Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Cup, 2015–16 season and thus qualified for its first ever UEFA competitions, UEFA competition, the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League#Qualifying rounds, 2016–17 UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds. In the 2018–19 Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2018–19 Bosnian Premier League season, Radnik finished in fifth place, but as fourth placed FK Željezničar Sarajevo, Željezničar did not get an UEFA license to compete in the following season's UEFA Europa League, Radnik was qualified by default to the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League#Qualifying rounds, 2019–20 UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds for a second time in its history. On 27 December 2019, Krstajić unexpectedly decided to leave Radnik, stating that it was time for someone new to lead the club. He officially left the club on 28 March 2020, with Predrag Perković succeeding him as chairman.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Partizan *Serbian SuperLiga: 1995–96 First League of FR Yugoslavia, 1995–96, 1996–97 First League of FR Yugoslavia, 1996–97, 1998–99 First League of FR Yugoslavia, 1998–99, 2009–10 Serbian SuperLiga, 2009–10, 2010–11 Serbian SuperLiga, 2010–11 *Serbian Cup: 1997–98 FR Yugoslavia Cup, 1997–98, 2010–11 Serbian Cup, 2010–11 Werder Bremen *Bundesliga: 2003–04 Bundesliga, 2003–04 *DFB-Pokal: 2003–04 DFB-Pokal, 2003–04 Schalke 04 *DFB-Ligapokal: 2005 DFL-Ligapokal, 2005 *UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup, 2004

Notes

References

External links

*
Mladen Krstajić
at reprezentacija.rs * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Krstajic, Mladen 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Zenica Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbian footballers Association football defenders Serbia and Montenegro international footballers Serbia international footballers Serbian people of Montenegrin descent 2006 FIFA World Cup players FK Senta players OFK Kikinda players FK Partizan players Serbian SuperLiga players SV Werder Bremen players FC Schalke 04 players Bundesliga players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate footballers Serbia and Montenegro footballers Serbian expatriate footballers Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Germany FK Partizan non-playing staff Serbian football chairmen and investors Serbian football managers Serbia national football team managers FK TSC Bačka Topola managers 2018 FIFA World Cup managers Bulgaria national football team managers