Rade Stanislav Prica (born 30 June 1980) is a Swedish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a striker. He is the only player who has won league championships in the three Scandinavian countries – Sweden, Denmark and Norway. He also played in the

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 ...

, the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, and the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

during a career that spanned between 1995 and 2016. A full international between 2001 and 2008, he won 14

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and scored two goals for the Sweden national team.

Club career

Early career

Prica started his footballing career as a youth player for Ljungby, he then made his way into the first team, making 37 appearances and scoring 14 goals, over a period of three seasons. After leaving Ljungby, Prica signed for renowned Swedish club

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...

in 1998, he then went on to play for them for five seasons playing 73 times scoring 27 goals, Prica then moved to German team

Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the forme ...

. Prica signed for

Aalborg BK Aalborg Boldspilklub is a Danish sports club based in the city of Aalborg. The club is also known as AaB for short (cf. logo) or Aalborg BK. Through time the club has had branches in cricket, tennis, ice hockey, handball, and basketball, but curre ...

in 2006 after being released by Hansa Rostock, During the 2006–07 season, he was topscorer in the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

scoring 19 goals.

Sunderland

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

completed the signing of Prica on 23 January 2008 for a fee of more than £2 million on a three-and-a-half-year contract. He scored on his debut for at Sunderland against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

on 29 January 2008, and missed out in scoring a second with referee

Mark Halsey Mark R. Halsey (born 8 July 1961) is an English retired professional football referee who was born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, later based in Bolton, Greater Manchester.

ruling it out for handball. Prica came on as a substitute for

Kieran Richardson Kieran Edward Richardson (born 21 October 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger, left-back, or central midfielder. Richardson began his career as a trainee at West Ham United, going on to play senior footba ...

in a League game against Liverpool at Anfield after just 7 minutes, but was then substituted himself after 56 minutes. Prica was rarely featured in the Sunderland squad. In January 2009, official sources with the club acknowledged that he was sought by two unnamed British clubs and a European club, rumored to be his previous Danish club

. Prica was given limited opportunities by Sunderland and did not start a game. It was reported on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

that Prica had been made available for loan.

Rosenborg

On 9 March 2009, Prica signed a four-year deal with Rosenborg for £2.3 million. He became the top scorer in the

Norwegian top division Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

in the 2009 season, scoring 17 goals in 27 appearances. On 10 April 2011, round three of the

2011 Tippeligaen The 2011 Tippeligaen was the 67th completed season of top division football in Norway. The competition began on 20 March 2011 and ended on 27 November 2011. Rosenborg were the defending champions, having secured their twenty-second League Cham ...

, Prica scored all four goals for Rosenborg in a 4–4 draw with

Lillestrøm SK Lillestrøm Sportsklubb is a Norwegian professional football club from the city of Lillestrøm, just outside of the capital Oslo. Lillestrøm SK is a Norwegian football club based in Lillestrøm, playing in Eliteserien. The club was founded in 1 ...

Later career

On 9 January 2013, it was reported Prica had agreed terms with

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

in the

. Prica signed in January 2013. Since his arrival to the club he has been very appreciated by either the Israeli fans and media, and had an instant impact for

, scoring 8 goals in his first 18 appearances. On 11 August 2015, he returned to

International career

Having represented the Sweden U17, U19, and U21 teams, Prica made his full international debut for the Sweden national team on 10 February 2001 in a friendly 4–1 win against

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

when he played for 66 minutes before being replaced by

Martin Åslund John Allan Martin Åslund (born 10 November 1976) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He represented Djurgårdens IF, IFK Norrköping, AIK, Salernitana, Viborg FF, and Assyriska during a career that spanned b ...

. He scored his first goal for Sweden on 18 January 2007 in a friendly 1–2 loss against

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

. He made his first and only competitive appearance for Sweden on 8 September 2007 in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, coming on a substitute for

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...

in the 88th minute of a 0–0 draw. In total, Prica won 14

and scored two goals during an international career that spanned between 2001 and 2008.

Personal life

Prica's father is a

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

and his mother is a

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

. Prica's son,

Tim Prica Bo Tim Rade Tiger Prica (born 23 April 2002) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Allsvenskan side IFK Norrköping. Career On 10 August 2020 it was confirmed, that 18-year old Prica had joined Danish Superliga club ...

, is also a professional footballer. His nephew,

Pierre Engvall Pierre Engvall (born 31 May 1996) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Engvall was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the seventh round (188th overall) of the 2014 NHL Ent ...

is a professional hockey player currently employed by the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Prica goal''.

Honours

Helsingborgs IF *

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Aalborg *

: 2007–08 Rosenborg *

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

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 ...

Maccabi Tel Aviv *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14, 2014–15 *

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup ( he, גביע המדינה, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involve ...

: 2014–15 *

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup ( he, גביע הטוטו, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League ( Ligat Ha'Al), and the second division Liga Leumit. Fro ...

: 2014–15 Maccabi Petah Tikva *

: 2015–16 Individual *

Top scorer: 2006–07 * Tippeligaen top scorer:

Kniksen award The Kniksen Award ( no, Kniksenprisen), established in 1990, honors the best players in the Norwegian football premiership. The award is named after the legendary Norwegian football player Roald Jensen, nicknamed "Kniksen". Categories Categor ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prica, Rade 1980 births Living people Association football forwards Swedish footballers Sweden international footballers Swedish expatriate footballers Helsingborgs IF players FC Hansa Rostock players AaB Fodbold players Sunderland A.F.C. players Rosenborg BK players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. players Landskrona BoIS players Allsvenskan players Ettan Fotboll players Division 3 (Swedish football) players Premier League players Eliteserien players Danish Superliga players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Israeli Premier League players Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate footballers in Israel Sweden under-21 international footballers Swedish people of Serbian descent Swedish people of Croatian descent Serb diaspora sportspeople