Anto Drobnjak ( Cyrillic: Анто Дробњак; born 21 September 1968) is a Montenegrin 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 ...

who played as a forward. He was one of two top scorers of the First League of Yugoslavia in 1993 when he played for

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

. Internationally, he played for FR Yugoslavia national team in the qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, although he was not selected to the country's squad for the

final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Club career

Budućnost

Drobnjak joined Budućnost ahead of the 1987–88 season. He made his professional debut under coach Stanko "Špaco" Poklepović, during a time when Budućnost fielded their most accomplished generation at the time; Drobnjak's teammates at Budućnost included

Dragoje Leković Dragoje Leković ( sr-Cyrl, Драгоје Лековић, ; born 21 November 1967) is a retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Leković was born in Sivac, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia. In Yugoslavia, he played ...

Branko Brnović Branko Brnović (Cyrillic: Бранко Брновић; born 8 August 1967) is a Montenegrin manager and retired professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Club career After making his professional debuts with local club Budu� ...

, Željko Petrović,

Predrag Mijatović Predrag "Peđa" Mijatović ( sr-Cyrl, Предраг Мијатовић, ; born 19 January 1969) is a Montenegrin retired professional footballer who played as a striker. At club level, Mijatović played for six clubs: Budućnost, Partizan, Va ...

, and

Dejan Savićević Dejan Savićević ( cyrl, Дејан Савићевић, ; born 15 September 1966) is a Montenegrin former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Since 2004, he has been the president of the Montenegrin Football Association (FSCG), cu ...

. Drobnjak later attributed his early development to "Špaco" Poklepović:

Red Star Belgrade

Drobnjak joined

ahead of the 1992–93 season, after which he was the league's top scorer along with

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

's Vesko Mihajlović. On 15 May 1993, he scored the winning goal in the final of the 1993 Yugoslav Cup, in which Red Star beat

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

1–0. He was Red Star's top scorer in the 1993–94 season along with teammate

Ilija Ivić Ilija Ivić (Serbian Cyrillic: Илија Ивић; born 17 February 1971) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a striker. A skillful attacker who showed great technical ability, Ivić could often be found in a supporting ...

, and was fifth highest goal scorer in the league that season.

Bastia

Amidst international sanctions against Yugoslavia, Drobnjak asked Red Star's sports director

Dragan Džajić Dragan Džajić ( sr-Cyrl, Драган Џајић; born 30 May 1946) is a Yugoslav former footballer from Serbia. Džajić is widely considered to be one of the best footballers to emerge from the former Yugoslavia, and one of the greatest l ...

if there was any opportunity could leave both the club and country. Džajić got word of

Bastia Bastia (, , , ; co, Bastìa ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest population of any commune on the is ...

's search for a classic center forward, and after negotiations through Džajić, Drobnjak signed a three-year contract with Bastia in 1994. Under coach

Frédéric Antonetti Frédéric Antonetti (born 19 August 1961) is a French professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of French club Metz. He previously managed Bastia, Gamba Osaka, Saint-Étienne, Nice, Rennes and Lille. E ...

, he spent the following three seasons at the club, scoring 50 goals in 100 league games. On 3 May 1995, Drobnjak scored a goal in the

1995 Coupe de la Ligue Final The Coupe de la Ligue Final 1995 was a football match held at Parc des Princes, Paris on May 3, 1995, that saw Paris Saint-Germain defeat SC Bastia 2-0 thanks to goals by Alain Roche and Raí. Match details External linksReport on LFP officia ...

against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

, although it was denied by the referee. He signed a new three-year contract with Bastia in 1996. At the end of the 1996–97 season, Drobnjak was the sixth highest goal scorer in the league and Bastia finished in seventh overall. As a result, he received offers from Olympique de Marseille and

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...

, but he ultimately chose Lens due to Bastia's bitter rivalry with Marseille.

Lens

In 1997, Drobnjak switched to fellow French club

, helping them win

the league ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football leagu ...

in his debut season under coach Daniel Leclercq. On 22 August 1997, Leclercq gave Drobnjak the green light to start against Olympique de Marseille in spite of a lingering back injury; Drobnjak went on to score a

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 a 2–3 away win for Lens. On 15 November 1997, he scored a hat-trick in a 5–4 win against

AS Cannes Association Sportive de Cannes Football (; commonly referred to as AS Cannes or simply Cannes) is a French association football club based in Cannes. The club was formed 1902 as a sports club and currently plays in the Championnat National 3, t ...

. He was the fourth highest goal scorer in the league that season.

Later career

He subsequently moved to Japan and played for

Gamba Osaka is a Japanese professional football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Gamba'' comes from the Japanese , meaning "to do your best" or "to s ...

. After a year, Drobnjak returned to France and joined

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy S ...

. He also spent one season at

Martigues Martigues ( in classical norm, ''Lou Martegue'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune northwest of Marseille. It is part of the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the eastern end of the Canal de Caronte. A di ...

, before retiring in 2002.

International career

Between 1996 and 1998, Drobnjak earned seven caps and scored three times for

FR Yugoslavia 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 Yug ...

. He made his debut on 6 October 1996 in a 8–1 away win against

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

under coach

Slobodan Santrač Slobodan Santrač (, ; 1 July 1946 – 13 February 2016) was a Serbian football manager and player. He is the all-time top scorer of the Yugoslav First League with a total of 218 goals, as well as the top scorer in the history of OFK Beograd. A ...

during the

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. On 24 February 1998, Drobnjak scored a goal in a 3–1 friendly loss against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

at Estadio José María Minella. However, he was not selected to Yugoslavia's final squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Multiple newspapers at the time expressed surprise at Drobnjak's absence in Yugoslavia's squad at the 1998 World Cup. His final international was an April 1998

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

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

Post-playing career

Drobnjak served as assistant manager to

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

from 2011 to 2015.

Career statistics

Honours

Red Star Belgrade *

FR Yugoslavia Cup The Serbia and Montenegro Cup was an association football knockout cup tournament of Serbia and Montenegro played between 1992 and 2006, after which Serbia and Montenegro became separate nations. The competition was the continuation of the old ...

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

Lens *

Championnat de France The French Rugby League Championship is the major rugby league tournament for French professional and semi-professional clubs. French Championships or French Championship may also refer to: French national championships * Division 1 Féminine ...

: 1997–98 Individual *

First League of FR Yugoslavia The First League of Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Прва савезна лига / Prva savezna liga) was the top football league of Serbia and Montenegro, before the country's dissolution in 2006. The league was formed following the breakup of Yu ...

top scorer:

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Drobnjak, Anto 1968 births Living people People from Bijelo Polje Association football forwards Yugoslav footballers Serbia and Montenegro footballers Serbia and Montenegro international footballers FK Jedinstvo Bijelo Polje players FK Budućnost Podgorica players Montenegrin footballers Red Star Belgrade footballers SC Bastia players RC Lens players Gamba Osaka players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players FC Martigues players Yugoslav First League players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Ligue 1 players J1 League players Ligue 2 players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in Japan Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Japan