Robert Prosinečki
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Robert Prosinečki (; born 12 January 1969) is a Croatian 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 bega ...
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
midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
. Early in his career, he was part of the
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 Be ...
team that won three
Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League (Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...
titles and the
European Cup 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 ...
in
1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...
. Prosinečki spent several years in
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
with rivals
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
and
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, as well as
Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located a ...
and
Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
. Later in his career, he won three Croatian league titles with
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. Dinam ...
, and also played in Belgium, England and Slovenia. Internationally, Prosinečki was voted best player as
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
won the
1987 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Chile from 10 to 25 October 1987. The 1987 championship was the 6th contested and won for the first time by Yugoslavia. Remarkably, in the course of the tournament the Yugoslavs defeated each of ...
, and came runner-up with the under-21 team at the 1990 European Championship. He was also voted Best Young Player at the
1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being ...
. He earned 49
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 Ja ...
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 = , capi ...
between 1994 and 2002, playing at
UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...
and the World Cups of
1998 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 ...
and
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
, helping the team to third place in 1998. After retiring from active football, Prosinečki worked as assistant manager of the Croatia national team between 2006 and 2010, before being appointed manager of
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 Be ...
in December 2010. He left in 2012 for Turkish club
Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the Kadir Has Stadium in red and yellow kits. The team has won one Turkish Cup in 2008 and also fi ...
two months later. Internationally, Prosinečki worked as head coach of the Azerbaijan national team from 2014 to 2017 and of
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...
from 2018 to 2019. He then once again managed Kayserispor,
Denizlispor Denizlispor, due to current sponsorship Altaş Denizlispor, is a Turkish sports club based in Denizli. It is known by its distinct green and black colors. The club's branches include football, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, and gymnastics. ...
and Olimpija Ljubljana.


Early life and career

Prosinečki was born in Schwenningen,
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...
, into a family of Yugoslav
gastarbeiter (; both singular and plural; ) are foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are generally consider ...
s of mixed ethnicity. His father Đuro was 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 ...
, hailing from the Gornji Čemehovec village near
Kraljevec na Sutli Kraljevec na Sutli is a village and municipality in Krapina-Zagorje County in Croatia. According to the 2011 census, there are 1,727 inhabitants in the area, absolute majority of which are Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Sla ...
, and his mother Emilija Đoković 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 ...
, originally from the Ježevica village near
Čačak Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Moravica District in central Serbia. It is located in the West Morava Valley within the geographical region of Šumadija. , the city proper has 73,331 inhabitants, wh ...
. He spent his childhood in West Germany before moving back to
SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Sociali ...
with his family in 1979, at the age of ten. By that time he had already been playing in the
Stuttgarter Kickers Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers. History In its early years the club had a decent local squad that played in the Südk ...
youth system. Once in Croatia, he continued in the youth setup of
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. Dinam ...
.


Club career


Dinamo Zagreb

After moving up the youth ranks for years, Prosinečki started getting occasional first team appearances during the 1986–87 league season under head coach
Miroslav Blažević Miroslav "Ćiro" Blažević (; born 10 February 1935) is a Croatian former professional football manager and player. His professional playing career spanned from 1954 to 1966, during which he played for Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva Zagreb, FK Sar ...
. On his league debut versus Željezničar on 2 November 1986, the seventeen-year-old managed to score in a 2–1 home win. By the end of the season, he recorded one more league appearance: playing the second half versus
Sloboda Tuzla Fudbalski klub Sloboda Tuzla ( sh-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Слободa Tyзла; English: Football Club Sloboda Tuzla) is a Bosnian professional football club based in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The English translation of the t ...
on 12 April 1987, a goalless home draw. Wanting to secure his son's financial future, Prosinečki's father Đuro started pushing within the club hierarchy for a professional contract to be given to his eighteen-year-old son. However, coach Miroslav Blažević sent him away, famously claiming that he would eat his coaching diploma if Prosinečki ever became a real football player.


Red Star Belgrade

In the summer of 1987, Đuro Prosinečki took Robert over to
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...
and got the professional contract they were after.
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 ...
,
Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. I ...
's then technical director, remembers how the transfer got initiated: Despite evident quality and obvious technical ability, in order to further assess an unproven prospect who hadn't been on their radar, Red Star management reportedly also inquired about Prosinečki—as well as about the player-management relations and overall atmosphere within Dinamo—with their own defender
Milivoj Bračun Milivoj Bračun (born 22 April 1958) is a Croatian football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Slovenian First League side FC Koper. Born in Zagreb, SR Croatia, back then within Yugoslavia, Bračun played for Dina ...
who had spent years at Dinamo before moving to Belgrade. Immediately upon joining his new club, Prosinečki became a first team regular and furthermore, much to Blažević's chagrin, also rapidly established himself as one of Yugoslavia's most gifted and talented players. Playing under head coach Vasović, the youngster secured a regular spot in Red Star's midfield alongside
Dragan Stojković Dragan Stojković ( sr-Cyrl, Драган Стојковић, ; born 3 March 1965), also known by the nickname Piksi (Пикси), is a Serbian former footballer who played as a midfielder, and the current manager of the Serbia national team. Wi ...
,
Žarko Đurović Žarko Đurović (; born 1 August 1961) is a Serbian Association football, football manager and former player. Playing career Đurović spent most of his playing career at Red Star Belgrade, winning two Yugoslav First League titles (1983–84 Yug ...
, and Goran Milojević just a few weeks into the 1987–88 league season, opening his Red Star scoring account in the process during only his second match for the club—a 7–1 home rout of
FC Prishtina Football Club Prishtina ( sq, Klubi Futbollistik Prishtina, ; sr, Фудбалски клуб Приштина, Fudbalski klub Priština), commonly known as Prishtina, is a professional football club based in Prishtina, Kosovo. The club play i ...
on 9 August 1987. In October 1987, he was part of the Yugoslav youth squad which won the World Youth Championship in Chile, with Prosinečki winning the Golden Ball award as the tournament's best player. Playing in Chile meant that he was away from the club for the entire month of October, and he was already held in such high regard at Red Star, that the club brass attempted to bring him back from South America after the tournament's group stages, so that he could play in their
1987–88 UEFA Cup The 1987–88 UEFA Cup was won by Bayer Leverkusen on penalty kicks over Español. It was the third season of English clubs being barred from this and indeed all European competitions as the sequel of the Heysel disaster of May 1985. The Englis ...
second round tie versus
Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.
. The Yugoslav team players protested to FIFA, and
João Havelange Jean-Marie Faustin Godefroid "João" de Havelange (, ; 8 May 1916 – 16 August 2016) was a Brazilian lawyer, businessman, athlete and centenarian who served as the seventh president of FIFA from 1974 to 1998. His tenure as president is the ...
, the organisation's chairman at the time, intervened to keep Prosinečki in Chile. During his four-year spell at the club, Prosinečki helped Red Star win three
Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League (Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...
titles and one
Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп на Југославија), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Kup kralja Aleksandra, ...
, as well as participating in the club's greatest success in history by winning the 1991 European Cup.


Real Madrid

Prosinečki joined Spanish giants
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
during the summer of 1991 for a transfer fee of 450 million (€15 million). Led by club president
Ramón Mendoza Ramón Mendoza Fontela (18 April 1927 – 4 April 2001) was a Spanish lawyer and businessman who is mostly known for serving as the 13th president of Real Madrid from 24 May 1985 until 26 November 1995. He was born in Madrid, Kingdom of Spain. ...
and head coach
Radomir Antić Radomir Antić ( sr-Cyrl, Радомир Антић, ; 22 November 1948 – 6 April 2020) was a Serbian professional football manager and player. Following a 17-year playing career as a defender, most of which he spent playing at Partizan, wi ...
, the club had huge expectations from their expensive and highly rated signing. Real were coming off a difficult season during which they made two coaching changes before barely managing a UEFA Cup spot by finishing third in
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 Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...
under Antić, their third head coach that season. However, pretty much immediately, 22-year-old Prosinečki got sidelined with a string of muscular injuries. Administered by team doctors, he underwent a series of tests as well as a strict dietary regime in addition to getting forced into changing many lifestyle-related habits. Still, the first season turned out to be a complete write-off: he appeared in only three league matches with a notable shining moment — scoring a free-kick goal versus
FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...
in
El Clásico El Clásico or el clásico (; ca, El Clàssic, ; ) is the name given to any football match between rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions held in the Spanish championship, the term now includes every m ...
on 19 October 1991. Although injury-riddled as well, Prosinečki's second season at Real did provide a hint of a breakthrough with 29 league appearances and three goals, however, it was still far off the expectations indicated by his reputation and price tag. His best season at Real, 1993–94, was incidentally his last, with six league goals.


Rest of his stay in Spain

During the 1994 summer transfer window, Real brass decided that Prosinečki's physical fragility and injuries were too much to deal with and offloaded the twenty-five-year-old to
Real Oviedo Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club ...
on a loan deal. Reuniting with Radomir Antić–the same head coach who brought him to Real three years earlier–Prosinečki played his best season yet in Spain, even winning a league match against his former club Real Madrid in May 1995. He stood out for his good performances as an organizer, he recovered his best level and he felt more satisfied with his physical and psychological state. He also started being a regular in the Croatia national team. In his statements to the press reflected "I'm enjoying my football" and reaffirmed his intention to leave Real Madrid without fulfilling the fifth year of contract he had left. The arrival of his manager from Oviedo, Radomir Antić to
Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based i ...
motivated Atlético to reach an agreement with Real Madrid to whom Prosinečki was still contracted to. However, FC Barcelona interfered in the operation and presented Zoran Vekić, the Croatian's agent, with a better offer. While the interest of the Colchoneros was made public, the other bid was not leaked to the press. At the end, Prosinečki became a
free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who i ...
, he rejected Atlético and signed on 20 July 1995 to FC Barcelona with a contract of €3 million for three seasons, plus two optional. Ramón Mendoza did not want his eternal rival to take the midfielder free, but the bad economic situation of Real Madrid precipitated his departure. In Barcelona he suffered muscle injuries again that made him miss the first part of the season. By the time he recovered, coach
Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a p ...
did not trust him and relegated him to the substitution bench, so he only played 19 games in the 1995–96 season. The following season, manager
Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...
reduced Prosinečki to friendly matches. After this, Prosinečki wanted to leave. On 14 December 1996, he was bought by
Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
for €1.67 million. He played for the club for the rest of the season and was always a first choice pick for the team.


Croatia Zagreb

In 1997, he returned home to play for Croatia Zagreb (Dinamo's name at the time) for a fee of €2.5 million. His arrival was very well received by the fans and meant the return of the midfielder to the club where he began his professional career. During his first season, he won the double with the team and reached the third round in the
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 solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
, where Prosinečki's performances where a key factor to victory against MTK Hungária and
Grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...
. The next two seasons saw Prosinečki lead as
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 ...
one of the best generations of Dinamo Zagreb, winning 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 ...
twice and playing in the
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 competi ...
also two seasons in a row. In their European campaign, Dinamo reached their best result in the competition. Prosinečki will be remembered by the fans most notably for his performances against
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...
and
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
.


Hrvatski Dragovoljac and Standard Liège

On 14 July 2000, Prosinečki signed to Hrvatski Dragovoljac as a free agent. The club president Stjepan Spajić said Prosinečki would sign a two-year contract with a
clause In language, a clause is a constituent that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject and a syntactic predicate, the latter typically a verb phrase composed of a verb wit ...
that he could leave if a foreign club would make an offer to him. In January 2001, he moved again to
Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...
where he played until the end of the season, finishing third in the
Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 te ...
.


Portsmouth

In summer of 2001, 32-year-old Prosinečki signed for Division 1 (second-tier of the English football league system) side
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...
on a one-year deal. He was signed by the club's Yugoslav owner,
Milan Mandarić Milan Mandarić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Мандарић; born 5 September 1938) is a Serbian-American businessman who has owned a string of businesses and association football clubs, including Portsmouth, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday. ...
. Prosinečki is still held as a folk hero at Portsmouth for his performances in the centre of the midfield. The team were saved from relegation through his goals and assists in the 2001–02 season, the highlight of which was scoring 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 w ...
against
Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough ha ...
in a 4–4 home draw on 2 February 2002. It was the only hat-trick of his career, and he refused the customary match ball at the end of the game as his team had not won. At the end of the 2007–08 Premier League season, the readers of '' The News'' picked Prosinečki as part of an all-time best Portsmouth eleven. He was the only non-British player to be among the selection. After speaking with Prosinečki, fellow Croat
Niko Kranjčar Niko Kranjčar (; born 13 August 1984) is a Croatian former professional footballer. He primarily played as an attacking midfielder, but could also operate as a winger or second striker. As of 5 May 2021, he works as an assistant to Josip Šimu ...
made the decision to sign for Portsmouth in the summer of 2006.


Later career

Prosinečki then had a one-year stint at Olimpija Ljubljana. With Olimpija Ljubljana Prosinečki won his last trophy, the 2002–03 Slovenian Cup; he even scored a goal in the final. Prosinečki played one more professional season in his home country for
NK Zagreb Nogometni klub Zagreb (''Zagreb Football Club''), commonly known as NK Zagreb or simply Zagreb (), is a Croatian amateur football club based in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb. It currently competes in the fifth tier league competition of ...
. In spring 2005, he ended his career in low tier club Savski Marof.


International career

Prosinečki had 49 caps 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 = , capi ...
and scored 10 goals for his country. He was also capped 15 times, scoring four goals, for
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
. In 1987, he was named the tournament's best player as Yugoslavia won the World Youth Championship in Chile along with fellow Croatians
Zvonimir Boban Zvonimir "Zvone" Boban (; born 8 October 1968) is a Croatian former footballer who currently works at UEFA as the Chief of Football. Boban played as a midfielder and was usually deployed as an attacking midfielder. He played most of his professi ...
,
Robert Jarni Robert Jarni (born 26 October 1968) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a left winger or wingback and current manager. Jarni started his professional career with Hajduk Split in 1986, and went on to spend 10 years play ...
,
Davor Šuker Davor Šuker (; born 1 January 1968) is a Croatian football administrator and former footballer who played as a striker. He served as president of the Croatian Football Federation from 2012 to 2021. He began his footballing career in his hometo ...
and Igor Štimac. Prosinečki then played for Yugoslavia at the
1990 World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being ...
, and for Croatia at
Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...
and the
1998 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 ...
and 2002 World Cups. It was at the 1998 World Cup that Prosinečki and the Croatian squad managed a historic third-place finish, with Prosinečki scoring two goals throughout the tournament, including one in Croatia's 2–1 victory over the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
in the bronze-medal match; as a result, he is the only player in history to have scored World Cup finals goals for two different national teams. In 1990, Prosinečki scored one goal for Yugoslavia in a group match against the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...
and eight years later, he added two goals for Croatia by scoring in a group match against
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...
and in the third place match against the Netherlands. He played in a total of nine World Cup matches, three for Yugoslavia in 1990 and six for Croatia in 1998 and 2002.


Style of play

Prosinečki, nicknamed ''Žuti'' (''the Yellow One'') throughout his career due to his blond hair, was considered one of the most creative and technically skilled footballers who emerged from
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...
in the 1980s. His favourite position was that of a pure
midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
, although he often also played as a right winger or as an
attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
, and delayed his relocation to the centre of the pitch in order to elaborate and organize the attacking plays of his teammates with his passing, as the number 10 role best utilized his excellent vision of the game. He used to retain possession due to his dribbling skills and would impose his pace on rivals with his passing and ability to exploit spaces. On a technical level, he stood out for his ability to pass short,
dribble In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. ...
, and drive forward with the ball. He also had a strong shot that made him dangerous from
set pieces "Set Pieces" is the first EP release by Canadian indie band Braids. The EP was released in 2008 under the band's original name, The Neighbourhood Council. Recording The EP was recorded at CJSW in Calgary, Canada Calgary ( ) is the larges ...
. His style was criticized at times by some
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
fans, although he was often played out of position during his time in the Spanish capital.
Vicente del Bosque Vicente del Bosque González, 1st Marquess of Del Bosque (; born 23 December 1950) is a Spanish retired football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time and is to date the only football manager to ha ...
, his last coach with the team, recovered him for the
playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativi ...
role and defined his performances in the following way: Prosinečki has stated that out of the coaches he played for his favourite was
Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a p ...
. His biggest weaknesses as a footballer were his proneness to muscle injuries (which saw him sidelined for almost the entire 1991–92 season), his poor defensive work-rate, his inconsistency, and his motivation. He also reproached himself for his addiction to tobacco.


Managerial career


Early career

Prosinečki began his managerial career in 2004 as an assistant to
Mile Petković Mile Petković (born 12 August 1953) is a Croatian professional football manager. Petković managed a number of Croatian teams throughout the 1990s and 2000s, most notably first level sides Cibalia, NK Zagreb and Slaven Belupo Nogometni klub ...
at
NK Zagreb Nogometni klub Zagreb (''Zagreb Football Club''), commonly known as NK Zagreb or simply Zagreb (), is a Croatian amateur football club based in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb. It currently competes in the fifth tier league competition of ...
. In 2006, he was named the assistant to head coach
Slaven Bilić Slaven Bilić (; born 11 September 1968) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. He is the current manager of EFL Championship side Watford. Bilić, who played as a defender, began his career in 1988 with his hometown c ...
in the
Croatia national football team The Croatia national football team ( hr, Hrvatska nogometna reprezentacija) represents Croatia in international football matches. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS), the governing body for football in Croatia. It is a ...
. He went with them to
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 Europea ...
.


Red Star Belgrade

In December 2010, during the
2010–11 Serbian SuperLiga The 2010–11 Serbian SuperLiga (known as the Jelen SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth season of the Serbian SuperLiga, the top football league of Serbia, since its establishment in 2006. It began on 14 August 2010 and ended on 29 ...
mid-season winter break, Prosinečki was announced as the new manager of
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 Be ...
, replacing recently released Aleksandar Kristić. Returning to the club of his biggest playing successes, the announcement made major headlines all over the Balkans and also generated plenty of buzz in the rest of Europe. The angle of Prosinečki being the first Croatian to coach in Serbia following the
Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...
also got a lot of attention. His annual salary was not officially disclosed, however, Serbian press speculated with figures from US$100,000 to $250,000 per year. At the time of Prosinečki taking over, fifteen matches into the league season, the famous yet recently beleaguered Serbian club was in second place, five points behind league leaders
FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...
. Red Star brass led by club president
Vladan Lukić Vladan Lukić ( sr-Cyrl, Владан Лукић; born 16 February 1970) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a striker. At international level, he made appearances for Yugoslavia and FR Yugoslavia. Playing career After arr ...
(Prosinečki's former teammate at
Marakana The Rajko Mitić Stadium ( sr, / , ), previously known as Red Star Stadium ( sr, / ), also known as Marakana ( sr-Cyrl, Маракана), is a multi-use stadium in Belgrade, Serbia which has been the home ground of Red Star Belgrade since ...
) thus steered clear of stating league title as an explicit requirement for the club legend, still, it was understood that making an outside run at the title remained a priority. Prosinečki announced his intent to mold Red Star into an attacking team that utilizes short-passing game to break down opponents, picking Slobodan Marović and
Žarko Đurović Žarko Đurović (; born 1 August 1961) is a Serbian Association football, football manager and former player. Playing career Đurović spent most of his playing career at Red Star Belgrade, winning two Yugoslav First League titles (1983–84 Yug ...
(also Red Star colleagues from playing days) to be his assistants. Immediately, however, the issue of Prosinečki's pro coaching licence came up when it was discovered that he may not yet meet criteria for one, which according to Serbian SuperLiga rules would preclude him from being physically present on the sidelines during official matches. The things were straightened out by the time league restarted and Prosinečki's bench debut, which was scheduled to take place versus
FK Smederevo Fudbalski klub Smederevo 1924 ( sr-cyr, Фудбалски клуб Смедерево 1924), commonly known as Smederevo, is a Serbian professional football club based in Smederevo. During Yugoslavia the club mainly played in amateur ranks of co ...
at Marakana on 26 February 2011. His side finished in second place, six points off bitter rivals Partizan. The following season, 2011–12, his side again finished in second place and again second to Partizan, this time the margin was doubled from six to twelve points. In August 2012 Prosinečki resigned as manager of Red Star, even though he won the
2011–12 Serbian Cup The 2011–12 Serbian Cup season was the sixth season of the Serbian national football tournament. The competition started on 31 August 2011 and concluded with the Final on May 16, 2012. The winner of the competition qualified for the second qua ...
after beating
Borac Čačak Borac may refer to: * FK Borac Banja Luka, a football club from Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina ** RK Borac Banja Luka, an affiliated team handball club ** OK Borac, an affiliated volleyball club * FK Borac Čačak, a football club from Čač ...
in the
final 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 con ...
2–0, on 16 May 2012.


Kayserispor

On 15 October 2012, it was announced that Prosinečki would replace Shota Arveladze as manager of struggling
Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the Kadir Has Stadium in red and yellow kits. The team has won one Turkish Cup in 2008 and also fi ...
in the
Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities an ...
. He became the new head coach of Kayserispor at the 8th week of the
2012–13 Süper Lig The 2012–13 Süper Lig (known as the ''Spor Toto Süper Lig'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 55th season of the Süper Lig, the highest football league of Turkey. Galatasaray are the defending champions. The season began on 17 August 2012 a ...
, and he gained 13 wins in 27 league matches and finished the league at 5th position. The start of the 2013–14 season was not so successful for Prosinečki and his team. After achieving only one victory in 11 rounds, Kayserispor was at the bottom of the league table. In November 2013 Prosinečki resigned but his resignation was not accepted by the club board. A month and a half later, the club record had not improved. Kayserispor was 17th on the Süper Lig table and lost to
Tokatspor Tokatspor is a Turkish sports club in Tokat. The club was founded in 1969 and they play at the Gaziosmanpaşa Stadium, which has a capacity of 5,762. Their most notable accomplishment was a Turkish Cup stay group stage in 2008–09 season. Thei ...
in the
Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupas ...
. In the last days of 2013 Prosinečki definitively resigned as manager of Kayserispor.


Azerbaijan

On 1 December 2014, Prosinečki was named the new manager of the
Azerbaijan national football team The Azerbaijan national football team ( az, Azərbaycan milli futbol komandası) is the national football team of Azerbaijan and is controlled by Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan. It represents Azerbaijan in international foot ...
, replacing
Berti Vogts Hans-Hubert "Berti" Vogts (; born 30 December 1946) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga his whole professional club career and won the FIFA World Cup wi ...
with a two-year contract until
UEFA 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 o ...
. His contract fee was reported around $1.5 million. After three years spent in Azerbaijan, it was announced that he did not extend his contract for two more years with the Azerbaijan Football Association and left the team shortly after. Prosinečki is considered one of the finest coaches of Azerbaijan national team along with Berti Vogts. Under his guidance Azerbaijan played well, having drawn against Croatia 0–0, undefeated against
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...
, an away draw against
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, victory over
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
2–0, victory over
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
2–0, and biggest victory in Azerbaijan history – 5–1 against
San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
. Despite this, he opted to leave Azerbaijan, having failed to guide Azerbaijan to qualify for any major competitions.


Bosnia and Herzegovina

On 4 January 2018, Prosinečki was named the new manager of the
Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team The Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team ( bs, Nogometna/Fudbalska reprezentacija Bosne i Hercegovine; sr, Фудбалска репрезентација Боснe и Херцеговинe, Fudbalska reprezentacija Bosne i Hercegovi ...
. On 15 November 2018, after a goalless draw against
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
in the
2018–19 UEFA Nations League The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The league phase of the competiti ...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina topped its group and got promoted to the
League A 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 foo ...
of the
2020–21 UEFA Nations League The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League was the second season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The competition was held from Septemb ...
. With that draw, Prosinečki tied
Safet Sušić Safet "Pape" Sušić (; born 13 April 1955) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of TFF First League club Akhisarspor. He was a gifted midfielder known for his dribbling skills and technic ...
's record with a 10-game unbeaten run in all official matches as Bosnia and Herzegovina national team manager. He secured play-offs for
Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europ ...
by topping the group. On 18 November, Prosinečki had a chance to make a new, 11-game unbeaten run record against
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
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 ...
, but he did not, as Bosnia and Herzegovina lost 1–0 with a 78th-minute goal from Brais Méndez to secure Spain a win. Even though Bosnia and Herzegovina lost, throughout the whole match they were considered an equal opponent by some and some thought it showed what kind of change Prosinečki had made to the players and to their mentality and style of play. His biggest win as the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team head coach came on 5 September 2019, in a 5–0 home win against
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German language, German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constit ...
in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers. On 8 September 2019, three days after the victory over Lichtenstein, Prosinečki resigned from the position of Bosnia and Herzegovina national team head coach after a 2–4 away loss against
Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...
, thus losing almost every direct chance of qualifying for the Euros. Two days later, on 10 September, Prosinečki decided to remain as head coach. He stated that after talks with the Bosnia and Herzegovina FA board of directors, they eventually convinced him to withdraw the decision. His campaign during the qualifying had already been depressing, as Bosnia and Herzegovina suffered a shock 0–2 away loss to
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
, a poor 2–2 home draw with
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
and a 1–2 away defeat to
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
before the humiliating 2–4 loss away to Armenia. Upon his first games following his decision to withdrawal the resignation as coach of the national team, Bosnia and Herzegovina managed to convincingly defeat Finland 4–1 at home soil to keep them on the race for the Euro spot. However, Bosnia and Herzegovina fell 1–2 away to already eliminated Greece, that unofficially eliminated Bosnia and Herzegovina from qualifying directly. On 27 November 2019, it was announced that Prosinečki and the Bosnia and Herzegovina FA had reached mutual agreement for him to leave his role.


Return to Kayserispor

On 29 December 2019, Prosinečki came back to Kayserispor, managing the club for a second time in his managerial career and managing a club for the first time in over six years. On 6 August 2020, he left the club after rejecting a two-year contract extension because of the club's transfer policy for the following season, which was conditioned by a transfer limit determined by the Turkish Football Federation.


Denizlispor

On 10 August 2020, Prosinečki was named the new manager of
Denizlispor Denizlispor, due to current sponsorship Altaş Denizlispor, is a Turkish sports club based in Denizli. It is known by its distinct green and black colors. The club's branches include football, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, and gymnastics. ...
. He resigned on 24 November after a disappointing start to the season.


Olimpija Ljubljana

On 22 March 2022, Prosinečki signed a two-year contract with
Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga ( sl, Prva slovenska nogometna liga, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten club ...
side Olimpija Ljubljana, replacing fellow countryman Dino Skender. He left the club on 1 July 2022, together with sporting director Mladen Rudonja, after a dispute with club owner Adam Delius.


Minifootball

Prosinečki has also participated in Minifootball tournaments in Kutija Šibica. He won first place in 1989 with Termotehna Šela, 1998 with team Moby Dick Segafredo and in 2002, 2003, 2004 with team Riva Grupa. In 1997, Moby Dick came in second place. In 2003, Prosinečki was awarded best player of the tournament. Prosinečki even coached a team named Promotionplay in 2006 where they lost 5–0 in the final. On 26 December 2017, Prosinečki played at a humanitarian tournament Četiri kafića (Four cafés). Prosinečki got a standing ovation from the fans in
Arena Gripe Gripe Sports Center ( hr, Športski centar Gripe) is a sports complex located in the Gripe city district of Split, Croatia. It features four indoor halls, and is used to host many sports, as well as concerts. The seating capacity of the small ind ...
during his performances while playing.


Entrepreneurship

In March 2007, several years following the end of his football playing career, Prosinečki decided to invest some of his earnings into launching a restaurant in
Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
. Named Prosikito, after the nickname Spanish press gave him during his time in
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 Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...
, the restaurant is located in the Zagreb neighbourhood of Stara Peščenica and is run day-to-day by his younger brother Sven Daniel. In late February 2016, in partnership with another retired footballer,
Janko Janković Janko Janković (born 14 January 1963) is a Croatian retired footballer who played as a forward. Club career Janković was born in Split, Croatia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After playing in his country with NK Solin, HNK Hajd ...
, Prosinečki opened an 8-court indoor
padel Padel ( es, Pádel) is a racket sport typically played in doubles on an enclosed court slightly smaller than a doubles tennis court. Scoring is the same as normal tennis, and the balls used are similar but with a little less pressure. The main ...
commercial facility called Padel.hr at the
Zagreb Fair Zagreb Fair ( hr, Zagrebački velesajam) is a complex of exhibition pavilions in Zagreb, Croatia. The company which operates the venue carries the same name. The Zagreb Fair is the main venue in Zagreb for trade shows and fairs. Every year more t ...
. Prosinečki and Janković became aware of padel — a simplified version of
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
with elements of
squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...
— during their respective professional footballing stints in Spain and decided to try to monetize it back home where it is largely unknown. After struggling to attract patrons initially, the facility has reportedly recorded significant growth since with 7,000 registered players.


Controversy


Relationship with Ćiro Blažević

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, parallel with Prosinečki's rise to football superstardom at
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 Be ...
,
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
,
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
as well as Yugoslav and Croatian national teams, the story of him being chased away from
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. Dinam ...
in 1987 by the famous coach Ćiro Blažević grew in Croatian and Yugoslav media and public. To this day it is often cited and referenced as an example of football mismanagement, poor player selection, and bad work with youth categories. Colourful Blažević, the villain of the piece, rarely talked on the record about the circumstances of Prosinečki's departure. However, in 2010, Blažević deflected responsibility for the flap by claiming he actually gave the youngster a four-year contract that was eventually, according to Blažević, annulled by Dinamo president Ante Pavlović on a technicality due to not being processed administratively by the subfederation responsible. On the same occasion, Blažević went on to accuse Prosinečki's father Đuro of not negotiating in good faith with Dinamo by saying "he already had his combination with Red Star". Asked about his famous quote about eating his diploma if Prosinečki ever became a player, Blažević responded that he only used it as a motivation tool. Blažević and Prosinečki would reignite their simmering feud eleven years later during the
1998 World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...
where they were part of the Croatian national team that made it all the way to the
semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
. In the semi-final match that Croatia lost 1–2 versus eventual winners
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
after going ahead 1–0, Blažević decided to leave 29-year-old Prosinečki on the bench (he eventually entered the contest in the 90th minute, coming on for
Mario Stanić Mario Stanić (born 10 April 1972) is a former Croatian footballer. Being a versatile offensive player, he was no stranger to any forward or attacking midfield position, and was even deployed as a wing-back in the national team. Club career ...
), which led to a lot of criticism.


Court case versus Dinamo

In the summer of 1997, twenty-eight-year-old Prosinečki came back to
Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
in order to play for the club where he had started his professional career eleven years earlier,
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. Dinam ...
. Now called "Croatia Zagreb", the club was turned into a state project bankrolled by the
Croatian government The Government of Croatia ( hr, Vlada Hrvatske), formally the Government of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Vlada Republike Hrvatske), commonly abbreviated to Croatian Government ( hr, hrvatska Vlada), is the main executive branch of government ...
's highest echelons and personally supported by the country's president
Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as p ...
. By 2000, Prosinečki left Croatia Zagreb, but in late 2001, decided to initiate a lawsuit against the club (whose name had been restored back to Dinamo in the meantime due to continuous fan protests) over DM1,550,000 (€750,000) in unpaid wages. Years later in 2009, the court ruled against Prosinečki, asserting that the lawsuit against Dinamo had no merit since Prosinečki played for Croatia Zagreb, and not Dinamo Zagreb. Commenting on the verdict in late 2009, Prosinečki said he was cheated out of his money.


Personal life

In June 1999, Prosinečki married his girlfriend Vlatka. The couple have two daughters. Prosinečki smoked cigarettes throughout his career playing professional football, which many of his former teammates talked about in form of anecdotes.


Career statistics


Club


International

:''Scores and results list Yugoslavia's and Croatia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Prosinečki goal.''


Honours


Player

Red Star Belgrade *
Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League (Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...
: 1987–88, 1989–90,
1990–91 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 ...
*
Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп на Југославија), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Kup kralja Aleksandra, ...
: 1989–90 *
European Cup 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 ...
:
1990–91 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 ...
Real Madrid *
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...
:
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 ...
*
Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...
:
1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...
*
Copa Iberoamericana The Copa Iberoamericana ( en, Ibero-American Cup) or Copa Iberia was a one-off international football competition. It was created to face the champions of the Copa de Oro Nicolás Leoz and the Copa del Rey, as a result of an agreement signed betwe ...
:
1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...
Dinamo Zagreb *
Croatian First League 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 (soccer), football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, i ...
: 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000 * Croatian Cup: 1997–98 Olimpija Ljubljana *
Slovenian Cup Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia * Sl ...
: 2002–03 Yugoslavia U20 *
FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 wh ...
:
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
Yugoslavia U21 *
UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. ...
runner-up:
1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...
Croatia *
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...
third place:
1998 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 ...
Individual * FIFA World Youth Championship Golden Ball:
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
* FIFA World Cup Best Young Player:
1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...
*
Yugoslav Footballer of the Year The Croatian Footballer of the Year ( hr, Nogometaš godine) is the most prestigious annual association football award in Croatia. It is awarded by the newspaper ''Večernji list'' to the best Croatian football player in the preceding year, regard ...
: 1990 *
Večernji list ''Večernji list'' (also known as ''Večernjak''; ) is a Croatian daily newspaper published in Zagreb. History and profile ''Večernji list'' was started in Zagreb in 1959. Its ancestor ''Večernji vjesnik'' ("Evening Courier") appeared for the ...
football player of the year: 1990, 1997 *
Bravo Award The Bravo Award was an annual award which was handed out by the Italian magazine ''Guerin Sportivo'' to the most outstanding young European footballer. The first winner of the award was Englishman Jimmy Case. The first non-European to win the ...
: 1991 *
1991 FIFA World Player of the Year The 1991 FIFA World Player of the Year award was won by Lothar Matthäus. Results References {{FIFA World Player of the Year FIFA World Player of the Year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented an ...
: 4th place *
1991 Ballon d'Or The 1991 Ballon d'Or, given to the best football player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists from UEFA member countries, was awarded to Jean-Pierre Papin and published December 24, 1991. Papin was the third French national to win ...
: 5th place *
Croatian Footballer of the Year The Croatian Footballer of the Year ( hr, Nogometaš godine) is the most prestigious annual association football award in Croatia. It is awarded by the newspaper ''Večernji list'' to the best Croatian football player in the preceding year, regardle ...
: 1997 *
Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport ( hr, Državna nagrada za šport "Franjo Bučar") is the highest recognition that Republic of Croatia gives for extraordinary achievements and contributions of remarkable meaning for the development of sport in Cr ...
(2): 1997, 1998 * PFA First Division Team of the Year: 2001–02 *
Portsmouth F.C. Portsmouth Football Club is a professional football club based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, which compete in . They are also known as ''Pompey'', a local nickname used by both HMNB Portsmouth and the city of Portsmouth; the ''Pompey'' nick ...
All-time XI *Only non-British player to be voted into all-time best Portsmouth eleven *6th
Zvezdina zvezda 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 Be ...


Manager

Red Star Belgrade *
Serbian Cup The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије, Kup Srbije) is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. From 2006 to 2010, the competition was known as the Lav Cup ...
: 2011–12


Orders

* Order of Danica Hrvatska with the face of Franjo Bučar: 1995 *
Order of the Croatian Trefoil The Order of the Croatian Trefoil ( hr, Red hrvatskog trolista) is the sixteenth most important medal given by the Republic of Croatia. The order was founded on 1 April 1995. The medal is awarded for excellence in war, direct war danger or in extr ...
: 1998


References


External links

*
Robert Prosinečki interview
at Extra-Football.com
Robert Prosinečki
at the
Serbia national football team The Serbia national football team ( sr, Фудбалска репрезентација Србије, Fudbalska reprezentacija Srbije) represents Serbia in men's international football competition. It is controlled by the Football Association ...
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Prosinecki, Robert 1969 births Living people People from Villingen-Schwenningen Sportspeople from Freiburg (region) Footballers from Baden-Württemberg German people of Croatian descent Croatian people of Serbian descent German people of Serbian descent Association football midfielders Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers 1990 FIFA World Cup players Croatian footballers Croatia international footballers UEFA Euro 1996 players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Dual internationalists (football) GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Red Star Belgrade footballers Real Madrid CF players Real Oviedo players FC Barcelona players Sevilla FC players NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac players Standard Liège players Portsmouth F.C. players NK Olimpija Ljubljana (1945–2005) players NK Zagreb players Yugoslav First League players La Liga players Croatian Football League players Belgian First Division A players English Football League players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Croatian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Belgium Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in England Croatian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in Slovenia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Croatian football managers Red Star Belgrade managers Kayserispor managers Azerbaijan national football team managers Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team managers Denizlispor managers NK Olimpija Ljubljana (2005) managers Serbian SuperLiga managers Süper Lig managers Croatian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Serbia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Expatriate football managers in Turkey Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate football managers in Azerbaijan Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Expatriate football managers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina Expatriate football managers in Slovenia