Robert Jarni (born 26 October 1968) is a Croatian 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 lea ...

who played as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or wingback. Jarni started his professional career with

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

in 1986, and went on to spend 10 years playing for various clubs in Italy and Spain before finishing his career as a player in Greece with Panathinaikos in 2002. He was a regular in the

Croatia national football team The Croatia national football team () represents Croatia in men's international Association football, football matches. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS), the governing body for football in Croatia. It is a member of UEF ...

between 1990 and 2002, winning a total of 80 international

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 ...

for Croatia and being the national team's record cap holder until June 2006, when his record was beaten by

Dario Šimić Dario Šimić (; born 12 November 1975) is a Croatian former footballer. Šimić was a versatile defender who played as full-back, sweeper or centre back; a physical and hard-tackling defender, he was known in particular for his strength and ...

. Prior to Croatia's independence, he also won seven international caps for the

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. Jarni participated in three FIFA World Cups, in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

with Yugoslavia and in

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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

with Croatia, making a total of eleven appearances in the competition. The crowning moment of his career was the 1998 World Cup in France, where he appeared in all of Croatia's seven matches at the tournament and helped them win the bronze medals in their first World Cup appearance. He also scored his only international goal for Croatia during the tournament, netting the opening goal in their 3–0 win over

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in the quarter-finals. During the last qualifying match of

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

where Croatia played

, Jarni collided with defender Zoran Mirković and insulted Mirković after he went down, only for Mirković to grab and twist Jarni's testicles, in which the referee sent him off and banned him for three matches, which made him miss Yugoslavia's Euro 2000 campaign. After his retirement from professional football as a player, he spent several seasons playing

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

, even winning two international caps for

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in the sport, and also started his

managerial Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

career with

in 2007.

Club career

Born in

Čakovec Čakovec (; ; ; ) is a city in Northern Croatia, located around north of Zagreb, the Croatian capital, and close to the borders with Slovenia and Hungary. Čakovec is both the county seat and the largest city of Međimurje County, the northernmo ...

, Jarni started his career in his hometown with MTČ Čakovec. In June 1985, he was spotted by

while playing for MTČ in a cup match in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

and started his professional career by joining the club in February 1986. He stayed with Hajduk until 1991, when he moved abroad for the first time in his career, signing with Italian side

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

. After spending two seasons with Bari, he moved to

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

in 1993, and spent one season with the club before moving to local rivals

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in 1994. He also spent just one season with Juventus, and went on to move to Spanish side

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

in 1995. He had a fairly successful spell with the

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

club, appearing in 98 Primera División matches for the club over the following three seasons, also scoring a total of 19 goals in the league. In the summer of 1998, Jarni initially moved to English side Coventry City, signing for £2.6 million from Real Betis. However, when

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

decided they wanted the player, they successfully bought him from Coventry for £3.4 million, with Jarni having made no appearances whatsoever. Some believe this was a joint Coventry City and Real Madrid tactic, as Betis refused to sell him to the

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

club. At Real Madrid, Jarni struggled to get his place in the starting line-up and often found himself receiving little playing time as a substitute, although he did manage to finish the season with a total of 27 Primera División appearances on his tally. His only league goal for Real Madrid came in their 5–1 win at

Extremadura Extremadura ( ; ; ; ; Fala language, Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is a landlocked autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, Spain, Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central- ...

on 31 October 1998, when he netted the opening goal of the match in the first minute. One of the highlights of his spell with Real Madrid came ten days earlier in their third

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

group match that season, when he netted a brace in their 6–1 win at home to Sturm Graz. In the summer of 1999, Jarni left Real Madrid for

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

side

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

, going on to help the club gain promotion to the Primera División for the 2000–01 season, which saw him making another 26 appearances in the Spanish top flight, scoring two goals. After losing his place as a regular at Las Palmas and making no appearances for the club in the first half of the 2001–02 season, Jarni went on to move to Greek side Panathinaikos on 30 January 2002, signing a short-term contract until the end of the season. Jarni only appeared in five matches for Panathinaikos in the Greek league, although he also made three appearances for the club in the UEFA Champions League in February and March 2002. Despite his remarkable performances, he was ruled out due to a serious head injury due to excessive zeal in a match against Porto. His contract was not renewed at the end of the season, and he subsequently retired from professional football as a player, aged 33.

International career

As a youngster, Jarni played for the Yugoslav national under-21 football team. He was part of the Yugoslav squad that 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 edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship and won for the first time by Yugoslavia. Remarkably, in the course of the tourn ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, alongside his future

team-mates

Davor Šuker Davor Šuker (; born 1 January 1968) is a Croatian Association football, football administrator and former professional player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He served as the president of the Croatian Football Federatio ...

Zvonimir Boban Zvonimir Boban (; born 8 October 1968) is a Croatian former professional footballer who works at UEFA as the Chief of Football. A midfielder, Boban played most of his career for Italian club AC Milan with whom he won four Serie A titles and one ...

, Robert Prosinečki and Igor Štimac. In 1990, Jarni became a full international with

. He won seven international caps with the team in 1990 and 1991, scoring one goal. He was also part of the Yugoslav squad for the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, 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 ...

finals in Italy, where he made his World Cup debut as a half-time substitute for Srečko Katanec in the team's second group match, a 1–0 win against

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. Jarni's international debut for Croatia came on 22 December 1990 in a friendly match against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. He quickly established himself as a regular with the team and was also part of the Croatian squad for the country's first appearance in the finals of a major tournament, at the

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in ...

in England. He appeared in all of Croatia's four matches at the tournament before they were knocked out in the quarter-finals after losing 2–1 to

, who went on to win the tournament. Two years later, Jarni was named in the Croatian squad for the country's first World Cup appearance, at the 1998 finals in France, and was an important member of the team that went on to win the bronze medals at the tournament. He appeared in all of Croatia's seven matches during the tournament, with his highlight being the opening goal in Croatia's 3–0 win over Germany in the quarter-finals. It was his only international goal for Croatia, although he set up a number of other goals for the national team with numerous assists resulting from his fast runs through the left flank and precise crosses or passes into the box. One of those assists came later during 1998 World Cup, when he set up Robert Prosinečki's opening goal in Croatia's 2–1 win against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in the third-place match. Jarni continued to play regularly for Croatia until 2002, when he retired from football as a player. His final international was a June 2002 World Cup finals match against

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. He also appeared in all of their three group matches at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

finals in Japan, where Croatia were eliminated following the group stage. The three appearances made Jarni the only player to feature in all of Croatia's 10 matches in their first two World Cup appearances. Having been a Croatian international for years, Jarni won a total of 81 international caps for the team and was their record cap holder before

beat his record on 18 June 2006 in Croatia's 0–0 draw against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

during the

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

finals.

Managerial career

Jarni started his managerial career in professional football as assistant manager to Sergije Krešić at

in late August 2007. After Krešić's resignation on 26 October 2007, Jarni was appointed head coach at the club and was initially presented as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

until the end of the first part of the Croatian league season in December. His first match as head coach at Hajduk Split was a 1–0 away victory at Inter Zaprešić on 27 October 2007. He went on to sign a one-year contract with the club after the match. The season proved to be a disappointment for Hajduk as they only managed to finish fifth in the league, 30 points behind the champions and arch-rivals

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

. Jarni was eventually replaced by Goran Vučević on 20 May 2008, ten days after the club's final league game of the season. On 4 August 2010, Jarni was appointed new manager at Istra 1961, where he replaced

Ante Miše Ante Miše (born 14 June 1967) is a Croatian football manager and former professional football player who played as a midfielder. As a player, he earned 7 caps in friendlies for Croatia in the period from 1992 to 1994. Playing career Club In ...

, who had been sacked after the club lost their first two matches of the 2010–11 season in the Croatian first division. On 7 August 2010, he had his first match in charge of the club, suffering a 1–0 defeat in an away fixture at

Lokomotiva Zagreb Nogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb (), commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First Football League, the country's top division. Founded in 1 ...

in the Croatian top flight. He resigned from the managerial post on 19 September 2010, after recording two draws and four defeats in six league matches in charge of the club. In 2012, he took charge of Hajduk's U-19 team. In July 2013 his contract with Hajduk was mutually terminated.

Sarajevo

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

on 1 December 2013, after suffering a total of seven defeats in the league and getting knocked out of the UEFA Europa League second qualification round, sacked Husref Musemić and appointed Jarni as the head coach; Jarni lost just one game after taking over as the head coach and finished in fourth position in the table. On 9 April, toward the end of the 2013–2014 season, he was asked to leave, following internal tension of the club's inability to win the league.

finished third in the league this season, trailing one point behind

Široki Brijeg Široki Brijeg () is a city and the regional capital of West Herzegovina Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. the town itself had a population of 6,149 and the municipality of 28,929. Name ...

, and were also winners of the Bosnia Football Cup.

Pécs

On 24 November 2014, Jarni was announced as the new manager of Hungarian side

Pécs Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...

. When Jarni took over the club, it was in second last position in the league table, and he successfully finished the season in eleventh place. Despite finishing eleventh in the 2014–15 season, the club lost its professional licence due to financial difficulties and gained admittance to the fourth tier of the Hungarian league system in time for the start of the following season. The relegation saw owner Dezső Matyi leaving the club after eight years, when he sold his share to the city of Pécs and this forced Jarni also to quit the club, ending his stint with

Puskás Akadémia

On 16 April 2016, on the 30th matchday and three matches before the end of 2015–16 season, Puskás Akadémia lost to relegation rivals

Békéscsaba Békéscsaba (; ; see also #Name, other alternative names) is a city with county rights in southeast Hungary, the capital of Békés County. Geography Békéscsaba is located in the Great Hungarian Plain, southeast from Budapest. Highway 44, 47 ...

at the Pancho Arena, falling to last position and a relegation spot for the first time in the season. As a result, Jarni was dismissed as head coach.

Croatia U19

From June 2017 to 2019, Jarni was the head coach of the Croatia U19 national football team.

NorthEast United

From August 2019, Jarni was appointed as the head coach of Indian club

NorthEast United NorthEast United Football Club is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Football in India, Indian football. The club was founded on ...

, a club based in

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

. It competes in the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

. His former World Cup teammate Igor Stimac is the head coach of

India national football team The India national football team represents India in men's international Association football, football and is governed by the All India Football Federation, the governing body for Football in India, football in India. It is a member of FIFA, ...

. On 10 February 2020, he was dismissed as head coach, in what was called a mutual agreement, after a poor streak of eleven winless matches left the team ninth out of ten teams in the table.

Futsal career

Following his retirement from professional football, Jarni went on to play

for Croatian club MNK Split. He had his first spell with the club between 2002 and 2007, before leaving due to his managerial duties with Hajduk Split during the 2007–08 season. After being replaced as Hajduk's manager, he returned to MNK Split and continued his career as a futsal player in the summer of 2008. He also won two international caps and scored two goals for the Croatia national futsal team in November 2003 during their qualifying campaign for the

FIFA Futsal World Cup The FIFA Futsal World Cup is an international futsal competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. Since the first edition that took place in 1989 in the Netherla ...

. , he is the only Croatian footballer with international caps in both football and futsal.

Other activities

In association with ''Astrea'', a sportswear brand based near Čakovec, Jarni's hometown, he started his own line of sportswear under the brand name ''Jarni''. The line includes various pieces of sportswear such as football kits,

polo shirt A polo shirt, tennis shirt, golf shirt, or chukker shirt is a form of shirt with a collar. Polo shirts are usually short sleeved but can be long; they were used by Polo#Players, polo players originally in British Raj, British India in 1859 and ...

s and

tracksuit A tracksuit is an article of clothing consisting of two parts: trousers and a jacket usually with a front zipper. Also known as ''sweatsuits'' or ''trackies'', tracksuits are designed to keep the body warm during and after athletic activity. It w ...

s, and became quite popular among football and

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

clubs in the north Croatian region of Međimurje. For some seasons, ''Jarni'' was also the kit supplier of

NK Međimurje NK Međimurje is a Croatian football club based in Čakovec. The club is named after Međimurje, the region in northern Croatia where the city of Čakovec is located. The club plays their home games at the Stadion SRC Mladost, Čakovec, whic ...

, a Čakovec-based football club that spent several seasons competing in the Croatian First League. Jarni also made several appearances as a

pundit A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...

on Croatian commercial TV station

RTL Televizija RTL (previously known as RTL Televizija) is a Croatian free-to-air television network founded on 30 April 2004. It was owned by the RTL Group from 2004 to 2022. Since 1 June 2022, it is owned by the CME Group. It is the second commercial television ...

during their

live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

broadcasts of various international football matches, mostly the away matches of the Croatia national team that were regularly broadcast by the station between 2004 and 2007. Since 2008, however, all of the national team's matches are again broadcast by Croatia's

public broadcaster Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

HRT.

Career statistics

:Source:

Club

International

:Sources:

Honours

Player

Hajduk Split *

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...

: 1990–91 Juventus *

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

: 1994–95 * Copa Italia: 1994–95 Real Madrid * Intercontinental Cup:

Las Palmas * Segunda Division: 1999–00 Yugoslavia Youth * FIFA World Youth Championship:

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

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 football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

Runner-up:

Croatia *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

Third place:

Orders

* Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar: 1995 * Ribbon of an Order of the Croatian Trefoil

Order of the Croatian Trefoil The Order of the Croatian Trefoil () 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 extraordinary circumstances in ...

: 1998

References

External links