| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1953-02-03)3 February 1953 (age 72) | ||
| Place of birth | Šmartno ob Paki,PR Slovenia,Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1969–1976 | Šmartno | ||
| 1976–1977 | Olimpija | ||
| 1977–1983 | Šmartno | ||
| 1983–1984 | SVG Bleiburg | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1984–1989 | Elkroj | ||
| 1989–1991 | Celje | ||
| 1991–1992 | Mura | ||
| 1991–1993 | Slovenia | ||
| 1993–1994 | Olimpija | ||
| 1995–1996 | Rudar Velenje | ||
| 1996–2000 | Maribor | ||
| 1998 | Slovenia | ||
| 2000–2001 | Olimpija | ||
| 2001–2002 | Maribor | ||
| 2002–2004 | Slovenia | ||
| 2004–2005 | Mura | ||
| 2005–2006 | AEL Limassol | ||
| 2006–2007 | Primorje | ||
| 2007–2009 | Energie Cottbus | ||
| 2010–2011 | Rudar Velenje | ||
| 2011–2012 | Olimpija Ljubljana | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Bojan Prašnikar (born 3 February 1953) is a Slovenianfootballmanager and former player who played as aforward. Prašnikar managed theSlovenia national team three times, between 1991 and 1993, in 1998, and between 2002 and 2004.
Prašnikar started his professional football career at his home town clubŠmartno ob Paki, where he was the top scorer of theSlovenian Republic League in the1975–76 season.[1] After the season, he moved toOlimpija ofYugoslav First League, spending only one year there before returning to Šmartno, where he played for the next six seasons.[1] During this period he was the league's top scorer on three occasions and won the Slovenian national league title in 1981.[1] In 1983, he transferred to SVG Bleiburg of Austria where he played for one season before retiring.[1]
After retirement, Prašnikar focused on coaching, starting his managerial career atElkroj, before moving on to coach various other clubs –Celje,Mura,Olimpija, andRudar Velenje. His most successful spell however, came while in charge ofMaribor from 1996 to 2000. Under his guidance, the club won theSlovenian league four times and qualified for the group phase of theUEFA Champions League (the only Slovenian club to ever achieve this), after defeatingGenk andLyon in the qualifying rounds.
Prašnikar was the manager of theSlovenia national team during three time spans. After Slovenia's independence in 1991 he was named the first head coach of the national team. He remained in the position until December 1993, whenZdenko Verdenik took charge of the Slovenian affairs until the end of the unsuccessful qualifying campaign for theFIFA World Cup 1998. Prašnikar was re-installed head coach in December 1997, but his second spell at the helm of Slovenia lasted for only four month as in April 1998 he resigned due to his commitments with Maribor on club-level. He was replaced bySrečko Katanec.
His third spell in charge of the Slovenian national team started in July 2002, when theFootball Association of Slovenia appointed him the successor of Katanec after the disappointing first round finish of the national team at theFIFA World Cup 2002 and Katanec's swift resignation. This job lasted until May 2004. Not qualified for the2004 European Football Championship tournament, the Slovenian FA replaced Prašnikar withBranko Oblak, who was the head coach of theSlovenia under-21 at that time.
On 28 September 2007, he was appointed byBundesliga outfitEnergie Cottbus, who had parted company with head coachPetrik Sander five days earlier. Prašnikar, who was in charge ofPrimorje in the Slovenian league before that, signed a deal until June 2010 with the former German Cup finalist.[2] On 30 May 2009, Prašnikar announced his leaving at the end of the season from Energie Cottbus,[3] his last game was the2008–09 Bundesliga relegation playoff game on 31 May 2009 against1. FC Nürnberg which he lost 5–0 on aggregate. On 6 April 2010, Prašnikar signed a contract until the end of the season with Slovenian team Rudar Velenje.[4]
In April 2012, Prašnikar was dismissed byOlimpija Ljubljana after only eleven league games in charge.[5]
His sonLuka and daughterLara are both footballers.[6][7]
