_(cropped).jpg) Prosinečki asMontenegro manager in 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1969-01-12)12 January 1969 (age 56) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Schwenningen, West Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1974–1980 | Stuttgarter Kickers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1980–1986 | Dinamo Zagreb | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1986–1987 | Dinamo Zagreb | 2 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987–1991 | Red Star Belgrade | 117 | (25) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991–1995 | Real Madrid | 55 | (10) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1995 | →Oviedo (loan) | 30 | (5) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995–1996 | Barcelona | 19 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | Sevilla | 20 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2000 | Croatia Zagreb | 50 | (14) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 4 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Standard Liège | 21 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | Portsmouth | 33 | (9) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Olimpija Ljubljana | 23 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | NK Zagreb | 26 | (5) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Savski Marof | 4 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 404 | (84) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987 | Yugoslavia U20 | 5 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1989–1991 | Yugoslavia | 15 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–2002 | Croatia | 49 | (10) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2010 | Croatia (assistant) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2012 | Red Star Belgrade | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | Kayserispor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2017 | Azerbaijan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Kayserispor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Denizlispor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Olimpija Ljubljana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Rudeš | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Montenegro | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Robert Prosinečki (Croatian pronunciation:[rǒbertprosinětʃkiː];[1][2] born 12 January 1969) is a professionalfootball manager and formerplayer who played as amidfielder. Born inWest Germany, he internationally representedYugoslavia and laterCroatia. He most recently led theMontenegro national team.
Early in his career, he was part of theRed Star Belgrade team that won threeYugoslav First League titles and theEuropean Cup in1991. Prosinečki spent several years in Spain with rivalsReal Madrid andBarcelona, as well asOviedo andSevilla. Later in his career, he won threeCroatian league titles withDinamo Zagreb, and also played in Belgium, England and Slovenia.
Internationally, Prosinečki was voted best player asYugoslavia won the1987 FIFA World Youth Championship, and came runner-up with the under-21 team at the1990 European Championship. He was also votedBest Young Player at the1990 FIFA World Cup. He earned 49caps forCroatia between 1994 and 2002, playing atUEFA Euro 1996 and theWorld Cups of1998 and2002, 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 in December 2010. He left in 2012 for Turkish clubKayserispor two months later. Internationally, Prosinečki worked as head coach of theAzerbaijan national team from 2014 to 2017 and ofBosnia and Herzegovina from 2018 to 2019. He then once again managed Kayserispor,Denizlispor,Olimpija Ljubljana andRudeš.
Prosinečki was born inSchwenningen,West Germany, into a family ofYugoslavgastarbeiters. His father Đuro Prosinečki (1939–2003) was aCroat, hailing from the Gornji Čemehovec village nearKraljevec na Sutli,[3] and his mother Emilija Đoković is aSerb, originally from theJeževica village nearČačak.[4][5][6]
A few years after his birth, the family moved toNürtingen nearStuttgart where, by the decision of his passionate football enthusiast father who ran aconstruction business for a living, five-year-old Robert was signed up for theStuttgarter Kickers youth system.[7] Closely monitored by his father, who reportedly drove him to and from every practice and watched his every match, the youngster progressed along in the club's youth categories.[7] The parents decided to move back toSR Croatia within SFR Yugoslavia in 1979, bringing ten-year-old Robert and his two siblings along.[7] Once in Croatia, just like in West Germany prior, his father Đuro signed up his adolescent son to the youth setup ofDinamo Zagreb and continued monitoring his progress closely.[7]
After moving up the youth ranks for years, Prosinečki started getting occasional first team appearances during the1986–87 league season under head coachMiroslav Blažević. On his league debut versusŽeljezničar 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 versusSloboda Tuzla 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.[8] However, coach Miroslav Blažević sent him away, once famously claiming while doing a guest spot on a local radio phone-in sports show that he would "eat his coaching diploma if Prosinečki ever became a proper football player".[9][10]
In the summer of 1987, Đuro Prosinečki took 18-year-old Robert over toBelgrade and got the professional contract they were after.Dragan Džajić,Red Star's then technical director, remembers how the transfer got initiated:
[In late May 1987], during one of our away trips to Zagreb, we stayed atHotel Esplanade where I got approached by a man who introduced himself as Robert Prosinečki's uncle. He told me his nephew wasn't happy at Dinamo and asked me if we could arrange a tryout. I told them to come to Belgrade in a couple of days and they did. At the tryout I saw this kid do wonders with the ball and I immediately asked our head coachVelibor Vasović to schedule an afternoon practice session at the main stadium so that I could see the kid one more time. It was obvious we had a classy player on our hands, and I initiated the contract proceedings right away. Our lawyer informed us that we wouldn't have to pay a transfer fee to Dinamo so Robert's father Đuro and I agreed everything in five minutes.[11]
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 defenderMilivoj Bračun who had spent years at Dinamo before moving to Belgrade.[12]
Within weeks, in late June 1987, as the league season ended and the summer transfer window opened, Prosinečki and his father went back to Belgrade where he took part in a few more training sessions with the Red Star Belgrade squad that was temporarily missing some of its marquee players such asDragan Stojković,Boro Cvetković and newly-signedRefik Šabanadžović, who were in Zagrebcompeting at1987 Universiade with the Yugoslavia national team.[13] Furthermore, Prosinečki played a friendly match versus the recently promotedSecond League sideFK Rad.[13] Satisfied again with his skills, technical director Džajić wanted to sign the professional contract right away, however, Prosinečki and his father wanted to go back to Zagreb one more time, ostensibly to get more of their personal belongings before coming back to sign.[13] Afraid that young Prosinečki might try to leverage the accolades from his Belgrade tryouts in order to improve his standing back in Dinamo and possibly stay in Zagreb, Džajić insisted on contract being signed immediately, but eventually relented by taking Prosinečki's father's word that they will indeed come back to Belgrade and sign with Red Star.[13]
After signing, young Prosinečki's initial accommodation—a room in Hotel Srbija—was paid for by the club.[14]
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 alongsideDragan Stojković,Žarko Đurović andGoran Milojević just a few weeks into the1987–88 league season, opening his Red Star scoring account in the process during only his second match for the club—a 7–1 home rout ofPriština on 9 August 1987. Several weeks later on 6 September 1987 at theVečiti derbi against cross-town rivalFK Partizan in front of a packed house of 55,000 spectators atStadion JNA, playing in the very first big match of his career, Prosinečki made a valuable contribution to his team's 2–3 win, memorably setting up teammateBora Cvetković with a remarkably accurate long-distance through pass that the forward put away for a 1–3 lead early into the second half, putting the highly competitive contest out of Partizan's reach.[14]
In October 1987, he was part of theYugoslav youth squad which won theWorld 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 their1987–88 UEFA Cup second round tie versusClub Brugge. The Yugoslav team players protested to FIFA, andJoão Havelange, the organisation's chairman at the time, intervened to keep Prosinečki in Chile.[15]
After Prosinečki's return from Chile to rejoin Red Star, the club's executive board decided to provide him with a two-bedroom apartment where the player moved to from his initial hotel accommodation.[14]
During his four-year spell at the club, Prosinečki helped Red Star win threeYugoslav First League titles and oneYugoslav Cup, as well as participating in the club's greatest success in history by winning the1991 European Cup.[16]
Prosinečki joined Spanish giantsReal Madrid during the summer of 1991 for a transfer fee of₧ 450 million (€15 million). Led by club presidentRamón Mendoza and head coachRadomir Antić, the club had huge expectations from their expensive and highly rated signing.[17] Real were coming off adifficult season during which they made two coaching changes before barely managing a UEFA Cup spot by finishing third inLa Liga 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 versusBarcelona inEl Clásico 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, would incidentally turn out to be his last with the club, with six league goals.
During the 1994 summer transfer window, after three indifferent seasons in Madrid, Real brass decided that Prosinečki's physical fragility and injuries were too much to deal with, offloading the twenty-five-year-old toReal Oviedo on aloan deal. Reuniting with Radomir Antić—the same head coach who had brought him to Real three years earlier—Prosinečki ended up playing his best season yet in Spain, even winning a league match against his former club Real Madrid in May 1995.[18] 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 theCroatia 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.[19]
The summer 1995 arrival of Radomir Antić toAtlético Madrid motivated Atlético to reach an agreement with Real Madrid, whom Prosinečki was still contracted to. However, Barcelona stepped in by presenting Zoran Vekić, the Croatian's agent, with a better offer.[20] While the interest of the Colchoneros was made public, the other bid was not leaked to the press. At the end, Prosinečki became afree agent, he rejected Atlético and signed on 20 July 1995 to Barcelona with a contract of €3 million for three seasons, plus two optional.[21] Ramón Mendoza did not want his eternal rival to take the midfielder free, but the bad economic situation of Real Madrid precipitated his departure.[22]
In Barcelona, he suffered muscle injuries again that made him miss the first part of the season. By the time he recovered, coachJohan Cruyff did not trust him and relegated him to the substitution bench, so he only played 19 games in the1995–96 season.
The following season, 1996–97, new managerBobby Robson reduced Prosinečki to friendly matches. After this, Prosinečki wanted to leave. On 14 December 1996, he was sold toSevilla for €1.67 million.
Prosinečki spent the rest of the 1996-97 season in Sevilla and was always a first choice pick for the team.[23]
In 1997, he returned home to play forCroatia 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.[24]
During his first season, he wonthe double with the team and reached the UEFA Cup third round, where Prosinečki's performances where a key factor to victory againstMTK Hungária andGrasshopper.[25]
The next two seasons saw Prosinečki lead ascaptain one of the best generations of Dinamo Zagreb, winning theleague twice and playing in theUEFA Champions League in consecutive seasons. In their European campaign, Dinamo reached their best result in the competition. Prosinečki will be remembered by the fans most notably for his performances againstCeltic andManchester United.[25]
On 14 July 2000, Prosinečki signed toHrvatski Dragovoljac as a free agent. The club president Stjepan Spajić said Prosinečki would sign a two-year contract with aclause that he could leave if a foreign club would make an offer to him.[26]
In January 2001, he moved again toStandard Liège where he played until the end of the season, finishing third in theBelgian First Division.
In summer of 2001, 32-year-old Prosinečki signed forFirst Division (second-tier of the English football league system) sidePortsmouth on a one-year deal. He was signed by the club's Yugoslav owner,Milan Mandarić.[27] His goals and assists in the2001–02 season were instrumental in saving the team from relegation, the highlight of which was scoring ahat-trick againstBarnsley in a 4–4 home draw on 2 February 2002.[28] It was the only hat-trick of his career, but he refused the customary match ball at the end of the game, as his team had not won.[29] Prosinečki is still held as a folk hero at Portsmouth for his performances in his sole season with the club.[citation needed] At the end of the2007–08 season, the readers ofThe 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 CroatNiko Kranjčar made the decision to sign for Portsmouth in the summer of 2006.[30]
Prosinečki then had a one-year stint atOlimpija Ljubljana. With Olimpija Ljubljana Prosinečki won his last trophy, the2002–03 Slovenian Cup; he even scored a goal in the final.[31]
In the summer of 2003, Prosinečki moved back to his home country to play one more professional season forNK Zagreb.
Rumours of him returning to the South coast of England to join Fareham town FC turned out to be false[32] He then ended his playing career with low tier club Savski Marof in the spring of 2005.[33]
Prosinečki had 49 caps forCroatia and scored 10 goals for his country.[34] He was also capped 15 times, scoring four goals, forYugoslavia.[35] In 1987, he was named the tournament's best player as Yugoslavia won theWorld Youth Championship in Chile along with fellow CroatiansZvonimir Boban,Robert Jarni,Davor Šuker andIgor Štimac.
Prosinečki then played for Yugoslavia at the1990 World Cup, and for Croatia atEuro 1996 and the1998 and2002 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 theNetherlands 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.[36]
In 1990, Prosinečki scored one goal for Yugoslavia in a group match against theUnited Arab Emirates and eight years later, he added two goals for Croatia by scoring in a group match againstJamaica 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.
Prosinečki, nicknamedŽuti (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 in the 1980s. His favourite position was that of a puremidfielder, although he often also played as aright winger or as anattacking midfielder, and delayed his relocation to thecentre of the pitch in order to elaborate and organize the attacking plays of his teammates with his passing, as thenumber 10 role best utilized his excellent vision of the game. He used to retain possession due to hisdribbling 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, and drive forward with the ball. He also had a strong shot that made him dangerous fromset pieces.[16][37][36][38]
His style was criticized at times by some Real Madrid fans, although he was often played out of position during his time in the Spanish capital.Vicente del Bosque, his last coach with the team, recovered him for theplaymaker role and defined his performances in the following way:
It cannot be denied that he is an individualist. But you also have to think that you need the partners. Many times the audience whistles at him because he keeps the ball, without thinking that maybe he does it because he has no other choice.
— Vicente del Bosque in 1994[39]
Prosinečki has stated that out of the coaches he played for his favourite wasJohan Cruyff.[40]
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.[41]
Prosinečki began his managerial career in 2004 as an assistant toMile Petković atNK Zagreb.
In 2006, he was named the assistant to head coachSlaven Bilić in theCroatia national football team.[42] He went with them toUEFA Euro 2008.
In December 2010, during the2010–11 Serbian SuperLiga mid-season winter break, Prosinečki was announced as the new manager ofRed Star Belgrade, replacing recently releasedAleksandar Kristić. Returning to the club of his biggest playing successes, the announcement made major headlines all over the Balkans[43][44] and also generated plenty of buzz in the rest of Europe.[45][46][47][48][49] The angle of Prosinečki being the first Croatian to coach in Serbia following theYugoslav Wars also got a lot of attention.[50][51] His annual salary was not officially disclosed, however, Serbian press speculated with figures from US$100,000 to $250,000 per year.[52]
At the time of Prosinečki taking over, fifteen matches into theleague season, the famous yet recently beleaguered Serbian club was in second place, five points behind league leadersPartizan. Red Star brass led by club presidentVladan Lukić (Prosinečki's former teammate atMarakana) 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, pickingSlobodan Marović andŽarko Đurović (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 versusSmederevo 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,[53] even though he won the2011–12 Serbian Cup after beatingBorac Čačak in thefinal 2–0, on 16 May 2012.[54]
On 15 October 2012, it was announced that Prosinečki would replaceShota Arveladze as manager of strugglingKayserispor in theTurkish Super League.[55] He became the new head coach of Kayserispor at the eighth week of the2012–13 Süper Lig, and he gained 13 wins in 27 league matches and finished the league at fifth position.
The start of the2013–14 season was not so successful for Prosinečki and his team. After achieving only one victory in eleven 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.[56] A month and a half later, the club record had not improved. Kayserispor was 17th on the Süper Lig table and lost toTokatspor in theTurkish Cup. In the last days of 2013, Prosinečki definitively resigned as manager of Kayserispor.[57]
On 3 December 2014, Prosinečki was named the new manager of theAzerbaijan national football team, replacingBerti Vogts with a two-year contract untilUEFA Euro 2016. 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 theAzerbaijan Football Association, and left the team shortly after. Prosinečki is considered one of the finest coaches of Azerbaijan national team, along with Berti Vogts.[58] Under his guidance Azerbaijan played well, having drawn against Croatia 0–0, undefeated againstNorway, an away draw againstCzech Republic, victory overQatar 2–0, victory overMalta 2–0, and biggest victory in Azerbaijan history – 5–1 againstSan Marino.[59][60][61] Despite this, he opted to leave Azerbaijan, having failed to guide Azerbaijan to qualify for any major competitions.
On 4 January 2018, Prosinečki was named the new manager of theBosnia and Herzegovina national football team.[62]
On 15 November 2018, after a goalless draw againstAustria in the2018–19 UEFA Nations League, Bosnia and Herzegovina topped its group and got promoted to theLeague A of the2020–21 UEFA Nations League.[63] With that draw, Prosinečki tiedSafet Sušić's record with a 10-game unbeaten run in all official matches as Bosnia and Herzegovina national team manager.[64] He securedplay-offs forEuro 2020 by topping the group.
On 18 November, Prosinečki had a chance to make a new, eleven-game unbeaten run record againstSpain in afriendly match, but he did not, as Bosnia and Herzegovina lost 1–0 with a 78th-minute goal fromBrais 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.[65][66]
His biggest win as the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team head coach came on 5 September 2019, in a 5–0 home win againstLiechtenstein in theUEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers.[67]
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 againstArmenia, thus losing almost every direct chance of qualifying for the Euros.[68][69] Two days later, on 10 September, Prosinečki decided to remain as head coach.[70] He stated that after talks with theBosnia and Herzegovina FA board of directors, they eventually convinced him to withdraw the decision.[71] His campaign during the qualifying had already been depressing, as Bosnia and Herzegovina suffered a shock 0–2 away loss toFinland, a poor 2–2 home draw withGreece and a 1–2 away defeat toItaly 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.[72] However, Bosnia and Herzegovina fell 1–2 away to already eliminated Greece, that unofficially eliminated Bosnia and Herzegovina from qualifying directly.[73]
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.[74]
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.[75] 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 theTurkish Football Federation.[76]
On 10 August 2020, Prosinečki was named the new manager ofDenizlispor.[77] He resigned on 24 November after a disappointing start to the season.[78]
On 22 March 2022, Prosinečki signed a two-year contract withSlovenian PrvaLiga sideOlimpija Ljubljana, replacing fellow countrymanDino Skender.[79][80] He left the club on 1 July 2022, together with sporting directorMladen Rudonja, after a dispute with club owner Adam Delius.[81]
.png)
After a year without a club, Prosinečki became the manager of newly promoted Croatian top division sideRudeš on 7 June 2023, replacingDavor Mladina.[82]
Both during and after his career as a professional footballer, Prosinečki has also participated at the Kutija ŠibicaMinifootball tournaments in Zagreb. He won first place in 1989 with a team called Termotehna Šela, then in 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.[83][84]
Prosinečki even coached a team named Promotionplay in 2006 where they lost 5–0 in the final.[85]
On 26 December 2017, Prosinečki played at ahumanitarian tournament Četiri kafića (Four cafés), receiving a standing ovation from the fans inArena Gripe during his performances while playing.[86]
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 inZagreb.[87][88] Named Prosikito, after the nickname Spanish press gave him during his time inLa Liga, the restaurant is located in the Zagreb neighbourhood ofStara Peščenica and is run day-to-day by his younger brother Sven Daniel.[89]
In late February 2016, in partnership with another retired footballer,Janko Janković, Prosinečki opened an 8-court indoorpadel commercial facility called Padel.hr at theZagreb Fair.[90] Prosinečki and Janković became aware of padel — a simplified version oftennis with elements ofsquash — during their respective professional footballing stints in Spain and decided to try to monetize it back home where it is largely unknown.[91] After struggling to attract patrons initially, the facility has reportedly recorded significant growth since with 7,000 registered players.[92]
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, parallel with Prosinečki's rise to football superstardom atRed Star Belgrade,Real Madrid,Barcelona as well as Yugoslav and Croatia national teams, the story of him being chased away fromDinamo Zagreb in 1987 by the famous coachĆiro 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.[8] 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 presidentAnte 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.[93]
Blažević and Prosinečki would reignite their simmering feud eleven years later during the1998 World Cup where they were part of theCroatia national team that made it all the way to thesemi-finals. In the semi-final match that Croatia lost 1–2 versus eventual winnersFrance 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 forMario Stanić), which led to a lot of criticism.[94]
In the summer of 1997, twenty-eight-year-old Prosinečki came back toZagreb in order to play for the club where he had started his professional career eleven years earlier,Dinamo Zagreb. Now called "Croatia Zagreb", the club was turned into a state project bankrolled by theCroatian government's highest echelons and personally supported by the country's presidentFranjo Tuđman. 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) overDM1,550,000 (€750,000) in unpaid wages.[95]
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.[96] Commenting on the verdict in late 2009, Prosinečki said he was cheated out of his money.[97]
| Season | Club | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Yugoslavia | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
| 1986–87 | Dinamo Zagreb | Yugoslav First League | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 1 | ||
| 1987–88 | Red Star Belgrade | Yugoslav First League | 23 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | 4 | 0 | 30 | 6 | |
| 1988–89 | 33 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 37 | 4 | |||
| 1989–90 | 32 | 5 | 8 | 3 | — | 6 | 1 | 46 | 9 | |||
| 1990–91 | 29 | 12 | 6 | 2 | — | 9 | 4 | 44 | 18 | |||
| Spain | League | Copa del Rey | Supercopa | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 1991–92 | Real Madrid | La Liga | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | |
| 1992–93 | 29 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | 5 | 0 | 36 | 4 | |||
| 1993–94 | 23 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 32 | 6 | ||
| 1994–95 | Real Oviedo | 30 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 5 | |
| 1995–96 | Barcelona | 19 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 23 | 2 | ||
| 1996–97 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Sevilla | 20 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 22 | 4 | ||||
| Croatia | League | Croatian Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 1997–98 | Croatia Zagreb | Prva HNL | 16 | 5 | 3 | 1 | — | 10 | 5 | 29 | 11 | |
| 1998–99 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 2 | 18 | 6 | |||
| 1999–2000 | 19 | 5 | 3 | 5 | — | 6 | 1 | 28 | 11 | |||
| 2000–01 | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 1 | |||
| Belgium | League | Belgian Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2000–01 | Standard Liège | Belgian First Division | 21 | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 23 | 5 | ||
| England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2001–02 | Portsmouth | English First Division | 33 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 35 | 9 | |
| Slovenia | League | Slovenian Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2002–03 | Olimpija Ljubljana | Slovenian PrvaLiga | 23 | 3 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 27 | 4 | ||
| Croatia | League | Croatian Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2003–04 | NK Zagreb | Prva HNL | 26 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 27 | 5 | |
| Career total | 400 | 83 | 47 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 55 | 14 | 505 | 113 | ||
|2025–04||NK Zagreb||Prva HNL||26||5||1||0||colspan="2"|—||0||0||27||5
| Team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Yugoslavia | 1989 | 5 | 1 |
| 1990 | 7 | 2 | |
| 1991 | 3 | 1 | |
| Total | 15 | 4 | |
| Croatia | 1994 | 5 | 1 |
| 1995 | 5 | 2 | |
| 1996 | 9 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 7 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 8 | 4 | |
| 1999 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 8 | 2 | |
| 2002 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 49 | 10 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yugoslavia goals | ||||||
| 1 | 20 September 1989 | Vojvodina Stadium,Novi Sad, Yugoslavia |  Greece | 2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 19 June 1990 | Stadio Renato Dall'Ara,Bologna, Italy |  United Arab Emirates | 4–1 | 4–1 | 1990 World Cup |
| 3 | 12 September 1990 | Windsor Park,Belfast, Northern Ireland |  Northern Ireland | 2–0 | 2–0 | Euro 1992 qualifying |
| 4 | 16 May 1991 | Stadion Crvena Zvezda,Belgrade, Yugoslavia |  Faroe Islands | 2–0 | 7–0 | Euro 1992 qualifying |
| Croatia goals | ||||||
| 1 | 23 March 1994 | Estadio Luís Casanova,Valencia, Spain |  Spain | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 25 March 1995 | Stadion Maksimir,Zagreb, Croatia |  Ukraine | 3–0 | 4–0 | Euro 1996 qualifying |
| 3 | 26 April 1995 | Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia |  Slovenia | 1–0 | 2–0 | Euro 1996 qualifying |
| 4 | 2 April 1997 | Stadion Poljud,Split, Croatia | Slovenia | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1998 World Cup qualification |
| 5 | 3 June 1998 | Stadion Kantrida,Rijeka, Croatia |  Iran | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 6 | 6 June 1998 | Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia |  Australia | 3–0 | 7–0 | Friendly |
| 7 | 14 June 1998 | Stade Félix Bollaert,Lens, France |  Jamaica | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1998 World Cup |
| 8 | 11 July 1998 | Parc des Princes,Paris, France |  Netherlands | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1998 World Cup |
| 9 | 5 September 2001 | Stadio Olimpico,Serravalle, San Marino |  San Marino | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2002 World Cup qualification |
| 10 | 4–0 | |||||
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Red Star Belgrade | 9 December 2010 | 20 August 2012 | 62 | 43 | 10 | 9 | 069.35 |
| Kayserispor | 15 October 2012 | 10 January 2014 | 48 | 18 | 12 | 18 | 037.50 |
| Azerbaijan | 3 December 2014 | 5 November 2017 | 23 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 026.09 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 4 January 2018 | 27 November 2019 | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 040.91 |
| Kayserispor | 13 January 2020 | 6 August 2020 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 031.58 |
| Denizlispor | 10 August 2020 | 24 November 2020 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 011.11 |
| Olimpija Ljubljana | 22 March 2022 | 1 July 2022 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 062.50 |
| Rudeš | 7 June 2023 | 3 September 2023 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 000.00 |
| Montenegro | 2 February 2024 | 19 September 2025 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 035.29 |
| Total | 215 | 94 | 44 | 77 | 043.72 | ||
Red Star Belgrade
Real Madrid
Dinamo Zagreb
Olimpija Ljubljana
Yugoslavia
Croatia
Individual
Red Star Belgrade
In June 1999, Prosinečki married his girlfriend Vlatka.[106] The couple have two daughters.[106]
Prosinečki was an avid cigarette smoker throughout his career playing professional football,[107] which many of his former teammates talked about in form of anecdotes.[108]
In 2019, Bosnia-Herzegovina national team head coach Prosinečki's name was in the news in Croatia due to his wife Vlatka's purchase of aRange Rover Sport SDV6 HSE vehicle from a local Croatia-based vendor that was found to be part of a Croatian-Slovenianorganized crimeluxury vehicle import ring, offering vehicles at lower prices byevadingvalue-added tax payments through fraudulent invoices.[109] In addition to Prosinečki's wife, his brother Sven Daniel was also interviewed by the Croatian police during their investigation.[109]
Ròbert
Prosinèčkī
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Awards | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
 | ||
Croatia squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
