Anto Drobnjak facts for kids

Anto Drobnjak (born September 21, 1968) is a former professional footballer from Montenegro. He played as a forward, which means he was a player who focused on scoring goals. He was one of the top goal scorers in the Yugoslav league in 1993 while playing for Red Star Belgrade. He also played for the FR Yugoslavia national team.

Playing Career

Early Years at Budućnost

Anto Drobnjak started his professional football journey with Budućnost in 1987. He joined a very talented group of players there. His coach, Stanko "Špaco" Poklepović, was very important for his early development.

Drobnjak once said about his coach:

"I was a kid back then. In one practice, I accidentally hit him in the head with the ball. But he didn't get angry. In fact, he really liked me. He had a special accent and often spoke kindly. Špaco is a legend and an unforgettable man."

Success with Red Star Belgrade

In 1992, Drobnjak moved to Red Star Belgrade. In his first season, he became one of the league's top goal scorers. He also scored the winning goal in the 1993 Yugoslav Cup final, helping Red Star beat their rivals, Partizan, 1–0. He continued to be a top scorer for Red Star in the next season as well.

Moving to France: Bastia

Because of international issues affecting Yugoslavia at the time, Drobnjak wanted to play football outside the country. In 1994, he signed a three-year contract with Bastia, a club in France. He played three seasons there, scoring 50 goals in 100 league games. This showed how good he was at scoring goals.

In 1995, he scored a goal in a cup final against Paris Saint-Germain, but the referee unfortunately didn't allow it. By the end of the 1996–97 season, he was one of the top goal scorers in the French league. He received offers from bigger clubs like Olympique de Marseille and Lens. He chose Lens because of the strong rivalry between Bastia and Marseille.

Winning the League with Lens

In 1997, Drobnjak joined Lens. In his very first season, he helped them win the French league title, which was a huge achievement! He had an amazing game against Olympique de Marseille, scoring three goals even though he had a back injury. He also scored another three goals in a game against AS Cannes. He finished that season as one of the top four goal scorers in the league.

Later Career and Retirement

After his time in France, Drobnjak played for Gamba Osaka in Japan for a year. He then returned to France to play for Sochaux and later Martigues. He retired from playing professional football in 2002.

International Career

Anto Drobnjak played for the FR Yugoslavia between 1996 and 1998. He played in seven matches and scored four goals for his country. His first game was in October 1996, a big 8–1 win against the Faroe Islands.

In February 1998, he scored a goal in a friendly match against Argentina. Even though he was a strong player, he was not chosen for Yugoslavia's team for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Many newspapers at the time were surprised by this decision. His last game for his country was a friendly match against South Korea in April 1998.

After Playing Football

After retiring as a player, Anto Drobnjak became involved in coaching. From 2011 to 2015, he worked as an assistant manager for the Montenegro national team, helping coach the players. Since 2021, he has been the manager of Kom.

Career Statistics

International Goals

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	9 January 1997	So Kon Po, Hong Kong	Russia	1–0	1–1 (5–6 p)	1997 Lunar New Year Cup
2.	25 February 1998	Mar del Plata, Argentina	Argentina	1–2	1–3	Friendly

Honours

Red Star Belgrade

• FR Yugoslavia Cup: 1992–93

Lens

• Division 1: 1997–98

Individual

• First League of FR Yugoslavia top scorer: 1992–93

See Also

In Spanish: Anto Drobnjak para niños