Niko Kranjčar facts for kids
Kranjčar with Dynamo Kyiv in 2012
|
|||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Niko Kranjčar | ||
| Date of birth | 13 August 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Zagreb, Croatia | ||
| Height | 1.86 m | ||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Croatia U21 (assistant coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Rapid Vienna | |||
| Dinamo Zagreb | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2001–2005 | Dinamo Zagreb | 84 | (19) |
| 2005–2006 | Hajduk Split | 50 | (15) |
| 2006–2009 | Portsmouth | 83 | (9) |
| 2009–2012 | Tottenham Hotspur | 49 | (9) |
| 2012–2016 | Dynamo Kyiv | 13 | (4) |
| 2013–2015 | → Queens Park Rangers (loan) | 51 | (4) |
| 2016 | New York Cosmos | 7 | (1) |
| 2016–2018 | Rangers | 16 | (1) |
| Total | 353 | (61) | |
| National team | |||
| 2000–2001 | Croatia U16/17 | 17 | (8) |
| 2001–2002 | Croatia U19 | 7 | (2) |
| 2002–2005 | Croatia U21 | 15 | (2) |
| 2004–2013 | Croatia | 81 | (15) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2021–2023 | Croatia U19 (assistant coach) | ||
| 2024– | Croatia U21 (assistant coach) | ||
|
|||
Niko Kranjčar (born on August 13, 1984) is a former professional footballer from Croatia. He mostly played as an attacking midfielder. He could also play as a winger or a second striker. As of 2024, he works as an assistant coach for the Croatia national under-21 team.
Niko played for several clubs in his home country. He started at Dinamo Zagreb. Then, he made a surprising move to their big rivals, Hajduk Split, in January 2005. After that, he moved to England to play for Portsmouth in August 2006. In September 2009, he joined Tottenham, where he met his former manager, Harry Redknapp, again.
In 2012, Niko moved to the Ukrainian team Dynamo Kyiv. During his time there, he spent two years on loan at Queens Park Rangers. This was the third time he played under manager Harry Redknapp. He ended his playing career with short periods in the United States with New York Cosmos and in Scotland with Rangers. He retired from playing in 2018.
Niko Kranjčar was a talented player. His father, Zlatko Kranjčar, gave him his first chance to play for the national team in August 2004. Niko played for Croatia in major tournaments. These included the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008, and UEFA Euro 2012. He played 81 games for the Croatia national team and scored 15 goals. His last game for the national team was in October 2013. He missed the 2014 FIFA World Cup because of a leg injury.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Niko Kranjčar is the son of Zlatko Kranjčar, who was also a famous footballer and manager. Zlatko played for clubs like Dinamo Zagreb and Rapid Vienna. Niko spent his childhood years in Austria because his father was playing there. He also has an Austrian passport. This helped him play in the European Union before Croatia joined the EU in 2013.
Club Football Career
Niko Kranjčar played for many different football clubs during his career. He started in Croatia and then moved to England, Ukraine, the United States, and Scotland.
Playing for Dinamo Zagreb
Niko spent most of his youth playing for Dinamo Zagreb. When he was just 17, he became the youngest captain of the team. He also became one of the youngest players to score a goal in the Prva HNL (Croatian First Football League). He scored on his first league game for Dinamo when he was 16.
He helped Dinamo Zagreb win two big trophies in 2003: the Croatian Cup and the league title. They won the Croatian Cup again the next season. Fans loved him for his skills and how much he helped the team. Some people even compared him to the famous French football player Zinedine Zidane.
Moving to Hajduk Split
In January 2005, Niko had a disagreement with the Dinamo Zagreb management. This led to a surprising move to Hajduk Split. Hajduk Split is Dinamo's biggest rival. Hajduk's sports director, Igor Štimac, helped make the transfer happen. The fee was reported to be around €1.88 million. More than 10,000 fans came to the Poljud stadium to welcome him.
Niko played his first league game for Hajduk on February 26, 2005. He scored his first goal for Hajduk on April 23, 2005. He helped Hajduk win the 2004–05 Prva HNL league title. This was their second league trophy in a row. Fans quickly made him their favorite player. He decided to stay at Hajduk for another season, even though many international clubs wanted him. In the 2005–06 Prva HNL season, he was Hajduk's top scorer with 10 goals.
After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, many clubs showed interest in Niko. These included Stade Rennais and Celta Vigo. Hajduk rejected an offer of €4.5 million from Rennes. On August 31, 2006, Niko moved to Portsmouth for about £3.5 million (€5.2 million).
Time at Portsmouth
Niko made his Premier League debut for Portsmouth on October 1, 2006. He played the whole game in a 2–1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur. He scored his first Premier League goal on March 31, 2007, against Fulham. He played 24 games and scored two goals in his first season. The next season, he was a key player in Portsmouth winning the FA Cup.
In 2009, Niko said he wanted to leave Portsmouth for a bigger club. He said, "For now I am staying, but we have not strengthened like I would have liked us to. That's why I will not sign a new contract. It's one more season for me and then I'm off".
Joining Tottenham Hotspur
On September 1, 2009, Niko joined Tottenham Hotspur. The transfer fee was around £2.5 million. He signed a four-year contract. Niko chose Spurs because of their history and because he knew manager Harry Redknapp. He also knew Luka Modrić and Vedran Ćorluka, who told him good things about the club.
Niko made his debut for Tottenham as a substitute against Manchester United. On September 26, 2009, he started his first Premier League game for Tottenham. He scored his first goal for the club on October 4, 2009, against Bolton Wanderers. On November 22, 2009, Niko scored in a big 9–1 win against Wigan Athletic. He also scored two goals in a 3–0 win against Manchester City on December 16, 2009.
Niko sometimes found it hard to get into the starting team. This was because Gareth Bale became a very important player in his position. However, Niko still helped the team a lot. He scored late winning goals in two games in a row. These were against Bolton Wanderers and Sunderland.
Moving to Dynamo Kyiv
On June 6, 2012, the Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv signed Niko Kranjčar. He signed a four-year contract. The transfer fee was about £5.5 million. Niko said he was "happy" to join Dynamo Kyiv. He also admitted his time at Tottenham was "disappointing."
Niko scored two goals against Volyn Lutsk and two more against Karpaty Lviv in September 2012. He had a good start to the season. But in November, an old ankle injury kept him out of games until the end of the year. He came back for the second half of the season. However, he got injured again in March 2013 while playing for Croatia. This injury kept him out for the rest of that season.
Loan to Queens Park Rangers
On September 2, 2013, Niko joined Queens Park Rangers on a loan for the season. He reunited with his former manager, Harry Redknapp. This was the third time Redknapp had signed Niko.
After a groin problem, Niko made his first appearance for QPR as a substitute against Yeovil Town. He started his first full game against Middlesbrough in late September 2013. Niko scored his first goal for QPR against Millwall. He also made his first assist in that game and was named "Man of the Match." In January 2014, he scored again to give QPR a 1–0 lead against Ipswich Town. He returned to Dynamo Kyiv on July 1, 2014. But he came back to QPR for another season-long loan on September 1, 2014.
Playing for New York Cosmos
After leaving Dynamo Kyiv, Niko went to the USA. He trained with Cosmos. He couldn't join the team right away because of rules about foreign players. In March 2016, one of the foreign players became an American citizen. This allowed Niko to finally sign for Cosmos.
Joining Rangers
On June 23, 2016, Niko signed a two-year deal with Rangers in the Scottish Premiership. He said it was a "big honor and privilege" to join such a large club. He made his debut for Rangers in a League Cup game against Motherwell on July 16. Three days later, he started his first game against Annan Athletic.
Niko scored his first goal for Rangers on July 25. He scored the third goal in a 3–0 win over Stranraer. He scored his first league goal on October 1 in a 2–0 win over Partick Thistle. In early October, Niko suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury. This injury kept him out for the rest of the season. In January 2017, he talked about his recovery. He thought he might return in six months. He also knew the injury was serious enough that he might have to retire.
Niko returned to play on June 29, 2017, after eight months out. This was in a Europa League game against Progrès Niederkorn. Rangers released him from his contract on March 23, 2018. He had struggled with injuries during his time in Glasgow.
International Career
Niko Kranjčar played for Croatia's national teams at different age levels. He was part of the Under-16, Under-17, Under-19, and Under-21 teams. Then, he moved up to the senior national team.
His first game for the senior team was on August 18, 2004. This was a friendly match against Israel. He played regularly for Croatia during their qualifying games for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He played nine games and scored two goals. One goal was a great solo effort against Bulgaria. Niko was even named one of the "Young guns firing for World Cup glory" by Eurosport.com. This list included other great young talents like Lionel Messi and Lukas Podolski. He played in all three of Croatia's group games at the World Cup. He showed impressive performances there.
After his father left as the national team manager, Niko continued to be a regular player for Croatia. He played in all 12 games during the qualifying campaign for Euro 2008. He scored two goals in these games. His most famous goal was a long-range shot against England in their final qualifying match. Croatia won that game 3–2, which meant England did not qualify for the tournament.
He also scored in a friendly match against Scotland. He was part of the Croatia team in the Euro 2008 tournament. He started in two group games and the quarter-final game against Turkey. In Croatia's campaign for the 2010 World Cup, he scored a goal against Kazakhstan. He was chosen for Croatia's team for Euro 2012. He played in two of their three group games. He missed the 2014 FIFA World Cup because of a hamstring injury. He has not played for the national team since then. His last international game was on October 15, 2013.
Personal Life
Niko Kranjčar is the son of famous Croatian footballer and manager Zlatko Kranjčar. Niko was married to Simona Fistrić. They had a daughter named Loree, born on March 7, 2011. However, Niko and Simona divorced less than a year after Loree's birth. Niko is now in a relationship with actress Zrinka Cvitešić.
Career Achievements
Niko Kranjčar won many trophies and awards during his football career.
Club Trophies
- Dinamo Zagreb
- Croatian First Football League: 2002–03
- Croatian Cup: 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04
- Croatian Supercup: 2002, 2003
- Hajduk Split
- Croatian First Football League: 2004–05
- Croatian Supercup: 2005
- Portsmouth
- FA Cup: 2007–08
- Queens Park Rangers
- Championship play-offs: 2014
Individual Awards
- Croatian Football Hope of the Year: 2002
- Prva HNL Player of the Year: 2003, 2005
- HNL’s Footballer of the Year: 2003
- SN Yellow Shirt Award: 2004
Images for kids
-
Kranjčar with Dynamo Kyiv in 2012
-
Kranjčar playing for Portsmouth in 2009
-
Niko Kranjčar in 2010
See also
In Spanish: Niko Kranjčar para niños
