Robert Jarni facts for kids

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Robert Jarni

Personal information
Date of birth	(1968-10-26) 26 October 1968 (age 56)
Place of birth	Čakovec, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Left wingback
Youth career
	MTČ Čakovec
	Hajduk Split
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1986–1991	Hajduk Split	128	(17)
1991–1993	Bari	52	(3)
1993–1994	Torino	23	(0)
1994–1995	Juventus	15	(1)
1995–1998	Real Betis	98	(19)
1998	Coventry City	0	(0)
1998–1999	Real Madrid	27	(1)
1999–2001	Las Palmas	43	(6)
2001–2002	Panathinaikos	5	(0)
Total		391	(47)
International career
1987	Yugoslavia U20	6	(0)
1990–1991	Yugoslavia	7	(1)
1990–2002	Croatia	81	(1)
2003	Croatia (futsal)	2	(2)
Managerial career
2007–2008	Hajduk Split
2010-2011	Istra 1961
2012–2013	Hajduk Split U19
2013–2014	Sarajevo
2014–2015	Pécs
2015–2016	Puskás Akadémia
2017–2019	Croatia U19
2019–2020	NorthEast United
2022–2024	Croatia U17
Medal record Men's football Representing  Yugoslavia FIFA World Youth Championship Winner 1987 Chile UEFA European Under-21 Championship Runner-up 1990 Representing  Croatia FIFA World Cup Third 1998 France
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Robert Jarni (born 26 October 1968) is a Croatian former professional footballer. He played as a left winger or wingback.

Jarni started his career with Hajduk Split in 1986. He then spent 10 years playing for clubs in Italy and Spain. He finished his playing career in Greece with Panathinaikos in 2002.

He was a regular player for the Croatia national football team from 1990 to 2002. He played in 80 international matches for Croatia. He held the record for most appearances until June 2006. Dario Šimić then broke his record. Before Croatia became independent, Jarni also played 7 matches for Yugoslavia.

Jarni played in three FIFA World Cups. He was with Yugoslavia in 1990. He played for Croatia in 1998 and 2002. He played a total of 11 World Cup matches. His best moment was the 1998 World Cup in France. He played in all 7 of Croatia's matches. He helped them win the bronze medals in their first World Cup ever. He scored his only goal for Croatia in that tournament. It was the first goal in their 3–0 win against Germany in the quarter-finals.

After retiring from football, he played futsal for several seasons. He even played two international matches for the Croatia national futsal team. He also started his managerial career. His first coaching job was with Hajduk Split in 2007.

Playing Career: Club Journey

Robert Jarni was born in Čakovec, Croatia. He began his football journey in his hometown with MTČ Čakovec. In June 1985, Hajduk Split noticed him during a cup match. He joined Hajduk Split in February 1986 to start his professional career.

He played for Hajduk until 1991. Then, he moved to Italy to play for Bari. He spent two seasons there before joining Torino in 1993. After one season, he moved to their local rivals, Juventus, in 1994. He also stayed at Juventus for just one season.

In 1995, Jarni moved to Spain to play for Real Betis. He had a very good time with the club in Seville. He played in 98 Primera División matches over three seasons. He also scored 19 goals for them.

In the summer of 1998, Jarni first moved to English club Coventry City. He signed for £2.6 million from Real Betis. However, Real Madrid also wanted him. They bought him from Coventry for £3.4 million. Jarni did not play any matches for Coventry. Some people think this was a plan between Coventry and Real Madrid. This was because Betis did not want to sell him directly to the Madrid club.

At Real Madrid, Jarni found it hard to get a regular spot. He often played as a substitute. Still, he played in 27 Primera División matches that season. His only league goal for Real Madrid was against Extremadura. He scored the first goal in the first minute of their 5–1 win on 31 October 1998. A great moment was 10 days earlier in the UEFA Champions League. He scored two goals in their 6–1 home win against Sturm Graz.

In 1999, Jarni left Real Madrid for Segunda División team Las Palmas. He helped them get promoted to the Primera División for the 2000–01 season. He played 26 more matches in the Spanish top league, scoring two goals. He stopped being a regular player at Las Palmas. He did not play any matches in the first half of the 2001–02 season.

On 30 January 2002, Jarni moved to Greek club Panathinaikos. He signed a short contract until the end of the season. He played only 5 matches for Panathinaikos in the Greek league. He also played three matches in the UEFA Champions League in early 2002. He had to stop playing due to a serious head injury. His contract was not renewed. He retired from professional football at age 33.

Playing Career: International Matches

As a young player, Jarni played for the Yugoslav national under-21 team. He was part of the Yugoslav team that won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile. His future Croatia teammates Davor Šuker, Zvonimir Boban, Robert Prosinečki, and Igor Štimac were also on that team.

In 1990, Jarni started playing for the senior Yugoslavia team. He played 7 international matches for them in 1990 and 1991, scoring one goal. He was also in the Yugoslav squad for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. He made his World Cup debut as a substitute in their 1–0 win against Colombia.

Jarni's first match for Croatia was on 22 December 1990. It was a friendly game against Romania. He quickly became a key player for the team. He was part of the Croatian squad for their first major tournament. This was the UEFA Euro 1996 in England. He played in all four of Croatia's matches. They lost 2–1 to Germany in the quarter-finals. Germany went on to win the tournament.

Two years later, Jarni was chosen for Croatia's first World Cup team. This was for the 1998 finals in France. He was a very important player for the team that won the bronze medals. He played in all seven of Croatia's matches. His best moment was scoring the first goal in Croatia's 3–0 win over Germany in the quarter-finals. This was his only goal for Croatia. However, he helped create many other goals. He made fast runs down the left side and sent accurate crosses or passes into the box. One of these assists was in the 1998 World Cup. He set up Robert Prosinečki's first goal in Croatia's 2–1 win against the Netherlands in the third-place match.

Jarni continued to play regularly for Croatia until 2002. He retired from football as a player that year. His last international match was a World Cup game against Ecuador in June 2002. He also played in all three of Croatia's group matches at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan. Croatia was eliminated after the group stage. These three matches made Jarni the only player to play in all 10 of Croatia's first two World Cup matches. Jarni played for Croatia for 11 and a half years. He played in 81 international matches. He was their record holder for most appearances. Dario Šimić broke his record on 18 June 2006. This was during Croatia's 0–0 draw against Japan at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Coaching Career

Jarni started his coaching career in professional football. He became an assistant manager for Sergije Krešić at Hajduk Split in August 2007. When Krešić resigned in October 2007, Jarni became the head coach. He was first a temporary coach until December. His first match as head coach was a 1–0 win against Inter Zaprešić. He then signed a one-year contract. Hajduk finished 5th in the league that season. Jarni was replaced by Goran Vučević in May 2008.

On 4 August 2010, Jarni became the new manager of Istra 1961. He replaced Ante Miše. His first match was a 1–0 loss to Lokomotiva Zagreb. He resigned on 19 September 2010. He had two draws and four losses in six league matches.

In 2012, he coached Hajduk's U-19 team. In July 2013, his contract with Hajduk ended by agreement.

Coaching FK Sarajevo

FK Sarajevo hired Jarni as head coach on 1 December 2013. The previous coach had been fired after 7 league losses. Jarni lost only 1 game after taking over. He helped the team reach 4th place in the league. However, on 9 April 2014, he left the club. This was due to internal issues and the team not winning the league. FK Sarajevo finished 3rd that season. They also won the Bosnia Football Cup.

Coaching Pécs

On 24 November 2014, Jarni became the new manager of Hungarian team Pécs. When he took over, the club was second to last in the league. He helped them finish the season in eleventh place. Even though they finished eleventh, the club lost its professional license. This was because of money problems. They had to play in the fourth tier of the Hungarian league. The owner left the club, and Jarni also quit.

Coaching Puskás Akadémia

On 16 April 2016, Puskás Akadémia lost a match to Békéscsaba. This made them fall to last place in the league. Jarni was then removed as head coach.

Coaching Croatia U19

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

Coaching NorthEast United FC

In August 2019, Jarni became the head coach of NorthEast United. This is an Indian club based in Guwahati, Assam. They play in the Indian Super League. His former World Cup teammate Igor Stimac coaches the India national football team.

On 10 February 2020, Jarni left the club. This was called a mutual agreement. The team had not won in eleven matches and was ninth out of ten teams.

Futsal Career

After retiring from professional football, Jarni started playing futsal. He played for Croatian club MNK Split. He played there from 2002 to 2007. He left for a short time to manage Hajduk Split. After his coaching job ended, he returned to MNK Split in 2008.

He also played two international matches and scored two goals for the Croatia national futsal team. This was in November 2003 during their qualifying games for the FIFA Futsal World Cup. As of 2016, he is the only Croatian footballer to have played international matches in both football and futsal.

Other Activities

Jarni also created his own line of sportswear called Jarni. He worked with Astrea, a sportswear brand near his hometown of Čakovec. The clothing line includes football kits, polo shirts, and tracksuits. It became popular among football and handball clubs in the Međimurje region of Croatia. For some seasons, Jarni also supplied kits for NK Međimurje. This Čakovec-based football club played in the Croatian First League.

Jarni also appeared as a pundit on Croatian TV station RTL Televizija. He gave his opinions during live broadcasts of international football matches. These were mostly away matches of the Croatia national team. Since 2008, Croatia's national team matches are shown by the public broadcaster HRT.

Career Statistics

Source:

Club

International

Sources:

Honours

Player

Hajduk Split

• Yugoslav Cup: 1990–91

Juventus

• Serie A: 1994–95
• Copa Italia: 1994–95

Real Madrid

• Intercontinental Cup: 1998

Las Palmas

• Segunda Division: 1999–00

Yugoslavia Youth

• FIFA World Youth Championship: 1987
• UEFA European Under-21 Championship Runner-up: 1990

Croatia

• FIFA World Cup Third place: 1998

Orders

• Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar: 1995
• Order of the Croatian Trefoil: 1998

See also

In Spanish: Robert Jarni para niños