Robert Prosinečki facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Robert Prosinečki

Prosinečki as Montenegro 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
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Montenegro (manager)
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)
National team
1987	Yugoslavia U20	5	(1)
1989–1991	Yugoslavia	15	(4)
1994–2002	Croatia	49	(10)
Teams managed
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–	Montenegro
Honours Men's football Representing  Yugoslavia FIFA U-20 World Cup Winner 1987 Chile UEFA European Under-21 Championship Runner-up 1990 Representing  Croatia FIFA World Cup Third 1998 France
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Robert Prosinečki (born 12 January 1969) is a famous football manager and former player. He played as a midfielder. Robert was born in West Germany. He played for the national teams of Yugoslavia and later Croatia. Today, he is the manager of the Montenegro national team.

Early in his playing career, Robert was part of the Red Star Belgrade team. They won three Yugoslav First League titles and the European Cup in 1991. Prosinečki then spent several years in Spain. He played for big clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona, as well as Oviedo and Sevilla. Later, he won three Croatian league titles with Dinamo Zagreb. He also played in Belgium, England, and Slovenia.

As a young player, Prosinečki was named the best player when Yugoslavia won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship. He also helped the under-21 team finish second at the 1990 European Championship. He was even named the Best Young Player at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He played 49 games for Croatia between 1994 and 2002. He played in UEFA Euro 1996 and the World Cups in 1998 and 2002. In 1998, he helped Croatia finish third, which was a huge achievement!

After he stopped playing, Prosinečki became an assistant manager for the Croatia national team from 2006 to 2010. Then, he became the manager of Red Star Belgrade in 2010. He later managed Turkish club Kayserispor. He also coached the national teams of Azerbaijan and Bosnia and Herzegovina. After that, he managed Kayserispor again, along with Denizlispor, Olimpija Ljubljana, and Rudeš.

Early Life and Junior Career

Robert Prosinečki was born in Schwenningen, West Germany. His parents were from Yugoslavia. When he was five, his father, who loved football, signed him up for the Stuttgarter Kickers youth team. His father watched all his practices and games very closely.

In 1979, when Robert was ten, his family moved back to Croatia. There, his father signed him up for the youth team of Dinamo Zagreb. Robert continued to improve his skills there.

Club Career Highlights

Dinamo Zagreb Beginnings

Robert Prosinečki moved up through the youth teams at Dinamo Zagreb. He started playing for the main team during the 1986–87 season. He was only seventeen when he scored in his first league game against Željezničar in November 1986.

At that time, his coach, Miroslav Blažević, didn't think Robert would become a great player. He even famously said he would "eat his coaching diploma if Prosinečki ever became a proper football player."

Joining Red Star Belgrade

In the summer of 1987, Robert's father took him to Belgrade. There, 18-year-old Robert signed a professional contract with Red Star Belgrade. The club's technical director, Dragan Džajić, was very impressed with Robert's skills. He saw how well Robert handled the ball and knew he was a special player.

Robert quickly became a regular player for Red Star. He scored his first goal for the club in August 1987. In his first big game against FK Partizan, he helped his team win by setting up a goal with an amazing pass.

Winning the World Youth Championship

In October 1987, Robert was part of the Yugoslavian youth team. They won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile. Robert was named the best player of the tournament, winning the Golden Ball award. This showed everyone how talented he was.

During his four years at Red Star Belgrade, Robert helped the team win many titles:

• Three Yugoslav First League titles.
• One Yugoslav Cup.
• The 1991 European Cup, which is like today's Champions League. This was a huge success for the club!

Time at Real Madrid

In 1991, Prosinečki joined the Spanish football giant Real Madrid. He was a very expensive and highly-rated player. However, he faced many muscle injuries during his first season. He only played in three league games, but he did score a great free-kick goal against Barcelona.

His second season was also affected by injuries, but he played more games. His best season at Real Madrid was 1993–94, when he scored six league goals. This was his last season with the club.

Loan to Oviedo

In 1994, Real Madrid decided to loan Robert to Real Oviedo. There, he reunited with his former coach, Radomir Antić. Robert had a great season at Oviedo, playing some of his best football in Spain. He even helped Oviedo win a game against Real Madrid! He felt much better physically and mentally and became a regular player for the Croatia national team.

Playing for Barcelona

In 1995, Robert Prosinečki joined Barcelona. He signed a three-year contract. Unfortunately, he suffered more muscle injuries and missed the first part of the season. When he recovered, the coach, Johan Cruyff, didn't use him much, so he only played 19 games.

The next season, he wanted to leave Barcelona. In December 1996, he moved to Sevilla.

Return to Croatia Zagreb

In 1997, Robert returned home to play for Croatia Zagreb (which was Dinamo's name at the time). Fans were very happy to see him back at the club where he started.

In his first season back, he helped the team win both the league and the cup. He also played a key role in their European games. For the next two seasons, Robert was the team's captain. He led Dinamo Zagreb to win the league twice more and play in the UEFA Champions League for two years in a row. Fans especially remember his great performances against Celtic and Manchester United.

Short Stays in Belgium and England

After leaving Dinamo Zagreb, Robert played briefly for Hrvatski Dragovoljac in Croatia. Then, in 2001, he moved to Standard Liège in Belgium, where he helped them finish third in the league.

In the summer of 2001, 32-year-old Prosinečki signed a one-year deal with Portsmouth in England. He quickly became a fan favorite. His goals and assists were very important in helping the team avoid being moved down to a lower league. A memorable moment was when he scored three goals in one game against Barnsley. This was the only hat-trick of his career! Even today, Portsmouth fans remember him as a hero.

Later Career and Retirement

After Portsmouth, Prosinečki played for Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia. There, he won his last trophy, the Slovenian Cup, even scoring a goal in the final.

In 2003, he returned to Croatia to play one more season for NK Zagreb. He finally ended his playing career in 2005 with a smaller club called Savski Marof.

International Career

Robert Prosinečki played for two different national teams: Yugoslavia and Croatia.

• He played 15 games for Yugoslavia, scoring four goals.
• He played 49 games for Croatia, scoring 10 goals.

In 1987, he was named the best player at the World Youth Championship in Chile, which Yugoslavia won. He played alongside other future Croatian stars like Zvonimir Boban and Davor Šuker.

Prosinečki played for Yugoslavia at the 1990 World Cup. Later, he played for Croatia at Euro 1996 and the 1998 and 2002 World Cups.

At the 1998 World Cup, Robert and the Croatian team achieved a historic third-place finish. Prosinečki scored two goals in that tournament, including one in Croatia's 2–1 win against the Netherlands in the third-place match. This makes him the only player ever to score World Cup goals for two different national teams!

He scored one goal for Yugoslavia in the 1990 World Cup and two goals for Croatia in the 1998 World Cup. He played in a total of nine World Cup matches.

Playing Style

Robert Prosinečki was nicknamed Žuti (meaning the Yellow One) because of his blond hair. He was known as one of the most creative and skilled footballers from Eastern Europe in the 1980s.

His favorite position was a pure midfielder. He also often played as a right winger or an attacking midfielder. He was great at keeping the ball and controlling the game with his passes. He had excellent vision, meaning he could see the whole field and make smart plays. He was also good at dribbling and had a powerful shot, making him dangerous from free kicks.

Some people criticized his style at Real Madrid because he sometimes held onto the ball too long. However, his coaches often played him in different positions. Vicente del Bosque, one of his coaches, said that while he was an individual player, he also needed his teammates.

Robert Prosinečki said that Johan Cruyff was his favorite coach to play for.

His main challenges as a player were his frequent muscle injuries and sometimes not being consistent.

Managerial Career

Early Coaching Roles

Prosinečki started his coaching career in 2004 as an assistant coach for NK Zagreb. In 2006, he became an assistant to Slaven Bilić for the Croatia national football team. He was with them at UEFA Euro 2008.

Managing Red Star Belgrade

Prosinečki during a press conference with Red Star Belgrade in 2012

In December 2010, Robert Prosinečki became the new manager of Red Star Belgrade. This was a big deal because he was returning to the club where he had his greatest playing success. It was also notable because he was the first Croatian to coach in Serbia after the Yugoslav Wars.

His goal was to make Red Star an attacking team that used short passes. His team finished second in the league in both the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons. In August 2012, he left Red Star, but not before winning the Serbian Cup in May 2012.

Coaching Kayserispor

On 15 October 2012, Prosinečki took over as manager of Kayserispor in Turkey. The team was struggling, but he helped them improve. They finished fifth in the league that season.

The next season, 2013–14, was tougher. After a difficult start, Prosinečki resigned in November 2013, but the club didn't accept it. He finally left Kayserispor at the end of 2013.

Managing National Teams

Azerbaijan

On 3 December 2014, Prosinečki became the new manager of the Azerbaijan national football team. He stayed for three years. Many people consider him one of the best coaches Azerbaijan has had. Under his leadership, Azerbaijan played well, achieving draws against strong teams like Croatia and Norway. They also had their biggest win in history, 5–1 against San Marino.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

On 4 January 2018, Prosinečki was named the new manager of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team. He led them to win their group in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League. This meant they were promoted to a higher league. He also helped them secure a spot in the play-offs for Euro 2020.

He set a record for the team with a 10-game unbeaten run. His biggest win was a 5–0 home victory against Liechtenstein in September 2019. He briefly resigned after a loss to Armenia but decided to stay after talking with the football association. However, on 27 November 2019, he and the association agreed for him to leave his role.

Recent Club Management

Prosinečki returned to Kayserispor for a second time in December 2019. He left in August 2020 due to disagreements about the club's transfer plans.

He then managed Denizlispor briefly in 2020. In March 2022, he signed with Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia but left a few months later. In June 2023, he became the manager of Rudeš in Croatia.

Minifootball Activities

Even while playing professional football and after, Robert Prosinečki enjoyed playing in Minifootball tournaments in Zagreb. He won first place several times with different teams in 1989, 1998, 2002, 2003, and 2004. In 2003, he was named the best player of the tournament.

He also coached a minifootball team in 2006. In 2017, he played in a charity tournament and received a huge cheer from the fans.

Entrepreneurship

After his football career, Prosinečki started some businesses. In 2007, he opened a restaurant in Zagreb called Prosikito, named after his nickname in Spain.

In 2016, with another former footballer, Janko Janković, he opened an indoor padel facility called Padel.hr. Padel is a sport similar to tennis and squash. They learned about it in Spain and wanted to bring it to Croatia. The facility has become very popular, with thousands of registered players.

Career Statistics

Club Appearances

International Appearances and Goals

Scores and results list Yugoslavia's and Croatia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Prosinečki goal.

List of international goals scored by Robert Prosinečki

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	2–0	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

Managerial Statistics

Honours and Awards

As a Player

Red Star Belgrade

• Yugoslav First League: 1987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91
• Yugoslav Cup: 1989–90
• European Cup: 1990–91

Real Madrid

• Copa del Rey: 1992–93
• Supercopa de España: 1993
• Copa Iberoamericana: 1994

Dinamo Zagreb

• Croatian First League: 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000
• Croatian Cup: 1997–98

Olimpija Ljubljana

• Slovenian Cup: 2002–03

Yugoslavia National Team

• FIFA U-20 World Cup: 1987
• UEFA European Under-21 Championship runner-up: 1990

Croatia National Team

• FIFA World Cup third place: 1998

Individual Awards

• FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Ball: 1987 (Best Player)
• FIFA World Cup Best Young Player: 1990
• Yugoslav Footballer of the Year: 1990
• Večernji list football player of the year: 1990, 1997
• ADN Eastern European Footballer of the Season: 1990
• Bravo Award: 1991
• 1991 FIFA World Player of the Year: 4th place
• 1991 Ballon d'Or: 5th place
• Croatian Footballer of the Year: 1997
• Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport (2): 1997, 1998
• PFA First Division Team of the Year: 2001–02
• Portsmouth F.C. All-time XI (only non-British player chosen)
• 6th Zvezdina zvezda (Star of Red Star)

As a Manager

Red Star Belgrade

• Serbian Cup: 2011–12

Special Recognition

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

Personal Life

In June 1999, Robert Prosinečki married Vlatka. They have two daughters together.

Images for kids

• 

  Prosinečki during a press conference with Red Star Belgrade in 2012

• 

  Prosinečki with Rudeš in 2023

See also

In Spanish: Robert Prosinečki para niños