Niko Kranjčar

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Niko Kranjčar
Personal information
Full name Niko Kranjčar
Date of birth 13 August 1984
Place of birth Vienna, Austria
Height 185cm
Nickname Kafe
Position Midfielder
Club information
Current club Portsmouth
Number 19
Professional clubs*
Years Club Apps (goals)
2001-2004
2004-2006
2006-		 Dinamo Zagreb
Hajduk Split
Portsmouth		 85 (19)
50 (15)
07 (0)
National team**
2004- Croatia 29 (3)

* Professional club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 13:01, 29 October 2006 (UTC).
** National team caps and goals correct
as of 11 October 2006.

Niko Kranjčar [ˈniːkɔ ˈkraɲtʃaːr] (born August 13, 1984 in Vienna) is a Croatian football midfielder. He currently plays for English club Portsmouth F.C..

He is the son of the famous father Zlatko "Cico" Kranjčar and was born in Austria while his father was playing for the local club SK Rapid Wien.

Kranjčar has been part of the Croatian national Under-16, -17, -19 and -21 teams before advancing to the senior national team of which he is currently part.

The much traveled coach Tomislav Ivić agrees that "Kranjčar has a great feeling for the ball and great understanding of the game. Few players in the world have that virtue".

Kranjčar spent most of his youth playing for Dinamo Zagreb, later as a captain, but then in early 2005, after a disagreement with the management, made a surprise transfer to Dinamo's biggest rival, Hajduk. His transfer was probably the biggest sport news of the year in Croatia. Niko was chosen for "Young gun firing for World Cup glory". on eurosport.com with some of the greatest talents in the world such as Leo Messi, Lukas Podolski and (Sulley) Muntari. His father Zlatko Kranjčar was the national team head coach, but was dismissed after Croatia's early exit in the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

His mother is unknown.

In August 2006 Kranjčar was linked with a move to Rennes for €4 million, Hajduk rejected that offer and stated they felt they should get more for Kranjčar. Kranjčar then moved for a reported £3.5million (€5.2 million) to Portsmouth on August 31, 2006.

[edit] External links


Croatia Croatia squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Croatia

1 Pletikosa | 2 Srna | 3 Šimunić | 4 R. Kovač | 5 Tudor | 6 Vranješ | 7 Šimić | 8 Babić | 9 Pršo | 10 N. Kovač | 11 Tokić | 12 Didulica | 13 Tomas | 14 Modrić | 15 I. Leko | 16 J. Leko | 17 Klasnić | 18 Olić | 19 N. Kranjčar | 20 Šerić | 21 Balaban | 22 Bošnjak | 23 Butina | Coach: Z. Kranjčar
Portsmouth F.C. - Current Squad

1 James | 2 Primus | 3 Stefanović | 4 Johnson | 5 O'Brien | 6 Manuel Fernandes | 7 Thompson | 8 Cole | 11 Pamarot | 14 Taylor | 15 Ashdown | 17 Koroman | 19 Kranjčar | 21 Songo'o | 22 Hughes | 23 Campbell | 25 Benjani | 26 O'Neil | 27 Kanu | 28 Davis | 29 Douala | 30 Pedro Mendes | 32 LuaLua | 35 Jordan | -- Berlin | -- Fordyce | -- Harris | -- Pearce | -- Wilson | Manager: Redknapp
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