Robert Prosinečki

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Robert Prosinečki [ˈrɔbɛrt ˈprɔsinɛtʃki] (born January 12, 1969 in Villingen-Schwenningen, West Germany) is a Croatian football midfielder.

Born in Germany to a family of Yugoslav gastarbeiters (Croatian father and Serbian mother), Prosinečki moved to Yugoslavia at an early age. He started his professional career at Dinamo Zagreb where former Croatian coach Miroslav Blažević sent him away, saying that, if Prosinečki ever became a real football player, he would eat his football diploma.^{[citation needed]} Ironically Prosinecki developed into arguably Croatia's most gifted and talented player ever. Evidenced by his man of the match performance in which Croatia won the bronze medal at World Cup 98. After that, he moved to Red Star Belgrade where he became an notable midfielder under coach Dragoslav Šekularac and Ljupko Petrović. (he won the Champions Cup (UEFA Champions League) with Red Star Belgrade in 1991), Real Madrid, Real Oviedo, FC Barcelona, Sevilla FC, NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac, Standard Liège, Portsmouth F.C., Olimpija Ljubljana, and Zagreb.

Prosinečki has 49 caps for Croatia and has scored 10 goals for his country. He was also capped 15 times, scoring four goals, for Yugoslavia. In 1987, Prosinečki was named the tournament's best player as Yugoslavia won the World Youth Championship in Chile. He then played for Yugoslavia at the 1990 World Cup and for Croatia at Euro 96 and the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. It was his deadly pass that led to Croatian qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan.

Prosinečki is still held as a folk hero at Portsmouth for his marvelous one man performances in the centre of midfield, his goals and assists saving the club from relegation in the 2001/02 season. It was after talking to Prosinečki that current Croatia international Niko Kranjčar decided to sign for Portsmouth in the summer of 2006.

Prosinečki is the only player in World Cup history to score for two different national teams. In 1990, he scored one goal for Yugoslavia in a group match against the United Arab Emirates and eight years later he added two goals for Croatia by scoring in a group match against Jamaica and in the third place match against the Netherlands. He played in a total of nine World Cup matches, three for Yugoslavia in 1990 and six for Croatia in 1998 and 2002.

Prosinečki became infamously known for being a heavy smoker and rumors about his ability to smoke up to 40 cigarettes a day circulated in Croatian public for some time.

Prosinečki currently plays for Savski Marof in one of the Croatian fourth division leagues (the Jedinstvena županijska liga).

Prosinečki is still, by most of Croatian public, regarded as the player with best technique that ever played in and for Croatia. Zvonimir Boban, humbly, also agrees with this. His dribbling is considered best ever, and his ability to keep possession of the ball is notorious.

	SFR Yugoslavia squad - 1990 World Cup Quarter Finalists
1 Ivković | 2 Stanojković | 3 Spasić | 4 Vulić | 5 Hadžibegić | 6 Jozić | 7 D. Brnović | 8 Sušić | 9 Pančev | 10 Stojković | 11 Vujović | 12 Omerović | 13 Katanec | 14 Bokšić | 15 Prosinečki | 16 Šabanadžović | 17 Jarni | 18 Baljić | 19 Savićević | 20 Šuker | 21 Panadić | 22 Leković | Coach: I. Osim

	Croatia squad - 1996 European Championship
1 Ladić | 2 Jurčević | 3 Jarni | 4 Štimac | 5 Jerkan | 6 Bilić | 7 Asanović | 8 Prosinečki | 9 Šuker | 10 Boban | 11 Bokšić | 12 Mrmić | 13 Stanić | 14 Soldo | 15 Pavličić | 16 Mladenović | 17 Pamić | 18 Brajković | 19 Vlaović | 20 Šimić | 21 Cvitanović | 22 Gabrić | Coach: Blažević

	Croatia squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup Third Place
1 Ladić | 2 Krpan | 3 Šerić | 4 Štimac | 5 Jurić | 6 Bilić | 7 Asanović | 8 Prosinečki | 9 Šuker | 10 Boban | 11 Marić | 12 Mrmić | 13 Stanić | 14 Soldo | 15 Tudor | 16 Kozniku | 17 Jarni | 18 Mamić | 19 Vlaović | 20 Šimić | 21 Jurčić | 22 Vasilj | Coach: Blažević

	Croatia squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Pletikosa | 2 Šerić | 3 Šimunić | 4 Tomas | 5 Rapaić | 6 Živković | 7 Vugrinec | 8 Prosinečki | 9 Šuker | 10 N. Kovač | 11 Bokšić | 12 Butina | 13 Stanić | 14 Soldo | 15 Šarić | 16 Vranješ | 17 Jarni | 18 Olić | 19 Vlaović | 20 Šimić | 21 R. Kovač | 22 Balaban | 23 Vasilj | Coach: Jozić