Dado Pršo

Dado Pršo
Personal information
Full name Miladin Pršo
Date of birth 5 November 1974 (1974-11-05) (age 36)
Place of birth Zadar, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Striker
Youth career
1981–1983 Bagat
1983–1986 Zadar
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1986–1992 Hajduk Split 47 (8)
1992–1993 Pazinka 25 (7)
1993–1995 Rouen 10 (1)
1995–1996 Fréjus 18 (7)
1996–2004 Monaco 101 (28)
1997–1999 → Ajaccio (loan) 53 (21)
2004–2007 Rangers 94 (31)
Total 348 (103)
National team
2003–2006 Croatia 32 (9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Miladin "Dado" Pršo (born on 5 November 1974 in Zadar) is a former Croatian professional football striker. Prso played for seven different teams and made over 300 league appearances as a professional. He was part of the Monaco team that reached the Uefa Champions League final in 2004, and part of the Rangers team that won the League and cup double in 2005. Prso received 32 caps for Croatia and was part of the squad at Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006. He retired in June 2007 from the Scottish Premier League club Rangers.[1]

Contents

Career

Early career

Pršo started playing professionally in 1991 with the hometown squad NK Zadar. He was then briefly in Hajduk Split, and then in the second-league team NK Pazinka from Pazin, without making much impact in any of these clubs. In 1993 he moved to France to play for FC Rouen, and then moved to Saint Raphael in 1995, where he worked as a car mechanic while he continued playing football.[2]

Monaco

In 1996, then-AS Monaco manager Jean Tigana noticed Pršo and bought the striker, although he would spend that season in the reserve side (alongside David Trezeguet), he was sent on loan to AC Ajaccio. In 1999, he helped AS Monaco win the national championship. Pršo also helped them to the UEFA Champions League final in 2004. He is perhaps best remembered for his four-goal performance in the 8-3 win over Deportivo La Coruña (a game which was played on his birthday), which was the highest scoring Champions League scoreline.[3] That night, he also equaled the competition record, joining Marco van Basten (A.C. Milan 4 IFK Göteborg 0, 1992) and Simone Inzaghi (S.S. Lazio 5 Olympique de Marseille 1, 2000) as the competition's top scorer in a single match.[4]

Rangers

In May 2004, Prso signed for Scottish side Rangers on a free transfer. In his first season at Rangers he played 34 league matches, scoring 18 league goals. In the process he helped the club win the League and League Cup. Departing Rangers manager Alex McLeish hailed Pršo as his "best Rangers signing,"[5] at the end of the 2005-06 season.

Pršo remained a member of the 2006-07 Rangers team under Paul Le Guen, as well as under Walter Smith after Le Guen's departure, despite announcing his retirement from international football. He suggested he would retire from club football on the expiration of his contract in 2007.[6] Despite this, Pršo's agent stated early in 2007 that he would like to continue playing for Rangers if his fitness allowed it,[7] only to announce in February 2007 that his retirement was potentially imminent. Shortly afterwards, it was confirmed that Pršo could play on for a minimum of one season.[8] But this comment proved to be premature as Pršo announced he would part company with Rangers at the end of the 2007 season due to his recurring knee problems.[9] Pršo's agent also stated that he would seek a transfer to a league where physical fitness wasn't as much of a requirement, rather than end his footballing career completely, and suggested North America and Asia as possible destinations.

At Pršo's last game at Ibrox Stadium, he walked out after the final whistle wearing a brace on his leg due to damage to his ankle. He waved at the 50,000 fans who waited, and was then given the "Guard of Honour" by his teammates, led by Barry Ferguson before going back up the tunnel with tears in his eyes.[10]

It was announced on 8 June 2007 that Rangers would release a DVD featuring highlights of Pršo's three seasons at Ibrox, with a large amount of proceeds donated to the Rangers Charity Foundation.[11]

International career

Pršo received 32 international caps for Croatia, scoring nine times. Pršo was part of the Croatian team at UEFA Euro 2004 where he played in three games. Pršo is remembered in this tournament for the one goal he scored against France in Leiria on 17 June 2004. After scoring four goals during qualifying he was selected to represent his country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. But he scored no goals during the tournament itself (where the team was eliminated after the first round).

Career statistics

[12]

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total
1997/98 Ajaccio Championnat National 23 8
1998/99 Division 2 30 13
1999/00 AS Monaco Division 1 20 2
2000/01 21 4
2001/02 11 2
2002/03 Ligue 1 20 12
2003/04 29 8
Scotland League Scottish Cup Scottish League Cup Europe Total
2004/05 Rangers Premier League 34 18
2005/06 32 9
2006/07 28 4
Total France 154 47
Scotland 94 31
Career total 248 78

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
01. 29 March 2003 Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia  Belgium 2 – 0 4 – 0 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
02. 15 November 2003 Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia  Slovenia 1 – 0 1 – 1 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
03. 19 November 2003 Stadion Bežigrad, Ljubljana, Slovenia  Slovenia 0 – 1 0 – 1 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
04. 17 June 2004 Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria, Portugal  France 2 – 1 2 – 2 UEFA Euro 2004
05. 4 September 2004 Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia  Hungary 1 – 0 3 – 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying
06. 26 March 2005 Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia  Iceland 4 – 0 4 – 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying
07. 30 March 2005 Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia  Malta 1 – 0 3 – 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying
08. 30 March 2005 Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia  Malta 2 – 0 3 – 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying
09. 28 May 2006 Gradski vrt, Osijek, Croatia  Iran 1 – 1 2 – 2 Friendly

References

  1. ↑ "Prso to part company with Rangers". BBC Sport website. 29 March 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/6507141.stm. 
  2. ↑ Croatia's Prso - mechanic who turned into first-class attacker
  3. ↑ "Game of the week: AS Monaco v Deportivo La Coruña". The Times. September 28, 2004. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/european_football/article487409.ece. Retrieved September 2, 2010. 
  4. ↑ World Cup Soccer. All the top world soccer news daily. News from international soccer. World Cup
  5. ↑ "The Dado Of 'Em All". Sunday Mail. 7 May 2006. http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/sport/football/tm_objectid=17042158%26method=full%26siteid=64736%26headline=the%2ddado%2dof%2d%2dem%2dall-name_page.html. 
  6. ↑ "Prso fears he is in final season". BBC News. 24 May 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/5210400.stm. 
  7. ↑ "Rangers striker shelves retirement plans". ESPN Soccernet. 18 January 2007. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=400459&cc=5739. 
  8. ↑ "Prso given all-clear to play on". BBC Sport website. 7 February 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/6323373.stm. 
  9. ↑ "Prso to part company with Rangers". BBC News. 29 March 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/6507141.stm. 
  10. ↑ "TEARIO DADO; Prso breaks down as Gers stars give him an emotional send-off.". The Daily Record. May 14, 2007. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Football%3A+TEARIO+DADO%3B+Prso+breaks+down+as+Gers+stars+give+him+an...-a0163320881. Retrieved September 2, 2010. 
  11. ↑ "Dado Prso DVD". Rangers FC website. 8 June 2007. http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Headlines/0,,5~1033937,00.html. 
  12. ↑ ダド・プルソ

External links

Croatia squad – UEFA Euro 2004
1 Vasilj • 2 Tokić • 3 Šimunić • 4 Tomas • 5 Tudor • 6 Živković (c) • 7 Rapaić • 8 Srna • 9 Pršo • 10 Niko Kovač • 11 Šokota • 12 Butina • 13 Šimić • 14 Neretljak • 15 Leko • 16 Babić • 17 Klasnić • 18 Olić • 19 Mornar • 20 Roso • 21 Robert Kovač • 22 Bjelica • 23 Didulica • Coach: Otto Barić
 Croatia
Croatia squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Pletikosa • 2 Srna • 3 Šimunić • 4 R. Kovač • 5 Tudor • 6 Vranješ • 7 Šimić • 8 Babić • 9 Pršo • 10 N. Kovač (c) • 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
 Croatia