Mirko Grabovac
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mirko Grabovac | ||
| Date of birth | 19 September 1971 | ||
| Place of birth | Stobreč, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1993–1995 | Primorac 1929 | 4 | (0) |
| 1995–1996 | Cibalia Vinkovci | 16 | (2) |
| 1996–1997 | Zadarkomerc Zadar | 11 | (1) |
| 1997–1999 | Primorac 1929 | 33 | (10) |
| 1999–2003 | Singapore Armed Forces | 137 | (143) |
| 2004–2007 | Tampines Rovers | 100 | (83) |
| 2008 | Sengkang Punggol | 2 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2001–2008 | Singapore | 12 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| - | NK Imotski | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 May 2009. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Mirko Grabovac (born 19 September 1971 in Stobreč, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Croatian former professional football player and coach. He had changed his nationality to Singaporean in 2002 in order to play for the Singapore national football team before renouncing it in 2008.
Football career
Grabovac was the top scorer in Singapore's S.League in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 while playing for the Singapore Armed Forces FC (SAFFC), and again in 2005 playing for Tampines Rovers. He was named the S.League's Player of the Year in 2000.
With SAFFC, he scored a total of 150 S.League goals in five seasons along with seven goals in Asian competitions.
In 2007, he scored his 240th S.League goals in the Singapore Cup semi-final against Bangkok University to overtake Egmar Goncalves as the all-time S.League top goalscorer.
A year later, Grabovac was hired by Sengkang Punggol to play as a striker as well as double up as the assistant coach under head coach Saswadimata Dasuki. However, he was unable to pass the mandatory beep test twice, and served as caretaker coach for the Dolphins for a short period, starting with a 1–0 win over Gombak United which was Sengkang's second victory of the season.
Grabovac stepped down two months later as Fandi Ahmad was put in charge of the squad, and the Croatian decided to leave Singapore on 5 October 2008 to rejoin his family in his native Croatia renouncing his citizenship as well.
Honours
Club
Singapore Armed Forces
- S.League: 2000, 2002
- Singapore Cup: 1999
Tampines Rovers
- S.League: 2004, 2005
- Singapore Cup: 2004, 2006
- ASEAN Club Championship: 2005
Individual
- S.League Top Scorer Award: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005
- S.League Player of the Year: 2000
- S.League Player of Decade
- 244 S.League Goals
- 1999-2000 igrao za NK Hajduk Split
External links
- Mirko Grabovac at National-Football-Teams.com
- Mirko Grabovac at SLeague.com