Mladen Krstajić

Mladen Krstajić
Krstajić as Serbia manager at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Mladen Krstajić
Date of birth (1974-03-04) 4 March 1974
Place of birth Zenica, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
 Serbia (manager)
Youth career
1984–1992 Čelik Zenica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1993 Senta 15 (1)
1993–1996 Kikinda 55 (2)
1996–2000 Partizan 84 (7)
2000–2004 Werder Bremen 112 (11)
2004–2009 Schalke 04 131 (7)
2009–2011 Partizan 43 (3)
Total 440 (31)
National team
1999–2008 Serbia 59 (2)
Teams managed
2017– Serbia
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Mladen Krstajić (Serbian Cyrillic: Младен Крстајић, pronounced [mlǎden krstâjitɕ]; born 4 March 1974) is a Serbian football manager and former footballer who played as a centre back.[1] He is the current manager of the Serbia national team. He represented Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Early life

Mladen Krstajić was born in Zenica, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia to a Bosnian Serb mother from Bijeljina and a Montenegrin father from Žabljak.[2] He grew up in Bosnia and played in the youth squads of NK Čelik Zenica (1984–1992). Due to the Bosnian War, he and his family moved to Serbia.

Club career

Early career

After playing in the youth system of NK Čelik, Krstajić moved to Kikinda in April 1992, following the breakout of the Bosnian war. He started playing with FK Senta for six months. He then moved on the OFK Kikinda, at that time a first league club. At some point of a successful career as a Serbian football player, there comes the time, to decide, whether one wants to play for Partizan or for Zvezda, and Krstajić decided to take the move to Partizan in 1996. According to Krstajić himself, also FK Crvena zvezda was interested in him, but as he comes from a "Partizan" family, he decided to sign a contract with his favourite club. His four and a half years at Partizan was more than successful, winning the national championships three times (1996, 1997, 1999) and also the national cup in 1998.

Werder Bremen and Schalke

In 2000 the defender with the "winner mentality" (Jupp Heynckes) joined SV Werder Bremen who paid a DM 1.8 million (about €950,000) transfer fee to Partizan.[3] At Werder Bremen he became one of the best defenders in the Bundesliga,[3] winning the German championship and the cup with Werder in 2004. Since 2004 he played for FC Schalke 04, where he was named the new captain on 17 March 2009.

Partizan

On 5 June 2009, Krstajić signed a two-year contract with his former club FK Partizan.[4] In January 2010, after the departure of Nenad Đorđević, he was named the new Partizan captain.[5] After two very successful seasons, he played his last professional match on 21 May 2011.[6] Immediately after retiring he was appointed as the new director of football of the club. After less than 6 months as director of football, he was sacked due to a media war against club president Dragan Đurić. Aleksandar Stanojević resigned as head coach as a result. The day before he was released, Partizan fans Grobari chanted his name as a sign of support during a basketball match against arch rivals KK Crvena Zvezda.[7]

International career

Krstajić has been a part of the Serbia and Montenegro national team "Famous Four" defence, which conceded just one goal during the qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The other members of the famous four are Ivica Dragutinović, Goran Gavrančić and Nemanja Vidić. He was capped 59 times for Serbia, and was undoubtedly the leading figure of the "Famous Four" due to his experience and age.

Managerial career

In October 2017, Krstajić succeeded Slavoljub Muslin as coach of the Serbia national team, initially as a caretaker. In December, it was announced he would take on the role permanently and at least until the end of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[8][9]

Career statistics

Club

Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Partizan 1995–96 61–61
1996–97 110–110
1997–98 214–214
1998–99 170–170
1999–00 29220–62374
Total 84720–62929
Werder Bremen 2000–01 252200050322
2001–02 262200020302
2002–03 314501041415
2003–04 303500040393
Total 112111401015114212
Schalke 04 2004–05 2815100121453
2005–06 2921020120442
2006–07 271200000291
2007–08 232203060342
2008–09 24130–40311
Total 1317131503411839
Partizan 2009–10 22210–92324
2010–11 21140–120371
Total 43350–212695
Career total 370283416076648635

International

Serbia and Montenegro
YearAppsGoals
199920
200050
200151
2002111
200370
200450
200580
2006100
200740
200820
Total592

Managerial Statistics

As of 14 October 2018
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Serbia Serbia 21 October 2017 Present 13 6 3 4 18 11 +7 046.15
Total 13 6 3 4 18 11 +7 046.15

Honours

Club

Partizan
Werder Bremen[10]
Schalke 04[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Player Profile". www.paktribune.com. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  2. ↑ Mondo (21 March 2018). "Krstajić za MONDO: Zvezdaši, neću vas zapostaviti" (in Serbian). Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  3. 1 2 Lampert, Andreas (30 April 2003). "Der Kellner mit der linken Klebe". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  4. ↑ "Mladen Krstajić ponovo u Partizanu" (in Serbian). b92.net. 5 June 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
  5. ↑ "Krstajić kapiten, Ilić zamenik (VIDEO)" (in Serbian). mondo.rs. 22 January 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  6. ↑ "Partizan – Cukaricki 4:0 (0:0)". partizan.rs. 21 May 2011. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  7. ↑ "Krstajic new FK Partizan Sporting Director, Stanojevic extended his contract". partizan.rs. 1 June 2011. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  8. ↑ "Football: Serbia appoint Mladen Krstajic as World Cup coach". The Straits Times. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  9. ↑ "WM-Experiment Krstajic: Serbiens Wagnis nach der Posse". kicker Online (in German). 29 December 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "M. Krstajić". Soccerway. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.