349: Robert Prosinecki, Hrvatska, Panini England European Football Championship ’96

When we put out a tweet looking for post requests back in July we weren’t too shocked to see one Croatian attacking midfield genius being put forward. The fact that there was a second so close behind, however, was something of a surprise. Still it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve chucked out two posts in close succession from the same team or the same sticker album and after all the Twitter spamming that Michael at 80s&90sfootball has had to endure from us we weren’t exactly going to say no. Again we thoroughly recommend you all to give his page a follow for some excellent nostalgic content. In Michael’s request today’s subject was described as “the best player I’ve seen play live”. High praise. We hope this lives up to such a reputation.

Last month Derby County manager, England and Manchester United’s all-time leading goal scorer Wayne Rooney was once again the subject of tabloid speculation following some suggestive photographs from a night out. Like many of England’s ‘golden generation’ the former Everton and DC United striker has had to play out his career in the never ending glare of the paparazzi and the press have not exactly given him the easiest ride. As a result many of his admirable achievements have been sidelined to the extent that they are often forgotten in place of Wazza’s liaisons with pensioners, being sparked by Phil Bardsley and his fondness for a few beers and fags.

Many gifted footballers have been burdened by their extracurricular vices. Reading and Cardiff City legend Robin Friday’s partiality to the demon drink, and other narcotics, prevented him from reaching the heights many feel he was destined to scale. Brazilian icon Socrates was famously fond of both cigarettes and alcohol and, despite being idolised as the leader of an exceptional Brazil side in the 1980s, was far less successful than many who preceded or followed him. George Best and Paul Gascoigne both battled with the bottle during and after their exceptional careers while competitions to eat the most motorway service dinners were the least of the problems facing the mighty Arsenal team of the 1990s. If anything it is perhaps even more impressive that these players achieved what they did considering the undoubted damage they did to their own bodies off the pitch.

Take Robert Prosinecki for example. His glittering CV features a famous European Cup win with Red Star Belgrade, domestic honours in Yugoslavia, Spain, Croatia and Slovenia and a glittering international career which saw him named as the Best Young Player at Italia ’90 and play an integral part in leading Croatia to third place in the 1998 World Cup in France. He is one of only a handful of players to turn out for Real Madrid and Barcelona and features in both Dinamo Zagreb and Portsmouth’s all-time elevens. Not bad for a man who was rumoured to smoke forty a day throughout his playing career.

In the same year that he won the European Cup with Red Star, earning him fifth place in the vote for the 1991 Ballon d’Or, he took ownership of his habit stating “I know that it is not good for an athlete but it relaxes me. Also, nobody lives a hundred years.” As a 22-year-old at the very top of his game there must have been an air of invincibility surrounding Prosinecki which allowed him to exude such confidence and the kind of characteristics expected as his new club Real Madrid. However, his time in the Spanish capital was plagued by muscular injuries which limited him to 73 appearances across three seasons and brought him into conflict with the club’s doctors and board who looked to change his diet and lifestyle. A loan spell at Real Oviedo revitalised his career and saw him move on to Barcelona but injuries resurfaced leading manager, and fellow tobacco enthusiast, Johan Cruyff to relegate him to the bench for much of his time in Catalonia. After a season with Sevilla he moved back to first club Croatia Zagreb before moving on to Belgium with Standard Liege.

In the summer of 2001 he arrived at English Division 1 side Portsmouth where, despite only spending one season on the south coast, he became a club legend. His nine goals from midfield only tell part of the story as his playmaking abilities lit up the second tier and helped Pompey steer well clear of relegation trouble. One beneficiary of the Croat’s talents was a young Peter Crouch who credited his 19 goals in 39 appearances to Prosinecki putting “pretty much every single one on a plate for me”. His creativity earned him a place in the PFA First Division Team of the Year and more than made up for some of his idiosyncrasies. Crouch recalls that Prosinecki smoked “before the game, at half-time in the showers and after the game as well” which limited his movement on the pitch or commitment to training drills and tracking back. When asked to do the latter he would feign a misunderstanding of English which might have worked slightly better if he hadn’t socialised so successfully with his team-mates off the pitch. Pompey fans were gutted to see him leave at the end of the 2001/02 season but the same can probably not be said for the scores of opponents he left on their backsides with his clever footwork.

After two more seasons, one in Slovenia and one in Croatia, Prosinecki hung up his boots and moved swiftly into coaching with NK Zagreb. Having served as an assistant to former team-mate, and fellow heavy smoker, Slaven Bilic in the Croatian national set up during Euro 2008 he moved into management with Red Star Belgrade in the winter of 2010. After winning the Serbian Cup he moved to Kayserispor in Turkey before taking up the reins as manager of Azerbaijan in 2014. He led the nation to some of its best results in its history but stepped down from his role in 2017 having failed to lead them to a major international tournament finals. He stayed in international management with Bosnia and Herzegovina and, despite some impressive performances in the UEFA Nations League and a ten match unbeaten run during his tenure, some abject performances in key qualification bouts saw Prosinecki step down in 2019. After brief spells with Kayserispor and Denzilispor failed to live up to expectations he is currently out of work in the football world but has had some success with his restaurant Prosikito and indoor racquetball courts in Zagreb.

When the similarly laconic but incredibly gifted Bulgarian superstar Dimitar Berbatov was caught enjoying a crafty cigarette he claimed he was not a regular smoker and was, in fact, just trying to look cool. Robert Prosinecki’s relationship with tobacco was far less superficial and may well have hindered a great career from becoming an exceptional one. With or without the fags, however, whether it was at the Bernabeu or Fratton Park the midfield maestro certainly looked cool.