Robert Prosinečki, a football maestro
A star player for Red Star Belgrade and former Yugoslav representative, Robert Prosinečki was born on January 12, 1969, in Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany. He is well-known as a member of the Red Star Belgrade generation that won the European Cup. He played for Red Star Belgrade from 1987 to 1991, leaving an indelible mark on the club with brilliant performances and spectacular goals.
The football path of “little yellow”, as he was called at the beginning of his career, began in FR Germany, where he took his first playing steps as a kid in the Stuttgart Kickers youth team. However, in 1979, the Prosinečki family returned to Yugoslavia, more precisely to Zagreb, where Robbie continued to play football in the junior categories of Dinamo. His talent was obvious, so at the age of 18 he played in the first team of the Blues, for which he made his debut in the 1986/87 season in the championship match with Željezničar. After disagreements with the coach (Miroslav “Ćiro” Blažević stated that he would eat his coaching diploma if Prosinečki became a player), he left for Crvena zvezda.
In 1987, Robert Prosinečki joined Red Star Belgrade, and after just one training session, the club’s management decided to sign a contract with him when they saw what a football gem he was. Despite being the youngest in the team, he immediately secured a place in the starting lineup and became indispensable in the midfield during all four seasons at the club. In his first season, he won the championship title.
The 1990/91 season was the pinnacle of Red Star’s five-year plan and the highlight of Robert Prosinečki’s career. Robi played all nine matches on the road to winning the European Cup and scored four goals. He was one of the key players in the team. He scored two goals against Grasshoppers in a 4-1 victory in Switzerland and one each against Glasgow Rangers and Dynamo Dresden in 3-0 victories in Belgrade. His goals from free-kicks against East Germans and Scots were true masterpieces, and he contributed to the historic success of the Serbian club by scoring the first penalty in the shootout of the final in Bari against Pascal Olmeta. He was also efficient in the domestic league, scoring 12 goals in 29 matches to help Red Star secure the championship title convincingly. He scored again against Partizan in a 3-1 victory and scored twice against Željezničar (3-1) and Olimpija (6-0).
In the 1991 Golden Ball selection by France Football, Prosinečki ranked fifth in Europe with 34 points.
During his time at Red Star, he won three championship titles (1988, 1990, and 1991), one national cup in 1990, and the European Cup in 1991. He played 161 official matches for the club and scored 35 goals.
Later, he moved to Real Madrid, but due to a severe injury, he didn’t play for over a year. After Real Madrid, he played for three more Spanish clubs: Real Oviedo, Barcelona, and Sevilla. In 1997, he returned to Dinamo Zagreb and successfully led the club as captain in the Champions League. After that, he played for Hrvatski dragovoljac, Standard Liège, Portsmouth, Olimpija Ljubljana, and NK Zagreb. After retiring, he stayed on as a sporting director at NK Zagreb.
He was named the best player of the U-20 World Cup in 1987 in Chile, where Yugoslavia emerged as the winner. For the national team, he played 15 matches and scored 4 goals. He scored his first goal for Yugoslavia against Greece on September 20, 1989, in a friendly match. He also represented Yugoslavia in the 1990 World Cup, where he scored his first goal in a convincing 4-1 victory against the United Arab Emirates. In the dramatic quarterfinal match against Argentina in Florence on June 30, 1990, Prosinečki, along with Dejan Savićević, was the only accurate penalty taker in the shootout, but Yugoslavia eventually lost, bidding farewell to the World Cup. He was named the best young player of the tournament.
After his playing career, he worked as an assistant coach for the Croatian national team, head coach of Red Star Belgrade and Kaiserslautern, and the manager of the national teams of Azerbaijan and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Since 1999, Prosinečki has been married to Vlatka, with whom he has two daughters, Leonarda and Roberta. In his interviews, Robi often emphasizes that his family’s support is essential in his life. He adds that spending time with his wife and daughters is the best remedy for stress. The legendary footballer also copes with stress through painting, a hobby he developed during his time in Madrid.
