Niko Kranjčar

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Niko Kranjčar
Personal information
Full name	Niko Kranjčar
Date of birth	13 August 1984 (1984-08-13) (age 23)
Place of birth	Zagreb, SFR Yugoslavia (now Croatia)
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Portsmouth
Number	19
Youth clubs
	Dinamo Zagreb
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2001–2004 2004–2006 2006–	Dinamo Zagreb Hajduk Split Portsmouth	85 (19) 53 (15) 58 0(6)
National team2
2004–	Croatia U21 Croatia	03 0(0) 42 0(6)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 15, 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of June 8, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Niko Kranjčar [ˈniːkɔ ˈkraɲtʃaːr] (born 13 August 1984 in Zagreb^[1]) is a Croatian football midfielder. He currently plays for English club Portsmouth, and is also a part of the Croatia national team. He is the son of Zlatko "Cico" Kranjčar. Playing as a striker, or more frequently as an advanced midfielder behind two forwards, he showed maturity (and stature, at 185 cm) that belied his age. His physique, vision of the game, passing and close control led many to prophesy his quick full international debut and stardom beyond the Croatian borders.

[edit] Club career

Kranjčar spent most of his youth playing for Dinamo Zagreb, and later became captain. However, in early 2005, after a disagreement with the management, he made a surprise transfer to Dinamo's biggest rival, Hajduk. His transfer was probably the biggest sport news of the year in Croatia. Later that year his agent was shot dead in his home, in a suspected Mafia hit. It was also the most expensive transfer in Croatian football at the time, until Eduardo da Silva's move to Arsenal in 2007. Niko was chosen for "Young guns firing for World Cup glory" on eurosport.com with some of the greatest talents in the world, such as Lionel Messi, Lukas Podolski and Sulley Muntari.^[2]

After the 2006 World Cup, the world press hailed him for his talents, and several clubs wanted to buy him. Among those clubs were the French club Stade Rennes and the Spanish Club Celta de Vigo. But in the end, Pompey came with the best offer for him. In August 2006, Rennes bid €4.5 million for Kranjčar, Hajduk rejected that offer and stated they felt they should get more for the player. Later on the same day, Kranjčar then moved for a reported £3.5million (€5.2 million) to Portsmouth on August 31, 2006.^[3][4]

[edit] Portsmouth

Kranjčar made his Premier League debut for Portsmouth on 1 October 2006, playing all 90 minutes in their 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. He scored his first Premier League goal on 31 March 2007 against Fulham at Craven Cottage, giving Portsmouth an early 1-0 lead in a match that eventually ended in a 1-1 draw. ^[5] He made a total of 24 appearances and scored two goals in his first Premier League season. His disallowed 'goal' on the final day of the season would, if given, have resulted in Portsmouth qualifying for the UEFA Cup. In 2007/08, his second season in England, Kranjčar has established himself as a regular in the Portsmouth side, putting in a string of impressive performances on the left of a three man attack, including a stunning 35 yard free-kick in a 2-0 victory against Birmingham City, and a 30 yard free-kick in the 4-1 victory over Newcastle United.

[edit] International career

Kranjčar has been part of the Croatian national Under-16, -17, -19 and -21 teams before advancing to the senior national team.

His senior debut for Croatia came on 18 August 2004 in a friendly match against Israel. He was a regular for Croatia during their qualifying campaign for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, making nine appearances and scoring two goals. He also played in all of Croatia's three group matches at the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany.

Kranjčar was also a regular for Croatia in their ongoing qualifying campaign for the UEFA Euro 2008, having appeared in all twelve matches, scoring 2 goals.

He also scored against England from about 40 yards on November 21st, firing a speculative shot that went through Scott Carson's arms and into the net to open the scoring in Croatia's 3-2 win over England that knocked the English out of Euro 2008 qualifying.^[6] He scored in a friendly against Scotland with a spectacular effort just from inside the penalty area in a match played that ended 1-1, the other goal coming from Kenny Miller.

[edit] International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
01.	4 June 2005	Vasil Levski, Sofia, Bulgaria	Bulgaria	1 – 3	1 – 3	World Cup 2006 Qualifying
02.	17 August 2005	Poljud, Split, Croatia	Brazil	1 – 0	1 – 1	Friendly
03.	7 September 2005	Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta	Malta	0 – 1	1 – 1	World Cup 2006 Qualifying
04.	12 September 2007	Estadi Comunal, Andorra la Vella, Andorra	Andorra	0 – 4	0 – 6	Euro 2008 Qualifying
05.	21 November 2007	Wembley Stadium, London, England	England	0 – 1	2 – 3	Euro 2008 Qualifying
06.	26 March 2008	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Scotland	0 – 1	1 – 1	Friendly

[edit] Honours

• Dinamo Zagreb
  • Prva HNL: 2003
  • Croatian Cup: 2001, 2002
  • Croatian Supercup: 2002, 2003
• Hajduk Split
  • Prva HNL: 2005
  • Croatian Supercup: 2005
• Portsmouth
  • FA Cup: 2008

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Kranjcar's Website
• BBC Profile
• Soccerbasse Stats
• Transfermarkt Profile

Awards
Preceded by ?	Prva HNL Player of the Year 2003	Succeeded by Tomislav Erceg

v • d • e Croatia squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Pletikosa • 2 Srna • 3 Šimunić • 4 Robert Kovač • 5 Tudor • 6 Vranješ • 7 Šimić • 8 Babić • 9 Dado Pršo • 10 Niko Kovač • 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

v • d • e Croatia squad - UEFA Euro 2008 1 Pletikosa • 2 Šimić • 3 Šimunić • 4 Robert Kovač • 5 Ćorluka • 6 Vejić • 7 Rakitić • 8 Vukojević • 9 Kalinić • 10 Niko Kovač • 11 Srna • 12 Galinović • 13 Pokrivač • 14 Modrić • 15 Knežević • 16 Leko • 17 Klasnić • 18 Olić • 19 Kranjčar • 20 Budan • 21 Petrić • 22 Pranjić • 23 Runje • Coach: Bilić