Those who adorn the duo’s colors must be among the very best in the game, so having been on both sides of the El Clásico divide, we can say that Robert Prosinecki had immense talent.
Prosinecki was part of the legendary Croatian talent generation, who was part of the side that finished third at the 1998 World Cup in France, scoring two goals as the Croats reached the final stages before losing to France.
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Prosinecki was a fine footballer, but his career has since been defined by a series of anecdotes of a talent who failed to reach the heights once expected.
Born in West Germany, he moved to what is now Croatia ten years later when his Yugoslavian parents returned to their hometown.
He signed with football talent factory Dinamo Zagreb and rose through the ranks under Miroslav Blažević – a coach who would leave an indelible mark on his career.
After scoring on his debut, Prosinecki made just one more appearance for Dinamo, with discussions over a new contract ending in a dispute between club, player and coach, and the talented youngster left to sign for Red Star Belgrade.
Prosinecki’s demands for a professional contract had irritated Blažević, who released the midfielder from his youth contract in a statement over who was in charge.
It was a decision the club would come to regret.
Red Star provided Prosinecki with the platform to develop his talents, with the youngster finding fame after winning the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player while representing Yugoslavia at the 1987 World Youth Championships.
Red Star played alongside an exciting midfield contingent at club level and were crowned champions that season in what proved to be the start of a meteoric rise for the side.
https://twitter.com/ClassicFootbaIl/status/1082225550146658304
Further league titles followed in 1990 and 1991, the second coming alongside the biggest win in Red Star history when Marseille were defeated in the European Cup final.
Vladimir Jugović, Prosinečki and Dejan Savićević formed a midfield trio that has gone criminally underrated in European archives, with Prosinečki scoring 18 goals in all competitions while the wavy blond-haired technician became Eastern Europe’s most exciting talent.
To the surprise of no one, interest came from the west of the continent, and Real Madrid secured the signing of the gifted midfielder, sealing the signing of a 22-year-old who finished fifth in the 1991 Ballon d’Or voting.
However, the dream move quickly turned into an injury-ridden nightmare as Prosinecki’s body failed him during a debut season in which he made just five appearances in all competitions.
While Barcelona dominated the landscape in Spain, footballer Real had hoped he could loosen the Catalans’ grip on the title. The hold on the title was limited to a viewing assignment.
In the following two seasons, Prosinecki played a more prominent role, but he failed to live up to the hysteria that had greeted his arrival in the Spanish capital, and his performances were modest at best.
His fortunes hit rock bottom when the Real hierarchy criticized his signing and he was loaned out to Real Oviedo in an attempt to find the consistency – both in form and fitness – that had deserted him at the Bernabeu.
The move proved positive as Prosinecki linked up with former Madrid manager Radomir Antić and rebuilt his reputation, including starring as Oviedo defeated his parent club 3–2.
However, the hope of a return to Real did not materialize. The midfielder instead completed a controversial move to arch-rivals Barcelona, as Johan Cruyff tried to coax the best out of a maverick who had lost his mojo.
Injuries once again decimated his chance to shine for the Spanish superpowers. He spent less than two seasons at Barcelona before moving on to a brief spell at Sevilla, later bouncing around a succession of clubs as his once limitless potential went unrealized.
He returned to Dinamo in 1997, where his performances saw him included in the Croatian team that traveled to France for the ’98 World Cup in France, having won admiration for their major tournament debut as an independent nation at the European Championship two seasons earlier.
Prosinecki shone in France.
Croatia thrived in a talented side alongside the likes of Davor Suker and Zvonimir Boban and flew through the group stages, with Prosinecki finding the net with a stunning feint and curl in their opening win against Jamaica.
On this day in 1998, Robert Prosinečki scored this against Jamaica. pic.twitter.com/EXnUTjB6j2
— 90s Football (@90sfootball) June 14, 2021
After scoring for Yugoslavia at the 1990 World Cup, he became the first – and remains the only – player to score World Cup final goals for two different countries.
Romania were defeated in the last 16 before a 3-0 thrashing of Germany in the quarter-finals proved an emphatic expression of Croatia’s intentions.
Their run was ended by France after a thrilling semi-final, before sealing third place with a win over the Netherlands in the third/fourth play-off with goals from Prosinecki and Suker beating the Dutch team.
Hopes that Prosinecki’s good performances at the World Cup could revive his club career proved short-lived as he remained in Croatia and Belgium before becoming a shock signing for Portsmouth.
Once hailed as the future of European football, the veteran now found himself under the lights of Fratton Park in England’s second tier. His arrival was hailed by chairman Milan Mandaric as ‘a gift to Pompey fans’.
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He only spent one season on the south coast, but it was enough to cement his place in Fratton Folklore, with the maverick’s magic still visible despite his aging legs.
“He was old when he came to play for us, but he was still brilliant,” said former teammate Gary O’Neil talkSPORT.
“When he came to the club I thought: ‘He’s rubbish! He can’t run, how is he going to play for us?’ But he got the ball and you thought, ‘Oh my God, this guy is a genius!’
“You couldn’t get the ball off him; he made step-overs that would fool an entire team.
“He literally couldn’t run, it was like playing football with your dad!
“But he was an incredible player. He trained at a pace he wanted to train at; he just played in the number ten and I did all his running, but he was breathtaking. The things he did were unbelievable.”
One of the highlights of the midfielder’s season with Harry Redknapp’s side was a thrilling home draw against Barnsley in which he scored a sensational hat-trick as the two teams shared eight goals at 4-4.
Today marks 2⃣0⃣ years since Robert Prosinecki signed for #Pompey
🤩What. A. Player. pic.twitter.com/Xh4woKDvxP
— Portsmouth FC (@Pompey) July 31, 2021
Peter Crouch vividly remembers the impact of the wonderful Prosinecki, a chain-smoking, whisky-drinking wonder who lit up matches in the colors of Portsmouth.
“Robert fit the word ‘maverick’ perfectly, and the only time he didn’t smoke Marlboro Red was when he was on the field.
“We hardly saw him in training during the week. My God, when he played for Portsmouth he was incredible.”
“He had a trick where he shot, feinted and then rolled his foot over the ball, absolutely fooling the defender.
“You knew it was coming; you could see what he was going to do from a mile away, but it was just impossible to stop.
“He must have been a striking presence in his pomp and circumstance, playing for Red Star Belgrade and Real Madrid. He was a one-man band for Portsmouth, a joy to watch.”
The gulf in class between Prosinecki and both his teammates and opponents was clear to see, even though his career had declined since the dizzying heights of European Cup success with Red Star.
In his only season he was remembered as one of Portsmouth’s all-time greats, a footballer who the club’s fans could hardly believe was waltzing around defenders. their to colour.
He earned a recall to Croatia for the 2002 World Cup, which marked one last chance at international success before his career faded over the following two seasons.
Prosinecki never quite became the footballer he once promised to be, but he was someone who could make things happen while maintaining the appearance of a man comfortable in slippers and pipes – just as you imagine he would have liked.
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