Danijel Pranjić (born 2 December 1981) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. Being a versatile left-footed player, he could play all across the left wing and could also be used as a central midfielder.

Danijel Pranjić
Pranjić in 2009
Personal information
Full name Danijel Pranjić[1]
Date of birth (1981-12-02) 2 December 1981 (age 43)[1]
Place of birth Našice, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Left winger, full-back
Youth career
1998–2000 NAŠK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2000 NAŠK
2000–2001 Papuk
2001–2002 Belišće 28 (7)
2002–2004 Osijek 53 (3)
2004–2005 Dinamo Zagreb 29 (2)
2005–2009 Heerenveen 129 (32)
2009–2012 Bayern Munich 55 (1)
2011 Bayern Munich II 1 (0)
2012–2013 Sporting CP 9 (0)
2013Celta de Vigo (loan) 10 (0)
2013–2016 Panathinaikos 80 (9)
2016–2017 Koper 20 (1)
2017–2019 Anorthosis Famagusta 61 (6)
2019–2020 Ayia Napa 17 (1)
2020–2021 Omonia Psevda 13 (1)
International career
2002–2004 Croatia U21 15 (1)
2004–2015 Croatia 58 (1)
Managerial career
2020–2021 Omonia Psevda (player-manager)
2021 Dubrava
2022–2023 Trnje
2023 Sloboda Tuzla
2023–2024 Achyronas-Onisilos
2024 GOŠK Gabela
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Pranjić had the most success with Bundesliga side Bayern Munich, winning the double in the 2009–10 season and reaching the 2010 and 2012 Champions League final. At the international level, he debuted for Croatia in 2004 and participated in three major tournaments with his national side, Euro 2008, Euro 2012 and the 2014 World Cup.

After retiring as a player, Pranjić managed Croatian lower league clubs Dubrava[2] and Trnje. He managed Bosnian sides Sloboda Tuzla[3] and GOŠK Gabela, as well as Cypriot club Achyronas-Onisilos.

Club career

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Born in Našice, Pranjić started his career at hometown club NAŠK.[4] He also played for Papuk and Belišće before being acquired by Croatian top side Osijek in 2002. Pranjić transferred to Dinamo Zagreb two seasons later in 2004. While at Dinamo Zagreb, he also played regularly during their 2004–05 UEFA Cup campaign, making six appearances and scoring one goal in the competition.

In 2005, Pranjić was transferred to Dutch Eredivisie side Heerenveen. His good performances as an offensive winger secured him a return to international football with Croatia in 2007. He started the 2008–09 Eredivisie season well, netting four goals in his first three league matches. Pranjić scored his first hat-trick in the KNVB Cup on 12 November 2008 in a huge 7–0 win against Haaglandia. On 31 January 2009, he scored the only goal in a Heerenveen victory against Ajax. A month later, Pranjić scored a late penalty that gave Heerenveen a 3–2 win over PSV. He won the KNVB Cup with Heerenveen at the end of the 2008–09 season, which turned out to be his last match for the club.[5]

In June 2009, Bayern Munich announced Pranjić would join the club.[6][7] He struggled to make an impact in his first season with the club, starting only 14 matches and losing out to first choice left-back Holger Badstuber. Due to his utility and injuries to other teammates, however, he started an increasing number of games in his second season with the Bavarian club.

On 13 July 2012, after the expiration of his Bayern contract, Pranjić was announced as a new signing for Portuguese Primeira Liga team Sporting CP. He played nine games for Os Leões before joining Spanish La Liga club Celta de Vigo in January 2013 on loan until the end of the season.[8] On 30 August 2013, Pranjić and Sporting terminated the contract in mutual agreement.[9]

On 2 September 2013, it was officially announced that Pranjić had signed with Panathinaikos for three years.[10] He made his professional debut in a 1–1 away draw against Platanias.

On 11 September 2016, Pranjić joined Slovenian club Koper on a free transfer.[11] On 21 July 2017, he signed with Cypriot club Anorthosis.[12] On 1 July 2019, Pranjić signed with Ayia Napa, competing in the Cypriot Second Division.[13][14]

International career

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Pranjić started his international career with the Croatian under-21 national team, earning a total of 15 caps and scoring one goal for the team between 2002 and 2004.

On 16 November 2004, Pranjić made his full international debut for Croatia in a friendly match against the Republic of Ireland. After two years of absence from the national team, he was called up for a friendly match against Norway in February 2007. Later that year, he also appeared in three UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Asked to play a defensive role by Croatia coach Slaven Bilić, although still predominantly a midfielder in his club career, Pranjić was the only Croatian to start all four games at the UEFA Euro 2008 finals. Pranjić provided an assist to Darijo Srna to score the opener in Croatia's 2–1 victory over Germany and an assist to Ivan Klasnić to score the only goal in their next game, a 1–0 win over Poland.

He kept his place as a regular in the national team during their unsuccessful qualifying campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, appearing in a total of nine matches. On 28 September 2012, Pranjić retired from the national team in protest to the call up of Brazilian-born player Sammir.[15]

On 10 November 2013, Niko Kovač called up Pranjić to the national team after Ivan Strinić sustained an injury that made him ineligible for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying play-offs against Iceland.[16] He was called up to Croatia's 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Pranjić's last match for Croatia was a Euro 2016 qualification match against Azerbaijan in September 2015.[17] He earned a total of 58 caps, scoring 1 goal.[18]

Career statistics

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Club

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Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Croatia League Croatian Cup Europe Total
2002–03 Osijek Prva HNL 30 1 30 1
2003–04 23 2 23 2
2004–05 Dinamo Zagreb Prva HNL 29 2 6 1 35 3
Netherlands League KNVB Cup Europe Total
2005–06 Heerenveen Eredivisie 32 5 2 0 8 0 42 5
2006–07 34 2 1 0 6 1 41 3
2007–08 33 9 2 0 2 0 37 9
2008–09 30 16 2 3 4 1 36 20
Germany League DFB-Pokal Europe Total
2009–10 Bayern Munich Bundesliga 20 1 2 0 7 0 29 1
2010–11 28 0 4 0 7 0 39 0
2011–12 7 0 1 0 5 0 13 0
Portugal League Taça de Portugal Europe Total
2012–13 Sporting CP Primeira Liga 9 0 2 0 6 1 17 1
Spain League Copa del Rey Europe Total
2012–13 Celta de Vigo La Liga 10 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
Greece League Greek Cup Europe Total
2013–14 Panathinaikos Superleague Greece 28 5 7 0 0 0 35 5
2014–15 29 4 1 0 10 0 40 4
2015–16 23 0 6 0 4 0 33 0
Slovenia League Slovenian Cup Europe Total
2016–17 Koper PrvaLiga 20 1 20 1
Cyprus League Cypriot Cup Europe Total
2017–18 Anorthosis Famagusta First Division 32 1 0 0 0 0 32 1
2018–19 29 5 0 0 2 1 31 6
2019–20 Ayia Napa Second Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total Croatia 82 5 6 1 88 6
Netherlands 129 32 7 3 20 2 156 37
Germany 55 1 7 0 19 0 81 1
Portugal 9 0 2 0 6 1 17 1
Spain 10 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
Greece 80 9 14 0 14 0 108 9
Slovenia 20 1 20 1
Cyprus 61 6 0 0 2 1 63 7
Career total 446 54 30 3 67 5 543 62

International goals

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Scores and Results show Croatia's goal tally first
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 28 March 2015 Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia   Norway
5–1
5–1
UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying

Managerial

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As of match played 26 October 2024[19]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Omonia Psevda (player-manager) 8 September 2020 15 April 2021 30 9 6 15 37 50 −13 030.00
Dubrava 1 July 2021 10 August 2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 !
Trnje 20 January 2022 21 March 2023 39 16 11 12 66 60 +6 041.03
Sloboda Tuzla 22 March 2023 12 June 2023 10 2 2 6 10 17 −7 020.00
Achyronas-Onisilos 1 July 2023 15 January 2024 16 4 7 5 18 17 +1 025.00
GOŠK Gabela 14 August 2024 27 October 2024 9 1 1 7 7 21 −14 011.11
Total 104 32 27 45 138 165 −27 030.77

Honours

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Player

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Heerenveen

Bayern Munich

Panathinaikos

References

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  1. ^ a b "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of Players: Croatia" (PDF). FIFA. 14 July 2014. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2020.
  2. ^ "Pranjić je u Dubravi izdržao tek mjesec dana!". Sportklub (in Croatian). 11 August 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Danijel Pranjić još nije potvrdno odgovorio tuzlanskoj Slobodi na ponudu da preuzme momčad u borbi za opstanak". SportNews (in Croatian). 21 March 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  4. ^ "Danijel Pranjic". FC Bayern Munich. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
  5. ^ "Laatste duel voor Pranjic" (in Dutch). sportwereld.nl. 13 May 2009. Archived from the original on 22 July 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  6. ^ "Danijel Pranjic to sign for Bayern". Bayern Munich. 22 June 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  7. ^ "Pranjic heeft eindelijk gewenste droomtransfer" (in Dutch). SC Heerenveen. 22 June 2009. Archived from the original on 25 June 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  8. ^ "Danijel Pranjic assina por três anos (Danijel Pranjic signs for three years)". Record (in Portuguese). Cofina. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  9. ^ "Pranjic farewell to Alvalade". Sporting Clube de Portugal. 30 August 2013. Archived from the original on 31 August 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  10. ^ "Συμφωνία με Pranjic" (in Greek). Panathinaikos. 2 September 2013. Archived from the original on 4 July 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  11. ^ A.V. (11 September 2016). "Nekdanji član Bayerna Pranjić v Kopru" [Former Bayern member sign for Koper] (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  12. ^ Ανορθωσιάτης ο Ντάνιελ Πράνιτς (in Greek). Anorthosis Famagusta FC. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  13. ^ "Danijel Pranjić baš ne želi odustati. Sada je potpisao ugovor s ciparskim drugoligašem" [Danijel Pranjić just does not want to give up. He just signed a contract with a Cypriot second league club]. telesport.telegram.hr (in Croatian). 1 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  14. ^ Aalbers, Dave (3 June 2020). "Danijel Pranjić over lange nachten in Heerenveen, Van Gaal en vikings". vice.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  15. ^ "Pranjić napušta reprezentaciju: "Rekao sam da ću otići ako pozovu Sammira!"" (in Croatian). index.hr. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  16. ^ "Zbog ozljede Strinića Niko Kovač za Island pozvao Danijela Pranjića" (in Croatian). hrsport.net. 10 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  17. ^ "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  18. ^ "Appearances for Croatia National Team". RSSSF. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Danijel Pranjić". Sofascore. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
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