Mladen Krstajić

Mladen Krstajić

Personal information
Full name	Mladen Krstajić
Date of birth	4 March 1974 (1974-03-04) (age 37)
Place of birth	Zenica, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Partizan (Director of football)
Youth career
1984–1992	Čelik
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1992–1993	Senta	15	(1)
1993–1996	Kikinda	55	(2)
1996–2000	Partizan	84	(7)
2000–2004	Werder Bremen	112	(11)
2004–2009	Schalke 04	131	(7)
2009–2011	Partizan	43	(3)
Total		440	(31)
National team
1999–2008	Serbia	59	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Mladen Krstajić (Serbian Cyrillic: Младен Крстајић; born 4 March 1974 in Zenica) is a former Serbian footballer who currently works as a director of football for FK Partizan.

Early life

Mladen Krstajić was born in Zenica, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia to Serb parents (his mother is from Bijeljina and his father from Žabljak).

He grew up in Bosnia and played in the youth squads of NK Čelik (1984–1992). In 1992 it became dangerous to live in Bosnia, because of the civil war, so he and his family moved to Serbia.

Club career

After playing in the youth system of NK Čelik, Krstajić moved to Kikinda in April 1992, following the breakout of the Bosnian war. He started playing with FK Senta for six months. He then moved on the OFK Kikinda, at that time a first league club. At some point of a successful career as a Serbian football player, there comes the time, to decide, whether one wants to play for Partizan or for Zvezda, and Krstajić decided to take the move to Partizan in 1996. According to Krstajić himself, also FK Crvena zvezda was interested in him, but as he comes from a "Partizan" family, he decided to sign a contract with his favourite club. His four and a half years at Partizan was more than successful, winning the national championships three times (1996, 1997, 1999) and also the national cup in 1998.

The defender with the "winner mentality" (Jupp Heynckes) moved then to SV Werder Bremen, where he became one of the best defenders in the Fußball-Bundesliga, winning the German Championship and Cup with Werder in 2004. Since 2004 he played for FC Schalke 04, where he was named the new captain on 17 March 2009.^[1] On 5 June 2009, Krstajić signed a two-year contract with his former club FK Partizan.^[2] In January 2010, after the departure of Nenad Đorđević, he was named a new Partizan captain.^[3] After two very successful seasons, he played his last professional match on 21 May 2011.^[4] Immediately after retiring he was appointed as the new director of football of the club.^[5]

International career

Krstajić has been a part of the Serbia and Montenegro national team "Famous Four" defence, which conceded just one goal during the qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The other members of the famous four are Ivica Dragutinović, Goran Gavrančić and Nemanja Vidić. He was capped 59 times for Serbia, and was undoubtedly the leading figure of the "Famous Four" due to his experience and age.

Career statistics

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Partizan	1995–96	6	1			–				6	1
	1996–97	11	0			–				11	0
	1997–98	21	4			–				21	4
	1998–99	17	0			–				17	0
	1999–00	29	2	2	0	–		6	2	37	4
	Total	84	7	2	0	–		6	2	92	9
Werder Bremen	2000–01	25	2	2	0	0	0	5	0	32	2
	2001–02	26	2	2	0	0	0	2	0	30	2
	2002–03	31	4	5	0	1	0	4	1	41	5
	2003–04	30	3	5	0	0	0	4	0	39	3
	Total	112	11	14	0	1	0	15	1	142	12
Schalke 04	2004–05	28	1	5	1	0	0	12	1	45	3
	2005–06	29	2	1	0	2	0	12	0	44	2
	2006–07	27	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	29	1
	2007–08	23	2	2	0	3	0	6	0	34	2
	2008–09	24	1	3	0	–		4	0	31	1
	Total	131	7	13	1	5	0	34	1	183	9
Partizan	2009–10	22	2	1	0	–		9	2	32	4
	2010–11	21	1	4	0	–		12	0	37	1
	Total	43	3	5	0	–		21	2	69	5
Career total		370	28	34	1	6	0	76	6	486	35

Honours

Club

Partizan

• Serbian SuperLiga: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2009–10, 2010–11
• Serbian Cup: 2010–11

Werder Bremen

• Fußball-Bundesliga: 2003–04
• DFB-Pokal: 2003–04

Schalke 04

• DFB-Ligapokal: 2005

References

1. ^ "Bordon reicht Binde weiter" (in German). transfermarkt.de. 17 March 2009. http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/bordon-reicht-binde-weiter/news/anzeigen_26210.html. Retrieved 17 March 2009. 
2. ^ "Mladen Krstajić ponovo u Partizanu" (in Serbian). b92.net. 5 June 2009. http://www.b92.net/sport/fudbal/vesti.php?yyyy=2009&mm=06&dd=05&nav_id=364456. Retrieved 5 June 2009. 
3. ^ "Krstajić kapiten, Ilić zamenik (VIDEO)" (in Serbian). mondo.rs. 22 January 2010. http://www.mondo.rs/s158782/Fudbal/Krstajic_kapiten_Ilic_zamenik_VIDEO.html. Retrieved 3 June 2011. 
4. ^ "Partizan – Cukaricki 4:0 (0:0)". partizan.rs. 21 May 2011. http://www.partizan.rs/en/10688-partizan-%C4%8Cukari%C4%8Dki-stankom/. Retrieved 3 June 2011. 
5. ^ "Krstajic new FK Partizan Sporting Director, Stanojevic extended his contract". partizan.rs. 1 June 2011. http://www.partizan.rs/en/11563-krstaji%C4%87-promovisan-u-sportskog-direktora-stanojevi%C4%87-produ%C5%BEio-ugovor/. Retrieved 3 June 2011. 

External links

• Mladen Krstajić at fussballdaten.de
• Mladen Krstajić at reprezentacija.rs
• Mladen Krstajić – FIFA competition record
• Mladen Krstajić – UEFA competition record

Sporting positions
Preceded by Marcelo Bordon	Schalke 04 captain 2009	Succeeded by Heiko Westermann
Preceded by Nenad Đorđević	Partizan captain 2010–2011	Succeeded by Saša Ilić

Persondata
Name	Krstajic, Mladen
Alternative names
Short description	Footballer
Date of birth	4 March 1974
Place of birth	Zenica, SFR Yugoslavia
Date of death
Place of death