Robert Jarni

Robert Jarni (born 26 October 1968) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a left winger or wingback.

In June 1985, he was spotted by Hajduk Split while playing for MTČ in a cup match in Split and started his professional career by joining the club in February 1986.

Jarni started his professional career with Hajduk Split in 1986, and went on to spend 10 years playing for various clubs in Italy and Spain before finishing his career as a player in Greece with Panathinaikos in 2002.

He was part of the Yugoslav squad that won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile, alongside his future Croatia team-mates Davor Šuker, Zvonimir Boban, Robert Prosinečki and Igor Štimac.

He was a regular in the Croatia national football team between 1990 and 2002, winning a total of 80 international caps for Croatia and being the national team's record cap holder until June 2006, when his record was beaten by Dario Šimić.

Prior to Croatia's independence, he also won 7 international caps for the Yugoslavia.

Jarni participated in three FIFA World Cup finals, in 1990 with Yugoslavia and in 1998 and 2002 with Croatia, making a total of 11 appearances in the competition.

In 1990, Jarni became a full international with Yugoslavia.

He won seven international caps with the team in 1990 and 1991, scoring one goal.

He was also part of the Yugoslav squad for the 1990 FIFA World Cup finals in Italy, where he made his World Cup debut as a half-time substitute for Srečko Katanec in the team's second group match, a 1–0 win against Colombia.

Jarni's international debut for Croatia came on 22 December 1990 in a friendly match against Romania.

He stayed with Hajduk until 1991, when he moved abroad for the first time in his career, signing with Italian side Bari.

After spending two seasons with Bari, he moved to Torino in 1993, and spent one season with the club before moving to local rivals Juventus in 1994.

He also spent just one season with Juventus, and went on to move to Spanish side Real Betis in 1995.

He had a fairly successful spell with the Seville club, appearing in 98 Primera División matches for the club over the following three seasons, also scoring a total of 19 goals in the league.

He quickly established himself as a regular with the team and was also part of the Croatian squad for the country's first appearance in the finals of a major tournament, at the UEFA Euro 1996 in England.

He appeared in all of Croatia's four matches at the tournament before they were knocked out in the quarter-finals after losing 2–1 to Germany, who went on to win the tournament.

The crowning moment of his career was the 1998 World Cup in France, where he appeared in all of Croatia's 7 matches at the tournament and helped them win the bronze medals in their first World Cup appearance.

He also scored his only international goal for Croatia during the tournament, netting the opening goal in their 3–0 win over Germany in the quarter-finals.

In the summer of 1998, Jarni initially moved to English side Coventry City, signing for £2.6 million from Real Betis.

However, when Real Madrid decided they wanted the player, they successfully bought him from Coventry for £3.4 million with Jarni having made no appearances whatsoever.

Some believe this was a joint Coventry City and Real Madrid tactic, as Betis refused to sell him to the Madrid club.

At Real Madrid, Jarni struggled to get his place in the starting line-up and often found himself receiving little playing time as a substitute, although he did manage to finish the season with a total of 27 Primera División appearances on his tally.

His only league goal for Real Madrid came in their 5–1 win at Extremadura on 31 October 1998, when he netted the opening goal of the match in the first minute.

One of the highlights of his spell with Real Madrid came 10 days earlier in their third UEFA Champions League group match that season, when he netted a brace in their 6–1 win at home to Sturm Graz.

Two years later, Jarni was named in the Croatian squad for the country's first World Cup appearance, at the 1998 finals in France, and was an important member of the team that went on to win the bronze medals at the tournament.

He appeared in all of Croatia's seven matches during the tournament, with his highlight being the opening goal in Croatia's 3–0 win over Germany in the quarter-finals.

It was his only international goal for Croatia, although he set up a number of other goals for the national team with numerous assists resulting from his fast runs through the left flank and precise crosses or passes into the box.

One of those assists came later during 1998 World Cup, when he set up Robert Prosinečki's opening goal in Croatia's 2–1 win against the Netherlands in the third-place match.

In the summer of 1999, Jarni left Real Madrid for Segunda División side Las Palmas, going on to help the club gain promotion to the Primera División for the 2000–01 season, which saw him making another 26 appearances in the Spanish top flight, scoring two goals.

During the last qualifying match of Euro 2000 where Croatia played FR Yugoslavia, Jarni collided with defender Zoran Mirković and insulted Mirković after he went down, only for Mirković to grab and twist Jarni's testicles, in which the referee sent him off and banned him for three matches, which made him miss FR Yugoslavia's Euro 2000 campaign.

After losing his place as a regular at Las Palmas and making no appearances for the club in the first half of the 2001–02 season, Jarni went on to move to Greek side Panathinaikos on 30 January 2002, signing a short-term contract until the end of the season.

Jarni only appeared in 5 matches for Panathinaikos in the Greek league, although he also made 3 appearances for the club in the UEFA Champions League in February and March 2002.

Despite his remarkable performances, he was ruled out due to a serious head injury due to excessive zeal in a match against Porto.

His contract was not renewed at the end of the season and he subsequently retired from professional football as a player, aged 33.

As a youngster, Jarni played for the Yugoslav national under-21 football team.

Jarni continued to play regularly for Croatia until 2002, when he retired from football as a player.

His final international was a June 2002 World Cup finals match against Ecuador.

After his retirement from professional football as a player, he spent several seasons playing futsal, even winning two international caps for Croatia in the sport, and also started his managerial career with Hajduk Split in 2007.

Born in Čakovec, Jarni started his career in his hometown with MTČ Čakovec.