Niko Kranjčar
Personal information
Full name	Niko Kranjčar
Date of birth	13 August 1984 (1984-08-13) (age 24)
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) 45 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 20, 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. Given his international debut by his father Zlatko Kranjčar^[2], Niko has previously represented two of the biggest clubs in his homeland, sparking controversy while playing for Dinamo Zagreb and then making a move to their fierce rivals Hajduk Split in 2005.^[3]

Club career

Early years

Kranjčar spent most of his youth playing for Dinamo Zagreb, and later became the youngest captain of the squad for the first time at the age of 17.^[4] He also became one of the youngest goalscorers in the Prva HNL as he scored on his league debut for Dinamo at the age of 16 before helping them win the double of a Croatian cup and a league title in 2003 and then the Croatian cup again the following season.^[2]Such abilities and assistance led him to become a fan favorite amongst the fans, however in early 2005 he experienced a disagreement with the management, leading to a surprise transfer to Dinamo's biggest rivals, Hajduk Split.^[5] The shock move also led to his agent being shot dead over the transfer.^[6] Nevertheless, he still managed to focus on his new club as he helped them to the Croatian title in his first season.^[7]

After the 2006 World Cup, the world press hailed him for his talents, and several clubs immediately showed interest in the young star. Among such clubs were Stade Rennes and the Spanish Club Celta de Vigo. 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 however, Kranjčar then moved for a reported £3.5million (€5.2 million) to Portsmouth on August 31, 2006.^[8][9]

Portsmouth

Kranjčar made his Premier League debut for Portsmouth on October 1, 2006 as he played all 90 minutes in their 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

Niko celebrates the FA cup as his first trophy with Portsmouth

He scored his first Premier League goal on March 31, 2007 against Fulham at Craven Cottage, giving Portsmouth an early 1-0 lead in a match that eventually ended in a 1-1 draw. ^[10] 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. He also managed to eventually score during his sides decisive 2-1 home victory over Liverpool.

In 2007/08, his second season in England, Kranjčar 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. He also gained large credential for helping Pompey to the FA Cup title in 2008.^[11]

At the beginning of the 2008/2009 season, A.S. Monaco had a bid of 12 million pounds rejected for Kranjcar. Harry Redknapp stated that Kranjcar was not going to leave the club at any price. The day after, Kranjcar openly said that he doesn't intend to leave Portsmouth "for years to come" and also publicly thanked Harry Redknapp for the faith that he showed in him.

International career

Kranjčar playing for Croatia in a game against Italy

Kranjčar was previously a part of the Croatian national Under-16, Under-17, Under-19 and Under-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, including a brilliant single effort against Bulgaria. Niko was then 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 future Pompey team mate Sulley Muntari.^[12] He went on to play in all of Croatia's 3 group stage matches at the final tournament, proving to be a prestigious player for his impressive performances.

With the departure of his father as national team manager, Kranjčar became a regular for Croatia in their qualifying campaign for the UEFA Euro 2008, having appeared in all twelve matches, scoring 2 goals. The most famous of such was his long range opener for Croatia during their final match away to England. Croatia eventually won the game 3-2, resulting in Englands failure to qualify for the final tournament.^[13] He then scored in a friendly game against Scotland with a spectacular effort just from inside the penalty area in a match played that ended 1-1, the equalizing goal coming from Kenny Miller.

During the final Euro 2008 tournament, Kranjčar was hardly mentioned as he remained fairly quiet during Croatia's run, combined with three disappointing misses after being given golden opportunities to score against Germany and Turkey. The later of such eventually led to Croatia's controversial exit from the competition.

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

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

References

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

Niko Kranjčar - Navigation boxes v • d • e Croatia squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Pletikosa • 2 Srna • 3 Šimunić • 4 R. Kovač • 5 Tudor • 6 Vranješ • 7 Šimić • 8 Babić • 9 Pršo • 10 N. 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 v • d • e Portsmouth F.C. – current squad 1 James • 2 Primus • 3 Kaboul • 4 Lauren • 5 Johnson • 6 Diarra • 7 Hreiðarsson • 8 Bouba Diop • 9 Crouch • 10 Nugent • 11 Thomas • 14 Defoe • 15 Distin • 16 Pamarot • 17 Utaka • 18 Mvuemba • 19 Kranjčar • 20 Cranie • 21 Ashdown • 22 Hughes • 23 Campbell (c) • 24 Duffy • 25 Little • 26 Sahar • 27 Kanu • 28 Davis • 30 A. Traoré • 32 D. Traoré • 35 Wilson • 39 Belhadj Manager: Redknapp