Aljoša Asanović

Aljoša Asanović

Personal information
Date of birth	14 December 1965 (1965-12-14)
Place of birth	Split, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
	Hajduk Split
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1984–1990	Hajduk Split	173	(46)
1990–1991	Metz	35	(13)
1991–1992	Cannes	28	(7)
1992–1994	Montpellier	43	(10)
1994–1996	Hajduk Split	33	(8)
1995–1996	→ Valladolid (loan)	8	(1)
1996-1997	Derby County	38	(5)
1997–1998	Napoli	15	(0)
1998–2000	Panathinaikos	44	(9)
2000–2001	Austria Wien	0	(0)
2001	Sydney United	4	(1)
2002	Hajduk Split	1	(0)
Total		422	(102)
National team
1987–1988	Yugoslavia	3	(0)
1990–2000	Croatia	62	(3)
Honours Competitor for Croatia Bronze FIFA World Cup 1998
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Aljoša Asanović (born 14 December 1965 in Split, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a retired Croatian soccer player best known from his performances in the mid-to-late 90's when he played for Derby County and for Croatia during Euro 96 and World Cup 98. He was nicknamed "Vatreni Lakat" (meaning "fiery elbow") for his style of running with elbow pointed out, moving opposing players.

International career

The talented left-footed midfielder was one of the most important players for the Croatian football team during their golden age from 1994-1998. He was arguably Croatia's most intelligent player in midfield, yet lacked the complete package of skills possessed by his fellow midfielder Robert Prosinečki. In his national team debut on October 17, 1990, in a 2-1 victory against the USA which also was Croatia's first international since the independence from Yugoslavia, Asanović even netted the first goal.

He participated in the Euro 1996 as well as the 1998 FIFA World Cup, where Croatia won the bronze medal. In semi-final of the world cup, Asanović made the assist to Davor Šuker from the centre of the field with a loop pass, for Croatia to take the lead against the host France.

His last international match was a May 28, 2000 friendly against France. In total he was capped 62 times, scoring 4 goals, thus ranking among the top five Croatian national players. Asanović ended his active career in 2002 while with Hajduk Split, the club in which his career had started almost twenty years earlier.

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	17 October 1990	Maksimir, Zagreb	United States	1 – 0	2 – 1	Friendly
2–3	8 June 1997	Olympic, Tokyo	Japan	1 – 3	3 – 4	Friendly
				2 – 3

Management career

At the moment he is assistant manager of Croatian national football team, working alongside his former teammates Slaven Bilić, Robert Prosinečki, Nikola Jurčević and Marijan Mrmić. On 29 December 2008 Asanović was linked to the Derby County job after Paul Jewell resigned.

External links

• Aljoša Asanović – FIFA competition record
• Aljoša Asanović at National-Football-Teams.com
• Aljoša Asanović international stats at the Croatian Football Federation website
• Aljoša Asanović profile at Reprezentacija.rs (Serbian)
• Aljoša Asanović profile at Transfermarkt.de