Stipe Pletikosa

Stipe Pletikosa

Pletikosa with FC Rostov
Personal information
Date of birth	8 January 1979 (1979-01-08)
Place of birth	Split, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	FC Rostov
Number	21
Youth career
1986–1996	Hajduk Split
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1996–2003	Hajduk Split	141	(4)
2003–2007	Shakhtar Donetsk	29	(0)
2005–2006	→ Hajduk Split (loan)	21	(0)
2007–2011	Spartak Moscow	63	(0)
2010–2011	→ Tottenham Hotspur (loan)	0	(0)
2011–	FC Rostov	12	(0)
National team‡
1994	Croatia U15	1	(0)
1994–1995	Croatia U16	2	(0)
1994	Croatia U17	2	(0)
1995–1997	Croatia U18	2	(0)
1995–1998	Croatia U19	14	(0)
1999	Croatia U20	1	(0)
1998–2001	Croatia U21	17	(0)
1999–	Croatia	89	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:10, 5 March 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 3 December 2011

Stipe Pletikosa (pronounced [stiːpe pletikosa]; born 8 January 1979) is a Croatian football goalkeeper who plays for the Russian Premier League club FC Rostov and the Croatian national team, for which he has made 89 appearances.

Club career

Hajduk Split

Pletikosa began his career at Croatian club Hajduk Split. He was selected as first team goalkeeper for the 1998/99 season by then manager Ivan Katalinić, replacing the ageing Tonči Gabrić. Pletikosa's excellent reflexes and coordination lead to Hadjuk fans nicknaming him 'octopus' (hobotnica). In 2002, he was named Večernji list Croatian player of the year; Zoran Simovic was the only goalkeeper to have won this award previously.

Shakhtar Donetsk

In 2003 Pletikosa alongside teammate Darijo Srna transferred to Shakhtar Donetsk for €2 million. Unlike Srna, Pletikosa did not succeed at the club, and was loaned out back to Hajduk Split in 2005. His second spell at Hajduk proved successful and earned him a starting place in Croatia's 2006 World Cup squad. Pletikosa returned to Shakhtar the following season, but found himself second choice to Jan Laštůvka, prompting the goalkeeper to seek a move. A bid of €3 million from Dinamo Zagreb was accepted, but Pletikosa rejected due to his loyalty to Hajduk, the club's biggest rivals. A loan move to Fulham also failed as he could not gain a work permit.

Spartak Moscow

On the 7th March, Russia's transfer deadline day, Pletikosa signed for Spartak Moscow for a fee of €3 million, signing a three year contract. He featured regularly for the first team until 2009, where he was less favoured by manager Valery Karpin.

Tottenham Hotspur

On 31 August 2010, he signed a season-long loan with Tottenham Hotspur of the Premier League. He made his Tottenham debut in a 1-4 home defeat against Arsenal in the Carling Cup on the 21st September 2010. It was his only appearance in the pitch for the team.

FC Rostov

On 6 August 2011, he signed two year contract with Russian Premier League team FC Rostov.

International career

Pletikosa made his Croatia debut as a 20-year-old against Denmark in 1999, winning plaudits for his cat-like reflexes and shot-stopping. But insecurity over the handling of high balls took a heavy toll at the 2000 European under-21 championship in Slovakia, where Croatia finished last in their group after Pletikosa conceded some soft goals.

Pletikosa worked hard on improving the weaknesses in his game and under former Croatia coach Mirko Jozić, he became his country's first-choice goalkeeper, playing in all three matches at the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals. The once nervous though talented Pletikosa has blossomed, making full use of every centimetre of his 1.93-metre frame and possessing a far greater assurance when dealing with difficult high balls.

He was also supposed to be Croatia's first goalkeeper at the UEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal, but sustained an injury a few days before the beginning of the tournament and the position of the team's first goalkeeper was taken by Tomislav Butina, who was up to that time his first reserve. Butina retained the position in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying, so Pletikosa appeared in only two qualifying matches. Nevertheless, when the finals tournament started, Pletikosa was chosen over Butina, who had still been recovering from an injury sustained early in the year.

At UEFA Euro 2008, he was named Man of the Match in Croatia's opening victory against Austria, in which he made many saves to help his side to hang on to a very narrow victory after the Austrians began to completely dominate the Croatian outfit after the first, and only, penalty goal.

On 16 June 2008, during the UEFA Euro 2008 match between Austria and Germany, BBC pundit Alan Hansen stated his belief that Pletikosa had been "the best goalkeeper in the (UEFA Euro 2008) tournament" thus far, ahead of more established 'keepers like Petr Čech, Gianluigi Buffon and Iker Casillas, although his colleague Alan Shearer said that Edwin van der Sar had been equally impressive. However, despite these comments, Pletikosa was not highlighted as the best goalkeeper of the tournament. Those honours went to Buffon, Casillas and van der Sar, who were the three goalkeepers named in the Team of the Tournament.

External links

• Stipe Pletikosa – FIFA competition record
• Stipe Pletikosa statistics and biography at FootballDatabase.com
• Stipe Pletikosa at National-Football-Teams.com
• Stipe Pletikosa international stats at the Croatian Football Federation website
• English Premier League profile