Mladen Krstajić

Mladen Krstajić

File:Krstajic.jpg
Personal information
Full name	Mladen Krstajić
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Partizan
Number	20
Youth career
1984–1992	Čelik Zenica
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1993	Senta	15	(1)
1993–1996	Kikinda	48	(2)
1996–2000	Partizan	84	(7)
2000–2004	Werder Bremen	112	(11)
2004–2009	Schalke 04	131	(7)
2009–	Partizan	25	(2)
International career
1999–2008	Serbia	59	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10:46, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

Mladen Krstajić (Serbian: Младен Крстајић; born 4 March 1974 in Zenica) is a Serbian footballer who plays for Serbian SuperLiga club 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 Čelik Zenica (1984–1992). After 1992 it became dangerous to live in Bosnia, because of the civil war, and so he and his family went to Serbia.

Club career

After playing in the youth system of NK Čelik Zenica, 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 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 Schalke 04, where he was named the new captain on 17 March 2009. On 5 June 2009 he signed a two year contract with his former club FK Partizan.

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

As of 28 September 2010

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Werder Bremen	2000–01	25	2	2	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	32	2
	2001–02	26	2	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	30	2
	2002–03	31	4	5	0	1	0	4	1	0	0	41	5
	2003–04	30	3	5	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	39	3
	Total	112	11	14	0	1	0	15	1	0	0	142	12
Schalke 04	2004–05	28	1	5	1	0	0	12	1	0	0	45	3
	2005–06	29	2	1	0	2	0	12	0	0	0	44	2
	2006–07	27	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	29	1
	2007–08	23	2	2	0	3	0	6	0	0	0	34	2
	2008–09	24	1	3	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	31	1
	Total	131	7	13	1	5	0	34	1	0	0	183	9
Partizan	2009–10	22	2	1	0	–		9	2	0	0	32	4
	2010–11	3	0	0	0	–		8	0	0	0	11	0
	Total	25	2	1	0	–		17	2	0	0	43	4
Career total		268	20	28	1	6	0	66	4	0	0	368	25

Honours

Club

Partizan

• First League of FR Yugoslavia: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2009–10

Werder Bremen

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

Schalke 04

• DFB-Ligapokal: 2004–05

External links

• Mladen Krstajić – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Mladen Krstajić at fussballdaten.de
• Mladen Krstajić at reprezentacija.rs
• Mladen Krstajić at footballdatabase.com