Zvonimir Boban

Zvonimir Boban
Boban in 2008
Personal information
Full name Zvonimir Boban
Date of birth (1968-10-08) 8 October 1968 (age 56)
Place of birth Imotski, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1978–1981 Mračaj Runović
1981–1982 Hajduk Split
1983–1985 Dinamo Zagreb
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1991 Dinamo Zagreb 109 (45)
1991–2001 Milan 178 (21)
1991–1992Bari (loan) 17 (2)
2001Celta Vigo (loan) 4 (0)
Total 308 (68)
International career
1987 Yugoslavia U20 6 (3)
1988–1991 Yugoslavia 7 (1)
1992–1999 Croatia 49 (12)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Yugoslavia
FIFA U-20 World Cup
Winner 1987 Chile
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Runner-up 1990
Representing  Croatia
FIFA World Cup
Third place 1998 France
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Zvonimir Boban (Croatian pronunciation: [zʋônimiːr bǒban] ; born 8 October 1968) is a Croatian former footballer who currently works at UEFA as the Chief of Football. Boban played as a midfielder. He played most of his professional career for Italian club Milan with whom he won four Serie A titles and one UEFA Champions League title. He also captained the Croatia national team which won third place at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Before 1990 and the international recognition of Croatia's national team, Boban had played for the Yugoslavia under-20 team which won the 1987 World Youth Championship. Boban scored three times in this tournament, as well as scoring in the final (drawn 1–1 with West Germany) and then converting the decisive penalty in the shootout. Having made his debut for the senior Yugoslavia team in 1988, Boban switched to playing for Croatia after the national team's inception, debuting against Romania in December 1990. Having appeared seven times for Yugoslavia, scoring once, Boban was capped 49 times for Croatia, scoring 12 goals, between 1992 and 1999.

Since retiring from playing in 2002, Boban gained a history degree from the University of Zagreb. He has also become a football pundit on Croatian and Italian television, working most notably for Sky Italia and RTL Televizija.

  1. ^ "Zvonimir Boban". AC Milan. Archived from the original on 3 March 2000.