Mladen Krstajić

Mladen Krstajić

File:Mladen Krstajic.jpg Krstajić in 2007
Personal information
Full name	Mladen Krstajić
Date of birth	(1974-03-04) 4 March 1974
Place of birth	Zenica, SFR Yugoslavia
Height
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
1984–1992	Čelik Zenica
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1993	Senta	15	(1)
1993–1996	Kikinda	55	(2)
1996–2000	Partizan	84	(7)
2000–2004	Werder Bremen	112	(11)
2004–2009	Schalke 04	131	(7)
2009–2011	Partizan	43	(3)
Total		440	(31)
International career
1999–2008	Serbia	59	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mladen Krstajić (Serbian Cyrillic: Младен Крстајић; born 4 March 1974) is a former Serbian footballer who played as a centre back. He was known for his composure, leadership and defensive ability. He represented Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Early life

Mladen Krstajić was born in Zenica, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia to Bosnian Serb mother from Bijeljina and Serb father from Žabljak, SR Montenegro. He grew up in Bosnia and Herzegovina and played in the youth squads of NK Čelik Zenica (1984–1992). Because of the Bosnian War he and his family moved to Serbia.

Club career

Early career

After playing in the youth system of NK Čelik, 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.

Werder Bremen and Schalke

The defender with the "winner mentality" (Jupp Heynckes) moved then to SV Werder Bremen, where he became one of the best defenders in the Bundesliga, winning the German Championship and Cup with Werder in 2004. Since 2004 he played for FC Schalke 04, where he was named the new captain on 17 March 2009.

Partizan

On 5 June 2009, Krstajić signed a two-year contract with his former club FK Partizan. In January 2010, after the departure of Nenad Đorđević, he was named a new Partizan captain. After two very successful seasons, he played his last professional match on 21 May 2011. Immediately after retiring he was appointed as the new director of football of the club. After less than 6 months as director of football, he was sacked due to a media war against club president Dragan Đurić. Aleksandar Stanojević resigned as head coach as a result. The day before he was released, Partizan fans Grobari chanted his name as a sign of support during a basketball match against arch rivals KK Crvena Zvezda.

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

Club

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Partizan	1995–96	6	1			–				6	1
	1996–97	11	0			–				11	0
	1997–98	21	4			–				21	4
	1998–99	17	0			–				17	0
	1999–00	29	2	2	0	–		6	2	37	4
	Total	84	7	2	0	–		6	2	92	9
Werder Bremen	2000–01	25	2	2	0	0	0	5	0	32	2
	2001–02	26	2	2	0	0	0	2	0	30	2
	2002–03	31	4	5	0	1	0	4	1	41	5
	2003–04	30	3	5	0	0	0	4	0	39	3
	Total	112	11	14	0	1	0	15	1	142	12
Schalke 04	2004–05	28	1	5	1	0	0	12	1	45	3
	2005–06	29	2	1	0	2	0	12	0	44	2
	2006–07	27	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	29	1
	2007–08	23	2	2	0	3	0	6	0	34	2
	2008–09	24	1	3	0	–		4	0	31	1
	Total	131	7	13	1	5	0	34	1	183	9
Partizan	2009–10	22	2	1	0	–		9	2	32	4
	2010–11	21	1	4	0	–		12	0	37	1
	Total	43	3	5	0	–		21	2	69	5
Career total		370	28	34	1	6	0	76	6	486	35

International

Serbia and Montenegro
Year	Apps	Goals
1999	2	0
2000	5	0
2001	5	1
2002	11	1
2003	7	0
2004	5	0
2005	8	0
2006	10	0
2007	4	0
2008	2	0
Total	59	2

Honours

Club

Partizan

• Serbian SuperLiga: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2009–10, 2010–11
• Serbian Cup: 1997–98, 2010–11

Werder Bremen

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

Schalke 04

• DFB-Ligapokal: 2005

External links

• Mladen Krstajić profile at Fussballdaten
• Mladen Krstajić at reprezentacija.rs (Serbian)
• Mladen Krstajić – FIFA competition record
• Mladen Krstajić – UEFA competition record

Sporting positions
Preceded by Marcelo Bordon	Schalke 04 captain 2009	Succeeded by Heiko Westermann
Preceded by Nenad Đorđević	Partizan captain 2010–2011	Succeeded by Saša Ilić