Danijel Pranjić

Danijel Pranjić (born 2 December 1981) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. Being a versatile left-footed player, he could play all across the left wing and could also be used as a central midfielder.

Pranjić had the most success with Bundesliga side Bayern Munich, winning the double in the 2009–10 season and reaching the 2010 and 2012 Champions League final. Pranjić has also played for clubs in the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Slovenia and Cyprus. At the international level, he debuted for Croatia in 2004 and participated in three major tournaments with his national side, Euro 2008, Euro 2012 and the 2014 World Cup.

After retiring as a player, Pranjić managed Croatian lower league clubs Dubrava and Trnje. He managed Bosnian sides Sloboda Tuzla and GOŠK Gabela, as well as Cypriot club Achyronas-Onisilos.

Club career

Born in Našice, Pranjić started his career at hometown club NAŠK. He also played for Papuk and Belišće before being acquired by Croatian top side Osijek in 2002. Pranjić transferred to Dinamo Zagreb two seasons later in 2004. While at Dinamo Zagreb, he also played regularly during their 2004–05 UEFA Cup campaign, making six appearances and scoring one goal in the competition.

In 2005, Pranjić was transferred to Dutch Eredivisie side Heerenveen. His good performances as an offensive winger secured him a return to international football with Croatia in 2007. He started the 2008–09 Eredivisie season well, netting four goals in his first three league matches. Pranjić scored his first hat-trick in the KNVB Cup on 12 November 2008 in a huge 7–0 win against Haaglandia. On 31 January 2009, he scored the only goal in a Heerenveen victory against Ajax. A month later, Pranjić scored a late penalty that gave Heerenveen a 3–2 win over PSV. He won the KNVB Cup with Heerenveen at the end of the 2008–09 season, which turned out to be his last match for the club.

In June 2009, Bayern Munich announced Pranjić would join the club. He struggled to make an impact in his first season with the club, starting only 14 matches and losing out to first choice left-back Holger Badstuber. Due to his utility and injuries to other teammates, however, he started an increasing number of games in his second season with the Bavarian club.

On 13 July 2012, after the expiration of his Bayern contract, Pranjić was announced as a new signing for Portuguese Primeira Liga team Sporting CP. He played nine games for Os Leões before joining Spanish La Liga club Celta de Vigo in January 2013 on loan until the end of the season. On 30 August 2013, Pranjić and Sporting terminated the contract in mutual agreement.

On 2 September 2013, it was officially announced that Pranjić had signed with Panathinaikos for three years. He made his professional debut in a 1–1 away draw against Platanias.

On 11 September 2016, Pranjić joined Slovenian club Koper on a free transfer. On 21 July 2017, he signed with Cypriot club Anorthosis. On 1 July 2019, Pranjić signed with Ayia Napa, competing in the Cypriot Second Division.

International career

Pranjić started his international career with the Croatian under-21 national team, earning a total of 15 caps and scoring one goal for the team between 2002 and 2004.

On 16 November 2004, Pranjić made his full international debut for Croatia in a friendly match against the Republic of Ireland. After two years of absence from the national team, he was called up for a friendly match against Norway in February 2007. Later that year, he also appeared in three UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Asked to play a defensive role by Croatia coach Slaven Bilić, although still predominantly a midfielder in his club career, Pranjić was the only Croatian to start all four games at the UEFA Euro 2008 finals. Pranjić provided an assist to Darijo Srna to score the opener in Croatia's 2–1 victory over Germany and an assist to Ivan Klasnić to score the only goal in their next game, a 1–0 win over Poland.

He kept his place as a regular in the national team during their unsuccessful qualifying campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, appearing in a total of nine matches. On 28 September 2012, Pranjić retired from the national team in protest to the call up of Brazilian-born player Sammir.

On 10 November 2013, Niko Kovač called up Pranjić to the national team after Ivan Strinić sustained an injury that made him ineligible for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying play-offs against Iceland. He was called up to Croatia's 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Pranjić's last match for Croatia was a Euro 2016 qualification match against Azerbaijan in September 2015. He earned a total of 58 caps, scoring 1 goal.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

Scores and Results show Croatia's goal tally first

Managerial

As of match played 26 October 2024

Honours

Player

Heerenveen

• KNVB Cup: 2008–09

Bayern Munich

• Bundesliga: 2009–10
• DFB-Pokal: 2009–10
• DFL-Supercup: 2010
• UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2009–10, 2011–12

Panathinaikos

• Greek Cup: 2013–14

External links

• at Soccerway.com
• at WorldFootball.net
• at National-Football-Teams.com
• at FBref.com
• at kicker(in German)
• at the Croatian Football Federation
• at EU-Football.info
• at Fussballdaten.de(in German)
• at L'Équipe(in French)
• at AS.com(in Spanish)