Meet Your Croat: Robert Kovac

Time to pick up pace, here’s Meet Your Croat, vol. IV:

Name: Robert Kovac

Born: 6. 4. 1974. (age 34)

Position: Centre Back

Club: Borussia Dortmund

National Caps: 72 (0)

Biography:
Started his professional career in 92′ in a lowly German side Hertha Zehlendorf. Three years later, he took the next step by joining the 2. Bundesliga side Nürnberg. After a solid first season, things went on from good to better for Kovac. After only his first season with Nürnberg, Bayer Leverkusen decided to bring him to their side, which interestingly enough, brought in his brother Niko as well. After 5 years spent in Bayer, he finally moved (his brother Niko as well) on to the top of the German food chain by joining Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich. Prior to this move he had a Croatian NT debut back in 1999 in a match against Italy.

During his time in Munich, Kovac came to be regarded as one of the best Bundesliga centre backs. After a successful 4 year spell and over 100 appearances, Kovac decided it’s time to finally move abroad and so he joined Juventus. It didn’t take him long to move back to Germany, as just last summer he decided to join Borussia Dortmund after what was a decent 2 year period (33 appearances) spent in Italy. Phew, that took forever. I’ll also mention that since his debut he’s pretty much an irreplaceable factor in our NT.

On The Pitch:
Our very own Fabio Cannavaro. Though he’s taller than his Italian counterpart, their styles are very similar. Athletic, pacey, excellent in the air and ruthless when tackling. Also an excellent reader of the game. To bring him down to earth a little, despite his age, his aggression when defending often translates itself onto his behavior. Meaning he’ll miss a tackle or two, and then go on and get himself booked by usually taking it out on the referee. All in all, our most accomplished defender.

Off The Pitch:
Pretty quiet with his private life, so it’s a guessing game here. I can’t point out a single incident during his career so I think it’s fair to say he’s as professional as they come.

The Good: Experience, aerial ability, anticipation, decent pace, self confidence
The Bad: Dislikes men in black, lacking match fitness, isn’t getting any younger
The Random:
- married a former Miss World runner up
- almost signed for Dinamo Zagreb last summer
- born in Germany (one of our diaspora players)
- captained Croatia on a few occasions