Robert Jarni

Robert Jarni (Čakovec, October 26, 1968) is a Croatian former footballer and coach. He played as a midfielder, winger and left back. He played in this position in the Croatia national football team.

Biography

Jarni started playing football for NK Cakovec, his hometown club. However, he was subsequently signed by Hajduk Split in June 1985.

In February of the following year, Jarni made his professional debut for Hajduk Split, where he played until 1991, when he transferred to Associazione Sportiva Bari of the Italian Serie A.

After his good performances, he was transferred to Torino Football Club, and later to Juventus FC, in 1993 and 1994 respectively.

In June 1995 his most brilliant stage as a footballer began, when he was signed by Real Betis Balompié, a Spanish club from the city of Seville, which plays in the Spanish First Division. In Seville he spent 3 seasons, playing 98 games and scoring 20 goals, a not inconsiderable figure for a full-back, becoming the top assistant in the Spanish First Division in the 1996-97 season.

After a ghost signing for the English Coventry City Football Club in the summer of 1998, he signed for Real Madrid at the same time, where he played for one year. At the end of the same year, Jarni moved to Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, of the Spanish Second Division, with which he would achieve promotion to First Division.

In 2001 he was transferred to Panathinaikos FC in Greece, which would be his last club, since he decided to retire once Croatia had been eliminated from the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup.

Since his retirement he has started in the technical field of football, acting as second coach of Hajduk Split and taking over the club's bench in November 2007, after the resignation of Sergio Kresic.

National team

Jarni retired as the Croatian national team player with the most international appearances of all time, with 81 caps. He has been one of the few players who have represented two countries: he played with the former Yugoslavia in 1990, and with Croatia in the 1996 Euro Cup, in the 1998 World Cup in France and in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup.

With the Croatian national team he scored a goal in the victory against Germany (3-0) in the quarterfinals of France 1998. He had previously been international 7 times with the Yugoslavia national team with another goal to his name.

Clubs as a player

Club	Country	Year
Hajduk Split	Yugoslavia	1986 - 1991
AS Bari	ItalyItaly	1991-1993
Torino FC	ItalyItaly	1993 - 1994
Juventus FC	ItalyItaly	1994 - 1995
Real Betis Balompié	SpainSpain	1995 - 1998
Real Madrid CF	SpainSpain	1998 - 1999
UD Las Palmas	SpainSpain	1999 - 2001
Panathinaikos FC	GreeceGreece	2001 - 2002

Clubs as a coach

Club	Country	Year
Hajduk Split	CroatiaCroatia	2007 - 2008
NK Istra 1961	CroatiaCroatia	2010 - 2011
FK Sarajevo	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina	2013 - 2014
Pécsi Mecsek FC	HungaryHungary	2014 - 2015
Puskás Akadémia FC	HungaryHungary	2015 - 2016
Selection Sub-19	CroatiaCroatia	2017 - 2018
Sub-20 selection	CroatiaCroatia	2018 - 2019
NorthEast United FC	India	2019 - 2020

Titles

International championships

• 1 Intercontinental Cup (Real Madrid, 1998)

National Championships

• 1 Italian League (Juventus, season 1994/1995)
• 1 Italian Cup (Juventus, season 1994/1995)
• 1 Croatian Cup (Hajduk Split, 1990/1991)

Participations in World Cups

Robert Jarni is the only player who participated in the 10 games in which his team played in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, also participating in the 4 games that Croatia played in the 1996 Euro Cup. He was one of the driving forces that They propelled Croatia to a great third place in the 1998 World Cup

Other information

The number 17, his number at Real Betis, was a symbol for many Betis who had him as an idol and this is the reason why players like Joaquín chose that number in honor of Robert Jarni.

Once he retired from football he played futsal for Hajduk Split, eventually competing in the UEFA FutSal (European Futsal Cup), in which he was proclaimed runner-up.