Vintage

Croatian midfielder Robert Kovac (R) vies with Andorra's Juli Sanchez, 06 September 2003 at the Communal stadium in Andorre-la-Vieille, during their Euro 2004 qualification match. AFP PHOTO PASCAL PAVANI

Robert Kovac is a dependable central defender whose improvement with age has been rewarded with a regular place in Croatia's national line up, as well as the great challenge of joining Bayern Munich.

Robert and his midfielder brother Niko were born in Berlin in former East Germany and qualify to play for Croatia through their immigrant parents.

As well as being international teammates the two played together at Bayer Leverkusen between 1996 and 1999, when Niko, two years Robert's senior, left for Hamburg.

Bayer Leverkusen's Croatian Robert Kovac (L) takes the ball away from 1. FC Cologne's Dirk Lottner during their , 10 February 2001 German Bundesliga match in Leverkusen.

But for the start of the 2001-02 season Ottmar Hitzfeld recruited the two brothers for Bayern Munich, a move Robert described as the chance of a lifetime, a challenge he has proven equal to, by establishing himself as the lynchpin of the Bayern defence.

He is known as a brilliant and dogged man marker, a hard and efficient tackler, he has remarkable physical fitness and is above all consistent.

These skills were first honed with five seasons at Bayer Leverkusen, where he was brought on by the brilliant but controversial coach Christophe Daum after a year at Nuremburg.

Late call

A couple of weeks after his 25th birthday he won his first international call up for a game against Italy in April 1999 and made his inroads toward a regular place during qualifying for the 2002 World Cup.

Kovac is no kitten when it comes to the rough stuff and once stopped Scotland's Scott Booth in a World Cup match with what was described at the time as a forearm smash.

Italian defender Christian Panucci (L) fights for the ball with Croatian defender Robert Kovac (R) during the Group G first round match Italy/Croatia of the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan, 08 June 2002 at Kashima Ibaraki stadium. AFP PHOTO ODD ANDERSEN

Out in Asia he played every minute of Croatia's three matches, including their celebrated win over Italy.

Under the strict disciplinarian coach Otto Baric he has become an undisputed feature of the Croatia defence along with Igor Tudor of Juventus, as he has at Bayern alongside Samuel Kuffour.

He had the pleasure of picking up a Bundesliga title and Cup double in 2003 at Bayern, a joy added to in November that year when Croatia squeezed past Slovenia for a place at the Euro 2004 finals where a rebuilt side may fare better than the first round elimination at the 2002 World Cup.