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| Career | |
| Position: | Defender |
| Clubs: | FK Sarajevo (until 1994), NK Marsonia (1994-96), NKH Dragovoljac (1996-97), Bayer Leverkusen (Ger/1997-2003), Portsmouth (Eng/2003-Feb. 2004), VfB Stuttgart (Ger. since Feb. 2004) |
| International appearances: | 34 |
| International goals: | 2 |
| International debut: | 13/11/1999, France-Croatia (3-0) |
| Last international appearance: | 29/05/2004, Croatia-Slovakia (1-0) |
| First international goal: | 13/11/2001, South Korea-Croatia (1-1) |
| Last international goal: | 30/04/2003, Sweden-Croatia (1-2) |
Appearances: 1 (2002), 1 match
Finalist (2002)
Runner-up (2002)
Finalist (2002)
Biography
Croatia captain Boris Zivkovic has had some bitter pills to swallow over the years, experiences that should assure he at least is desperate to do well in Euro 2004's Group B first round against England, France and Switzerland.
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| Chinese referee Lu Jun sends off Croatian midfielder Boris Zivkovic during the Group G first round match Croatia/Mexico of the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan, 03 June 2001 at Niigata Big Swan Stadium. AFP PHOTO TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA |
As one of the new generation in the 2002 World Cup squad he suffered the unwanted distinction of being the first man to be sent off during the finals, in Croatia's opening match against Mexico.
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| Bayern Munich's Brazilian Giovanne Elber (L) fights for the ball with Boris Zivkovic of Bayer 04 Leverkusen during their Bundesliga match, Sunday 03 February 2002 in Munich. AFP PHOTO EPA-DPA/FRANK LEONHARDT |
His side was being overrun by Mexico and his penalty area lunge on Cuauhtaemoc Blanco earned him a red card, ruling him out of the rest of the tournament.
Blanco scored the winner from the subsequent penalty and Croatia never got their World Cup show back on the road.
It was a great pity for the man born in Zivinice in 1975 when it is considered how important his contribution had been during qualifying.
The season preceding that World Cup the Croatia right back was in his sixth year with Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, an agonising never-to-be-forgotten one, coming second in the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League.
Zivkovic took over as captain of Croatia when hardline veteran Otto Baric bacame national coach, and as such played nine of the ten qualifying games for Euro 2004 either at right back, centre back or in midfield.
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| Boris Zivkovic of Croatia (R) fights for the ball with Zlatko Zahovic of Slovenia during their second round of Euro 2004 qualifying soccer match in Ljubljana, 19 November 2003. Croatia won 1:0 and qualified for the 2004 European Soccer Championship in Portugal. AFP PHOTO HRVOJE POLAN |
Croatia came second to Bulgaria in Group 8 ahead of Belgium and then eliminated Slovenia in the play-offs, Zivkovic only standing down for a tie at Andorra.
During that time he helped Leverkusen avoid relegation and moved on a Bosman transfer in June 2003 to English Premiership side Portsmouth on a three-year deal.
In England Zivkovic fell out with coach Harry Redknapp, who had publicly blamed him for a league defeat in December.
Claiming the coach had undermined his confidence Zivkovic and Portsmouth mutually agreed to rip up his contract, and he went back to Germany to look for another club.
It may yet to be a decision Portsmouth regret as Zivkovic is one of the fastest defenders around, thereby making him invaluable when man marking speedy strikers.
During Leverkusen's Champions League run he marked Michael Owen, Thierry Henry and Ruud van Nistelrooy as Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United were eliminated by the Germans.
Owen and Henry will be trying to get past the classy defender again come the first round of Euro 2004, and Zivkovic will have just that little more to prove.