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Robert Kovač (Croatian pronunciation: [rǒbert kǒʋaːtʃ, - kô-];[2][3] born 6 April 1974) is a professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. Born in Germany, he played for the Croatia national team. He was known for his ability with the ball and skill at dispossessing opponents.[4] His older brother is football manager and former player Niko.
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 Kovač with Borussia Dortmund in 2007 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Kovač[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 6 April 1974[1] | ||
| Place of birth | West Berlin, West Germany | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1980–1986 | Rapide Wedding | ||
| 1986–1991 | Hertha Zehlendorf | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1991–1995 | Hertha Zehlendorf | 112 | (12) |
| 1995–1996 | 1. FC Nürnberg | 33 | (1) |
| 1996–2001 | Bayer Leverkusen | 127 | (1) |
| 2001–2005 | Bayern Munich | 94 | (1) |
| 2005–2007 | Juventus | 35 | (1) |
| 2007–2008 | Borussia Dortmund | 26 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Dinamo Zagreb | 22 | (0) |
| Total | 449 | (16) | |
| International career | |||
| 1999–2009 | Croatia | 84 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2012–2013 | Croatia U21 (assistant) | ||
| 2013–2015 | Croatia (assistant) | ||
| 2016–2018 | Eintracht Frankfurt (assistant) | ||
| 2018–2019 | Bayern Munich (assistant) | ||
| 2020–2022 | AS Monaco (assistant) | ||
| 2022–2024 | VfL Wolfsburg (assistant) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
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Early career
Kovač started his career in lower league clubs Rapide Wedding and Hertha Zehlendorf before making his Bundesliga debut with 1. FC Nürnberg in 1995. Regularly featuring in the first–eleven, Kovač attracted much attention to himself and was signed at the end of the season by Leverkusen.
Bayer Leverkusen
He spent the next five seasons in Leverkusen[5] without any significant success, as the club did not win any trophy during that period, although they were three times Bundesliga runners–up.
Bayern Munich
After his contract expired he went to join reigning champions of 2000–01 season and UEFA Champions League title holders, Bayern Munich. In four seasons with Bayern he won two Bundesliga titles, two German Cup titles and the 2001 Intercontinental Cup.
Juventus
On 15 July 2005, he signed for Juventus. He was one of the few first–team players that decided to stay in Juve following its demotion to Serie B. He made a total of 35 appearances and scored one goal before he moved back to Germany, this time for Borussia Dortmund.
Borussia Dortmund
On 1 August 2007, he signed for Borussia Dortmund, alongside another Croatian national team star, Mladen Petrić, who signed for the club two months earlier. Kovač had an unsuccessful comeback to the Bundesliga and was sold to Dinamo Zagreb at the winter transfer window of 2008–09 season.
Dinamo Zagreb
On 29 January 2009, close to the January transfer window deadline, he signed a 1+1⁄2-year contract with Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb.[6] The club previously tried to sign him in the summer of 2007, but failed to meet his demands.[7] Borussia Dortmund were compensated with €450,000. In his debut season Kovač made 12 appearances in the league and two more in Croatian Cup. He started the 2009–10 season with a foot injury and missed all of Dinamo's matches in July and August, but returned to action at the start of the September.[8] Kovač finished the season with a total of 22 appearances for Dinamo in all competitions, before it was officially announced on 1 June 2010 that he retired from active football.[9]
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Kovač represented Croatia in two World Cups, 2002 and 2006, and has also participated at two European Championships, 2004 and 2008.[10] At World Cup 2006 he played well in defence, however after picking up a second yellow against Japan he missed the final group match against Australia through suspension. Without Kovač, Croatia struggled in defence with his replacement Tomas committing handball for Australia's first goal via penalty kick. Croatia eventually drew 2–2 with Australia but were eliminated from the tournament. With Croatia, Leverkusen, and Bayern, Kovač was teammates with his older brother Niko Kovač. He retired from the national team in the fall of 2009, having captained the team after his brother's retirement in 2008. His final international was an October 2009 World Cup qualification match away against Kazakhstan.[11]
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On 21 January 2013, Igor Štimac, the head coach of the Croatia national football team, announced that Kovač, alongside his older brother Niko, would take over as the Croatia national under-21 football team head coach.[12] From October 2013 until September 2015, he was also an assistant manager to his brother, then the head coach of the Croatia senior team.[13]
On 1 July 2018, he became the assistant manager of Bayern Munich.[14] Robert's older brother, Niko, brought Robert with him to Bayern when he took over as the manager of the club. On 3 November 2019, he and his older brother parted ways with the club.[15]
In July 2020, Kovač joined AS Monaco as assistant coach, with Niko serving as manager.[16]
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Kovač, along with his older brother Niko, was born in Berlin to a family of Bosnian Croat immigrants from Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is married to a former Croatian model and Miss World 1995 first runner-up, Anica Kovač.[17]
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| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Germany | League | DFB-Pokal | Other | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 1991–92 | Hertha Zehlendorf | NOFV-Oberliga Mitte | 27 | 1 | 27 | 1 | ||||||
| 1992–93 | 29 | 2 | 29 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1993–94 | 32 | 5 | 32 | 5 | ||||||||
| 1994–95 | Regionalliga North-east | 24 | 4 | 24 | 4 | |||||||
| 1995–96 | Nürnberg | 2. Bundesliga | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 1 | ||||
| 1996–97 | Bayer Leverkusen | Bundesliga | 13 | 0 | 13 | 0 | ||||||
| 1997–98 | 25 | 0 | 25 | 0 | ||||||||
| 1998–99 | 31 | 0 | 31 | 0 | ||||||||
| 1999–00 | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 1 | ||||
| 2000–01 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 0 | ||||||
| 2001–02 | Bayern Munich | 29 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 31 | 0 | |||||
| 2002–03 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 31 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 27 | 0 | ||||
| 2004–05 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 33 | 0 | ||||
| Italy | League | Coppa Italia | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2005–06 | Juventus | Serie A | 18 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 22 | 1 | ||||
| 2006–07 | Serie B | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | |||||
| Germany | League | DFB-Pokal | Other | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2007–08 | Borussia Dortmund | Bundesliga | 22 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | ||
| 2008–09 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||||
| Croatia | League | Croatian Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2008–09 | Dinamo Zagreb | Prva HNL | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 0 | ||||
| Total | Germany | 392 | 14 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 439 | 14 | |
| Italy | 35 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 39 | 1 | ||||||
| Croatia | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 440 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 493 | 15 | ||
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Bayern Munich
Juventus
Dinamo Zagreb
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