Stipe Pletikosa (; born 8 January 1979) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. As of 29 July 2021, he works at the

Croatian Football Federation The Croatian Football Federation ( hr, Hrvatski nogometni savez, HNS) is the governing body of association football in Croatia. It was originally formed in 1912 and is based in the capital city of Zagreb. The organisation is a member of both FIF ...

as the technical director of the national senior and under-21 teams. Pletikosa began his professional career with

Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...

in Croatia, transferred to Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine, then joined Spartak Moscow in 2007. After spending one season with Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League, he returned to Russia in 2011 with Rostov, then moved to

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

in 2015, where he retired. Pletikosa made his international debut for Croatia in 1999, and went on to represent the country in five major tournaments. He is the fourth-most capped player in the history of the Croatian national team after Luka Modrić, Darijo Srna and Ivan Perišić, having made 114 appearances. Pletikosa retired from international football following the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting rig ...

Club career

Hajduk Split

Pletikosa began his career at Croatian club

. He was selected as first-team goalkeeper for the 1998–99 season by manager Ivan Katalinić, replacing the veteran Tonči Gabrić. Hajduk fans nicknamed him "Octopus" ("''Hobotnica''") for his excellent reflexes and coordination. In 2002, he was named by magazine ''

Večernji list ''Večernji list'' (also known as ''Večernjak''; ) is a Croatian daily newspaper published in Zagreb. History and profile ''Večernji list'' was started in Zagreb in 1959. Its ancestor ''Večernji vjesnik'' ("Evening Courier") appeared for the ...

'' as Croatian Player of the Year, the only goalkeeper other than

Zoran Simović Zoran Simović (Cyrillic: Зоран Симовић; born 2 November 1954) is a former Yugoslav and Montenegrin footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Simović was named the Yugoslav Footballer of the Year in 1983. He also won the Turkish Foo ...

to have won the award.

Shakhtar Donetsk

In 2003, Pletikosa and teammate Darijo Srna transferred to Shakhtar Donetsk for €2 million. Unlike Srna, Pletikosa did not succeed at the club and was subsequently loaned back to Hajduk in 2005. His second spell at Hajduk proved successful and earned him a starting place in Croatia's 2006 World Cup squad. Pletikosa returned to Shakhtar the following season, but found himself second choice to Jan Laštůvka, prompting the goalkeeper to seek a move. Shakhtar accepted a bid of €3 million from Dinamo Zagreb, but Pletikosa rejected the move due to his loyalty to Hajduk, Dinamo's biggest rivals. A loan move to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...

also fell through as he could not gain a work permit.

Spartak Moscow

On 7 March, the Russian football federation's transfer deadline day, Pletikosa signed a three-year, €3 million contract to join Spartak Moscow. He featured regularly for the first-team until 2009, when he was less favoured by manager Valeri Karpin. On 31 August 2010, Pletikosa signed a season-long loan with Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League. He made his Tottenham debut in a 4–1 home defeat against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the League Cup on 21 September 2010. It was his only appearance for the club. In July 2011, Pletikosa began a trial at

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

club Celtic, playing in friendly matches away to

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

and at home to Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers. In August 2011, manager

Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player. During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, wher ...

decided not to keep him as a member of the squad.

Rostov

On 6 August 2011, Pletikosa signed a two-year contract with

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 200 ...

club Rostov.

Deportivo La Coruña

On 20 December 2015, Pletikosa signed a six-month deal with

side

, mainly as a replacement for the injured Fabricio.

International career

Pletikosa made his Croatia senior debut as a 20-year-old against

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in 1999, winning plaudits for his dog-like reflexes and shot-stopping. But insecurity over the handling of high balls took a heavy toll at the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Slovakia, where Croatia finished last in their group. Pletikosa worked hard to correct the weaknesses in his game. Under former Croatia head coach Mirko Jozić, he became his country's first-choice goalkeeper, playing all three matches at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea ...

finals. Pletikosa blossomed, using all of his 1.93-metre frame when dealing with difficult crosses. Named as Croatia's first-choice goalkeeper at the

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. Th ...

in Portugal, he sustained an injury a few days before the beginning of the tournament and was replaced by reserve goalkeeper Tomislav Butina. Butina retained the position of number one goalkeeper during the qualification rounds for the 2006 World Cup. As a result, Pletikosa appeared in only two qualifying matches. Nevertheless, Pletikosa was chosen over Butina in the finals, since Butina was still recovering from an injury sustained early in the year. At Euro 2008, Pletikosa was named

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

in Croatia's opening victory against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, making many saves to preserve Croatia's 1–0 lead from an early penalty. On 16 June 2008, during the match between Austria and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, BBC pundit

Alan Hansen Alan David Hansen (born 13 June 1955) is a Scottish former footballer and BBC television football pundit. He played as a central defender for Partick Thistle, for the successful Liverpool team of the late 1970s and 1980s, and for the Scot ...

stated his belief that Pletikosa had been "the best goalkeeper in the tournament" up to that point, ahead of more well-known contemporaries such as Petr Čech,

Gianluigi Buffon Gianluigi Buffon (; born 28 January 1978) is an Italian professional footballer who captains and plays as a goalkeeper for the club Parma. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. He is one of the few recorded ...

and Iker Casillas, although his colleague Alan Shearer said Edwin van der Sar had been equally impressive. However, Buffon, Casillas and Van der Sar were eventually voted to the Team of the Tournament. On 6 February 2013, Pletikosa played his 100th international match for Croatia, keeping a clean sheet in a 4–0 defeat of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. In the opening match of the 2014 World Cup, played on 12 June against hosts

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, a penalty was given against Croatia with the match tied 1–1. Pletikosa made contact with Neymar's spot kick, but could not prevent it from going in. Croatia eventually lost 3–1. On 17 July 2014, following the World Cup, Pletikosa announced his retirement from the national team. Brazil and Croatia match at the FIFA World Cup 2014-06-12 (14)

Brazil and Croatia match at the FIFA World Cup 2014-06-12 (14)

Personal life

Pletikosa is a practising

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

who was known to wear a T-shirt with a picture of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

under his uniform for good luck when he played.

Career statistics

Club

:Source:

International

:Source:

Honours

Hajduk Split * Prva HNL: 2000–01 * Croatian Cup: 1999–2000, 2002–03 Shakhtar Donetsk * Vyshcha Liha: 2004–05 * Ukrainian Super Cup:

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

Rostov * Russian Cup: 2013–14 Individual * Heart of Hajduk Award: 2000, 2002 * Prva HNL Player of the Year: 2001, 2002 * Croatian Footballer of the Year: 2002

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pletikosa, Stipe 1979 births Living people Footballers from Split, Croatia Association football goalkeepers Croatian footballers Croatia youth international footballers Croatia under-21 international footballers Croatia international footballers 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players UEFA Euro 2012 players 2014 FIFA World Cup players FIFA Century Club HNK Hajduk Split players FC Shakhtar Donetsk players FC Spartak Moscow players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players FC Rostov players Deportivo de La Coruña players Croatian Football League players Ukrainian Premier League players Russian Premier League players La Liga players Croatian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Russia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate footballers in England Croatian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in Spain Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Spain