Ivica Kralj

Ivica Kralj

Kralj pictured in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Ivica Kralj
Date of birth	(1973-03-26) 26 March 1973 (age 44)
Place of birth	Kotor, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.97 m (6 ft 5 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Youth career
	Arsenal Tivat
1987–1989	Partizan
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1989–1998	Partizan	69	(0)
1993–1994	→ Jastrebac Niš (loan)	13	(0)
1994–1995	→ Zvezdara (loan)
1998–1999	Porto	7	(0)
1999	→ Radnički Kragujevac (loan)	3	(0)
1999–2002	PSV	7	(0)
2001	→ Partizan (loan)	6	(0)
2003–2007	Partizan	74	(0)
2007	Rostov	0	(0)
2008–2009	Spartak Trnava	17	(0)
Total		196	(0)
National team
1996–2001	FR Yugoslavia	41	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Ivica Kralj (Cyrillic: Ивица Краљ; born 26 March 1973) is a Montenegrin former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

A journeyman, Kralj is best known for his time at Partizan, having three spells at the club and winning five major trophies. He also played for Porto and PSV, but struggled to make an impact.

At international level, Kralj represented FR Yugoslavia in one World Cup and one European Championship, reaching the knockout stage in both tournaments.

Born in Kotor and raised in Tivat, Kralj started out at his local club Arsenal Tivat, before joining Partizan as a trainee in the summer of 1987. He broke into their first team at the age of 16, sitting on the bench during a 4–5 away loss to Celtic in the second leg of the European Cup Winners' Cup first round on 27 September 1989. In order to gain experience, Kralj was later loaned to Jastrebac Niš (1993–94) and Zvezdara (1994–95), before returning to Partizan. He made his league debut for the club in the 1995–96 season, as they won the championship title. In the 1996–97 season, Partizan won their second consecutive title, as Kralj became the club's undisputed first-choice goalkeeper and earned his first national team cap. He also won the national cup in the 1997–98 season, before going abroad.