- Dado Pršo
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Dado Pršo Personal information Full name Miladin Pršo Date of birth 5 November 1974 Place of birth Zadar, SFR Yugoslavia Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Playing position Striker Youth career 1981–1983 Bagat 1983–1986 Zadar Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1986–1992 Hajduk Split 47 (8) 1992–1993 Pazinka 25 (7) 1993–1995 Rouen 10 (1) 1995–1996 Fréjus 18 (7) 1996–2004 Monaco 101 (28) 1997–1999 → Ajaccio (loan) 53 (21) 2004–2007 Rangers 94 (31) Total 348 (103) National team 2003–2006 Croatia 32 (9) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).Miladin "Dado" Pršo (born on 5 November 1974 in Zadar) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Pršo played for seven different teams and made over 300 league appearances as a professional. He was part of the Monaco team that reached the Uefa Champions League final in 2004, and part of the Rangers team that won the League and cup double in 2005.
Pršo received 32 caps for Croatia and was part of the squad at Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006. He retired in June 2007 from the Scottish Premier League club Rangers.[1]
Contents
Career
Early career
Pršo started playing professionally in 1991 with the hometown squad NK Zadar. He was then briefly in Hajduk Split, and then in the second-league team NK Pazinka from Pazin, without making much impact in any of these clubs. In 1993 he moved to France to play for FC Rouen, and then moved to Saint Raphael[disambiguation needed
] in 1995, where he worked as a car mechanic while he continued playing football.[2]Monaco
In 1996, then-AS Monaco manager Jean Tigana noticed Pršo and bought the striker, although he would spend that season in the reserve side (alongside David Trezeguet), he was sent on loan to AC Ajaccio. In 1999, he helped AS Monaco win the national championship. Pršo also helped them to the UEFA Champions League final in 2004. He is perhaps best remembered for his four-goal performance in the 8-3 win over Deportivo La Coruña (a game which was played on his birthday), which was the highest scoring Champions League scoreline.[3] That night, he also equaled the competition record, joining Marco van Basten (A.C. Milan 4 IFK Göteborg 0, 1992) and Simone Inzaghi (S.S. Lazio 5 Olympique de Marseille 1, 2000) as the competition's top scorer in a single match.[4]
Rangers
In May 2004, Pršo signed for Scottish side Rangers on a free transfer. In his first season at Rangers he played 34 league matches, scoring 18 league goals. In the process he helped the club win the League and League Cup. Departing Rangers manager Alex McLeish hailed Pršo as his "best Rangers signing,"[5] at the end of the 2005-06 season.
Pršo remained a member of the 2006-07 Rangers team, despite announcing his retirement from international football. He suggested he would retire from club football on the expiration of his contract in 2007.[6] Despite this, Pršo's agent stated early in 2007 that he would like to continue playing for Rangers if his fitness allowed it,[7] only to announce in February 2007 that his retirement was potentially imminent. Shortly afterwards, it was confirmed that Pršo could play on for a minimum of one season.[8] But this comment proved to be premature as Pršo announced he would part company with Rangers at the end of the 2007 season due to his recurring knee problems.[9] Pršo's agent also stated that he would seek a transfer to a league where physical fitness was not as much of a requirement, rather than end his footballing career completely, and suggested North America and Asia as possible destinations.
At Pršo's last game at Ibrox Stadium, he walked out after the final whistle wearing a brace on his leg due to damage to his ankle. He waved at the 50,000 fans who waited, and was then given the "Guard of Honour" by his teammates, led by Barry Ferguson before going back up the tunnel with tears in his eyes.[10]
It was announced on 8 June 2007 that Rangers would release a DVD featuring highlights of Pršo's three seasons at Ibrox, with a large amount of proceeds donated to the Rangers Charity Foundation.[11]
International career
Pršo received 32 international caps for Croatia, scoring nine times. Pršo was part of the Croatian team at UEFA Euro 2004 where he played in three games. Pršo is remembered in this tournament for the one goal he scored against France in Leiria on 17 June 2004. After scoring four goals during qualifying he was selected to represent his country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. But he scored no goals during the tournament itself (where the team, as in 2004, was eliminated after the first round).
Career statistics
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total 1997/98 Ajaccio Championnat National 23 8 1998/99 Division 2 30 13 1999/00 AS Monaco Division 1 20 2 2000/01 21 4 2001/02 11 2 2002/03 Ligue 1 20 12 2003/04 29 8 Scotland League Scottish Cup League Cup Europe Total 2004/05 Rangers Premier League 34 18 2005/06 32 9 2006/07 28 4 Total France 154 47 Scotland 94 31 Career total 248 78 International goals
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 01. 29 March 2003 Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia 
Belgium2 – 0 4 – 0 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying 02. 15 November 2003 Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia 
Slovenia1 – 0 1 – 1 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying 03. 19 November 2003 Stadion Bežigrad, Ljubljana, Slovenia Slovenia0 – 1 0 – 1 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying 04. 17 June 2004 Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria, Portugal 
France2 – 1 2 – 2 UEFA Euro 2004 05. 4 September 2004 Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia 
Hungary1 – 0 3 – 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying 06. 26 March 2005 Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia 
Iceland4 – 0 4 – 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying 07. 30 March 2005 Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia 
Malta1 – 0 3 – 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying 08. 30 March 2005 Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia Malta2 – 0 3 – 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying 09. 28 May 2006 Gradski vrt, Osijek, Croatia 
Iran1 – 1 2 – 2 Friendly References
- ^ "Prso to part company with Rangers". BBC Sport website. 29 March 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/6507141.stm.
- ^ Croatia's Prso - mechanic who turned into first-class attacker
- ^ Edgar, Bill (28 September 2004). "Game of the week: AS Monaco v Deportivo La Coruña". London: The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/european_football/article487409.ece. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
- ^ World Cup Soccer. All the top world soccer news daily. News from international soccer. World Cup
- ^ "The Dado Of 'Em All". Sunday Mail. 7 May 2006. http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/sport/football/tm_objectid=17042158%26method=full%26siteid=64736%26headline=the%2ddado%2dof%2d%2dem%2dall-name_page.html.
- ^ "Prso fears he is in final season". BBC News. 24 May 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/5210400.stm.
- ^ "Rangers striker shelves retirement plans". ESPN Soccernet. 18 January 2007. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=400459&cc=5739.
- ^ "Prso given all-clear to play on". BBC Sport website. 7 February 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/6323373.stm.
- ^ "Prso to part company with Rangers". BBC News. 29 March 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/6507141.stm.
- ^ "TEARIO DADO; Prso breaks down as Gers stars give him an emotional send-off.". The Daily Record. 14 May 2007. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Football%3A+TEARIO+DADO%3B+Prso+breaks+down+as+Gers+stars+give+him+an...-a0163320881. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
- ^ "Dado Prso DVD". Rangers FC website. 8 June 2007. http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Headlines/0,,5~1033937,00.html.
- ^ ダド・プルソ
External links
- Pršo Fansite
- The Men Who Matter: Dado Prso
- France Presse: Nade Hrvatske ovise o mehaničaru Prši (Croatian)
- Dado Pršo career stats at Soccerbase
- Pršo's DVD
Croatia squad – UEFA Euro 2004 
Croatia squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup Croatian Footballer of the Year Categories:- 1974 births
- Living people
- Croatian footballers
- Croatia international footballers
- Croatian expatriate footballers
- Association football forwards
- NK Zadar players
- HNK Hajduk Split players
- FC Rouen players
- AC Ajaccio players
- AS Monaco FC players
- Expatriate footballers in France
- Expatriate footballers in Monaco
- Expatriate footballers in Scotland
- Rangers F.C. players
- UEFA Euro 2004 players
- 2006 FIFA World Cup players
- People from Zadar
- Ligue 1 players
- Scottish Premier League players
- Prva HNL players
- Franjo Bučar Award winners
- NK Pazinka players
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