26 Facts About Zvonimir Boban

Zvonimir Boban captained the Croatia national team which won third place at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Zvonimir Boban scored three times in this tournament, as well as scoring in the final and then converting the decisive penalty in the shootout.

Since retiring from playing in 2002, Zvonimir Boban gained a history degree from the University of Zagreb.

Zvonimir Boban has become a football pundit on Croatian and Italian television, working most notably for Sky Italia and RTL Televizija.

Bari were relegated in this season, but Zvonimir Boban ably demonstrated his ability in the team and was recalled to Milan.

Zvonimir Boban stayed in the club for nine seasons, and enjoyed great success with them, helping the team to the 1994 Champions League title and contributing to the 1995 campaign in which they ended as runners-up.

Zvonimir Boban played a big part in Yugoslavia's win in 1987 World Youth Championship.

Zvonimir Boban scored three goals for Yugoslavia in this tournament, and scored a decisive penalty in the final shootout.

Zvonimir Boban played his last game for Yugoslavia on 16 May 1991 against the Faroe Islands, during which he scored his only goal for Yugoslavia.

Zvonimir Boban played his first international match for Croatia against a Romanian side on 22 December 1990.

Zvonimir Boban played his last match for the national team in a friendly against France on 13 November 1999.

Zvonimir Boban blamed back pain for his decision to quit international football, but would go on to play in two more seasons of club football.

Zvonimir Boban was a member of the Croatian team that finished third at the 1998 World Cup, captaining the squad at that tournament, as he had at the 1996 European Football Championship.

Croatia went on to defeat the Netherlands, with Zvonimir Boban providing the pass to Davor Suker to score the winner, allowing Croatia to attain third place and receive the bronze medal.

Zvonimir Boban was gifted with excellent vision, passing range, dribbling skills, technical ability, and an eye for the final ball; he mixed these attributes with a unique tactical versatility and intelligence, which enabled him to be deployed in several midfield and offensive positions throughout his career.

Zvonimir Boban officially retired from football in 2002 after receiving little pitch time at Celta Vigo.

On 7 October 2002, Zvonimir Boban organised and played in a farewell testimonial, with Croatia's 1998 World Cup team supported by tennis star Goran Ivanisevic matching up against a World XI featuring such stars as Rivaldo, Marco van Basten and Lothar Matthaus.

Since retiring from football, Zvonimir Boban, always known to be a literary man, completed his history degree at the University of Zagreb.

Zvonimir Boban graduated from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb in 2004, with a thesis named "Christianity in the Roman Empire".

Zvonimir Boban started a career in sports journalism, being the administration president for the Croatian daily sports newspaper Sportske novosti, a co-commentator during live broadcasts of the Croatia national team's away matches on the country's commercially-funded national TV station RTL Televizija as well as a commentator for SKY Italia and columnist for La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Zvonimir Boban has always maintained that he would never become a coach.

On 30 May 2016, Zvonimir Boban was appointed FIFA's Deputy Secretary-General, focusing on developing the game and the organization of competitions.

Zvonimir Boban has been immediately among the endorsers of the implementation of technology on the field and played a fundamental role in the development of the video assistant referee.

Zvonimir Boban has shown the same commitment, heart, and passion at FIFA that characterized his attitude on the pitch.

In June 2019, Zvonimir Boban resigned from his FIFA job to return to his former club AC Milan where he was hired as a Chief Football Officer, the closest cooperator of the club's technical director Paolo Maldini.

Zvonimir Boban is known to be close friends with Goran Ivanisevic, with whom he plays at his private indoor clay tennis court.