Mirko Grabovac (born 19 September 1971) is a Croatian former professional football player and coach. He had changed his nationality to Singaporean in 2001 in order to play for the Singapore national football team before renouncing it in 2008.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mirko Grabovac | ||
| Date of birth | (1971-09-19) 19 September 1971 (age 51) | ||
| Place of birth | Stobreč, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–1995 | Primorac | 53 | (9) |
| 1995–1996 | Cibalia | 20 | (1) |
| 1996–1997 | Zadarkomerc | 11 | (1) |
| 1997–1999 | Primorac | 33 | (10) |
| 1999–2003 | SAFFC | 137 | (143) |
| 2004–2007 | Tampines Rovers | 100 | (83) |
| 2008 | Sengkang Punggol | 2 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2001–2008 | Singapore | 12 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2008 | Sengkang Punggol (caretaker) | ||
| 2009 | Mosor | ||
| 2009–2013 | Imotski | ||
| 2013–2017 | Mosor | ||
| 2018 | Warriors | ||
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 May 2009 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 24 May 2009 | |||
Grabovac was the top scorer in Singapore's S.League in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 while playing for the Singapore Armed Forces FC (SAFFC), and again in 2005 playing for Tampines Rovers. He was named the S.League's Player of the Year in 2000.
With SAFFC, he scored a total of 150 S.League goals in five seasons along with seven goals in Asian competitions.
In 2007, he scored his 240th S.League goals in the Singapore Cup semi-final against Bangkok University to overtake Egmar Goncalves as the all-time S.League top goalscorer.
A year later, Grabovac was hired by Sengkang Punggol to play as a striker as well as double up as the assistant coach under head coach Saswadimata Dasuki. However, he was unable to pass the mandatory beep test twice, and served as caretaker coach for the Dolphins for a short period, starting with a 1–0 win over Gombak United which was Sengkang's second victory of the season.
Grabovac stepped down two months later as Swandi Ahmad was put in charge of the squad. He decided to leave Singapore on 5 October 2008 to rejoin his family in his native Croatia, renouncing his citizenship as well.
Grabovac started coaching in his native Croatia in 2009, taking charge of NK Mosor. He then joined NK Imotski in the same year, and coached them for 3 years. He then returned to Mosor and coached them for a further 4 years.
In early 2018, Grabovac was announced as the new head coach of his former club Warriors FC, this would mark his return to his former adopted nation in a footballing capacity since he renounced his Singaporean citizenship.[1] The appointment was met with disapproval by Singaporean footballing fans and communities because of his citizenship affair stated above.[2] He received his permit to coach Warriors from the authorities in March 2018.[3] His time with Warriors were a disappointing one, finishing in fifth position out of nine in the 2019 Singapore Premier League.[4] His contract were not renewed beyond that season.[5]
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