Quick Facts
Biography
Predrag "Peđa" Mijatović (Serbian Cyrillic: Предраг "Пеђа" Мијатовић, pronounced [prêdraɡ mijǎtoʋit͡ɕ]; born 19 January 1969) is a former footballer who played as a striker. At club level, Mijatović played for six different clubs: Budućnost Podgorica, Partizan, Valencia, Real Madrid, Fiorentina and Levante. At international level, he played for the Yugoslavia national team at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and at UEFA Euro 2000.
Mijatović scored 28 goals in the 1995–96 La Liga season for Valencia, which prompted a move to Real Madrid, where he scored a goal in the 1998 UEFA Champions League Final which ensured Madrid's first European Cup in 32 years. In 1997, Mijatović was named runner-up for the Ballon d'Or, behind Ronaldo and ahead of Zinedine Zidane.
Club career
Budućnost
In 1987–88, Mijatović became a regular at Budućnost Titograd under newly arrived head coach Stanko Poklepović. In October 1987, as part of the Yugoslav youth squad which competed in and won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile, Mijatović had a notable tournament. Playing in Chile meant he was away from Budućnost for all of October. Coming back to the club as a hero, young Mijatović's spot on the squad was now cemented alongside Dejan Savićević, Dragoljub Brnović and Branko Brnović, who also represented Yugoslavia in Chile. Mijatović made 31 league appearances and contributed four goals as Budućnost finished the season in ninth position.
During the winter of 1989–90, Mijatović nearly signed with Hajduk Split after negotiating with Hajduk's sporting director Jurica Jerković, with even a DM50,000 pre-contract payment given to the player. However, Partizan club president Mirko Marjanović stepped in and convinced Mijatović to join the Belgrade-based club instead. In December 1989, Partizan ultimately paid a DM1 million transfer fee to Budućnost for Mijatović. In later interviews, Mijatović said a deteriorating political and security situation in Yugoslavia was a factor in his decision not to join the Croatian club Hajduk.
Partizan
Though he scored on his Partizan debut against his former club Budućnost, Mijatović's debut half season in the new club under head coach Ivan Golac was mostly spent settling into the new surroundings. He failed to score in his following 14 league appearances until the end of the 1989–90 league season.
However, Mijatović continued improving, becoming the squad's undisputed leader during 1991–92 season under head coach Ivica Osim, and leading Partizan to the 1992 Yugoslav Cup title over reigning European Cup champions Red Star Belgrade. He was also named Yugoslav Footballer of the Year award en route.
At Partizan, Mijatović had been linked with various top European sides, including Atlético Madrid and Juventus. However, none of them expressed sufficient interest, and he eventually joined Valencia in the summer of 1993.
Valencia
Mijatović made his Valencia debut on 5 September 1993 against Real Oviedo. He won the Spanish Footballer of the Year award in the 1995–96 season, scoring 28 goals in 40 La Liga matches.
Real Madrid
Mijatović joined Real Madrid from Valencia and won the La Liga title in his first season, as well as the 1997 Supercopa de España over Barcelona.
In the 1997–98 season, Real Madrid won the Champions League for the first time in 32 years, defeating Juventus. Mijatović scored the only goal in the final.
The |1998–99 season was Mijatović's final season with Los Blancos; at the end of the season, the 30-year-old Mijatović was sold to Italian Serie A club Fiorentina.
Fiorentina
Mijatović arrived at the Florence-based club in the summer of 1999 for 17 billion Italian lire. He played just two years with the club, scoring just four goals but adding a Coppa Italia title to his honours.
International career
Mijatović began his career in the youth categories of the former Yugoslavia team. He was included in the squad for the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship.
World Cup 1998
During the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, Mijatović scored one goal in four matches, helping his country to the second round, where Yugoslavia was eliminated by the Netherlands.
Euro 2000
Mijatović played at UEFA Euro 2000 for Yugoslavia.
Personal life
Born in Titograd, SR Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia, Mijatović grew up in the Masline neighbourhood on the town outskirts. He is of Cuce clan ancestry.
Mijatović's personal life has been well-publicized due to his turbulent relationship with Belgrade socialite Elena Karaman Karić. They were married for one-and-a-half years during the early 1990s, and had two sons before divorcing. During the divorce proceedings, he often wore a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball cap with the initials "L.A.", dedicated to their sons Luka and Andreja. On 3 June 2009, the official website of Real Madrid stated Andreja, aged 15, died after a long illness, and offered its "deepest sympathies on behalf of the entire club and its members".
Post-playing
After retiring in 2004, Mijatović continued living in the city of Valencia and soon became a player agent.
Real Madrid director of football
In 2006, Mijatović became Real Madrid's director of football, serving in the position for three seasons.
After Real Madrid
Through his friendship with Anzhi Makhachkala general manager German Chistyakov, Mijatović was reportedly part of the three-man delegation (the other two were Anzhi's transfer man German Tkachenko and Serbian player agent Vlado Lemić) the Russian club deployed to Milan on 9 August 2011 for initial negotiations with Internazionale (represented by sporting director Marco Branca and vice-president Rinaldo Ghelfi) over the transfer of striker Samuel Eto'o.
Honours
Club
- Partizan
- Yugoslav First League: 1992–93
- Yugoslav Cup: 1988–89, 1991–92
- Real Madrid
- La Liga: 1996–97
- Supercopa de España: 1997
- UEFA Champions League: 1997–98
- Intercontinental Cup: 1998
- Fiorentina
- Coppa Italia: 2000–01
Individual
- FR Yugoslavia player of the Year: 1992, 1993, 1998
- La Liga Best Foreign Player: 1995-96
- Ballon d'Or: Runner-up 1997