Mladen Krstajić is a former Serbian football player who played as a centre back.
Background
Mladen Krstajić was born in Zenica, Social Research Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia to Bosnian Serb mother from Bijeljina and Serb father from Žabljak, Social Research Montenegro. He grew up in Bosnia and Herzegovina and played in the youth squads of NK Čelik Zenica (1984–1992).
Career
He was known for his composure, leadership and defensive ability. He represented Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006. Because of the Bosnian War he and his family moved to Serbia.
Early career After playing in the youth system of NK Čelik, Krstajić moved to Kikinda in April 1992, following the breakout of the Bosnian war.
He started playing with FK Senta for six months. He then moved on the OFK Kikinda, at that time a first league club
At some point of a successful career as a Serbian football player, there comes the time, to decide, whether one wants to play for Partizan or for Zvezda, and Krstajić decided to take the move to Partizan in 1996. According to Krstajić himself, also FK Crvena zvezda was interested in him, but as he comes from a "Partizan" family, he decided to sign a contract with his favourite club
His four and a half years at Partizan was more than successful, winning the national championships three times (1996, 1997, 1999) and also the national cup in 1998.
Werder Bremen and Schalke Since 2004 he played for Football Club Schalke 04, where he was named the new captain on 17 March 2009. Partizan On 5 June 2009, Krstajić signed a two-year contract with his former club FK Partizan. In January 2010, after the departure of Nenad Đorđević, he was named a new Partizan captain.
After two very successful seasons, he played his last professional match on 21 May 2011.
Immediately after retiring he was appointed as the new director of football of the club After less than 6 months as director of football, he was sacked due to a media war against club president Dragan Đurić.
Aleksandar Stanojević resigned as head coach as a result. The day before he was released, Partizan fans Grobari chanted his name as a sign of support during a basketball match against arch rivals KK Crvena Zvezda.
He was capped 59 times for Serbia, and was undoubtedly the leading figure of the "Famous Four" due to his experience and age.
Membership
The other members of the famous four are Ivica Dragutinović, Goran Gavrančić and Nemanja Vidić.