Aljoša Asanović is a retired Croatian footballer best known from his performances in the mid-to-late 90s when he played for Derby County and for Croatia during Euro 96 and World Cup 98. He was nicknamed "Vatreni Lakat" for his style of running with elbow pointed out, moving opposing players.
Club career
Early days
Born in Split, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia, Asanović started his professional career with Hajduk Split in 1984. This was first of the three spells he had with Hajduk, as he came back to play for the club in 1994 and 2001 respectively. In his first spell with Hajduk, he played until the 1990, when he was signed by the French club FC Metz.
French clubs
He spent one season with FC Metz, during which he made total of 35 appearances and scored 13 goals. In the summer of 1991, he moved to another French club, AS Cannes, where he also spent only one season. In the beginning of the 1992/93 season he was signed by his third club in France: Montpellier HSC. He appeared in total of 43 matches and scored 10 goals in the process. He stayed with the club for two seasons, until the summer of 1994.
Hajduk Split
After four season in France, he was summoned by his native club Hajduk Split in 1994. The club signed Asanović and several other important players such as Igor Štimac, Tonči Gabrić and FC Barcelona youngster Goran Vučević, as they were eager to qualify for 1994–95 UEFA Champions Leaguefor the first time since Croatian independence. Asanović scored two goals in 2nd leg of qualifier against KP Legia Warsaw and Hajduk Split qualified for 1994–95UEFA Champions League. Asanović added another goal in the group stage match against Steaua București. Hajduk went on to reach the quarterfinals of 1994–95 UEFA Champions League where they were eliminated by eventual champions AFC Ajax. During 1994–95 season with Hajduk, Asanović won Croatian league and Cup, appearing in 33 domestic league matches and scoring 8 goals. In the summer of 1995, he was loaned to Spanish La Liga team Real Valladolid.
Derby County
In July 1996 Asanović was signed by Premier League club Derby County, where he played alongside his former Hajduk teammate Igor Štimac. He spent one and a half seasons with Derby County and appeared in 38 domestic league matches. At the start of the 1997–98 season, with the 1998 FIFA World Cup looming in the summer, he was not a regular in the Derby side and decided to leave the club in December 1997 in order to find his form for the summer tournament in France.
Napoli
In winter of 1997, Asanović changed clubs again. After playing for several clubs in Croatia, France, Spain and England he moved to his 5th different professional football league. This time he moved to Italy, as he signed with S.S.C. Napoli. He established himself in the team quickly and managed to make appearance in 15 Serie A games during his 6 months spell with the club, but failed to score a single goal.
Panathinaikos
After some impressive performances at 1998 FIFA World Cup, he signed with Panathinaikos F.C. in Greece. In two seasons with Panathinaikos he appeared in 44 league matches, scoring 9 goals.
Asanović was one of the most important players for the Croatian football team during their golden age from 1994 to 1998. He was arguably Croatia's most intelligent player in midfield, yet lacked the complete package of skills possessed by his fellow midfielder Robert Prosinečki. In his national team debut on 17 October 1990, in a 2–1 victory against the USA which also was Croatia's first international since the independence from Yugoslavia, Asanović even netted the first goal. He participated in the Euro 1996 as well as the 1998 FIFA World Cup, where Croatia won the bronze medal. In semi-final of the world cup, Asanović made the assist to Davor Šuker from the centre of the field with a loop pass, for Croatia to take the lead against the host France. His last international match was a 28May 2000 friendly against France. In total he was capped 62 times, scoring 3 goals, thus ranking among the top five Croatian national players. Asanović ended his active career in 2002 while with Hajduk Split, the club in which his career had started almost twenty years earlier.
