Branko Strupar
Encyclopedia
Branko Strupar is a former Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n-Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 striker
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

. In 1999, he became a naturalised Belgian by marriage. He consequently played for the Belgium national football team with whom he played 17 matches and scored 5 times.

Early career

Born in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

 and raised in Prečko (the west of Zagreb), the first club he played for was NK Špansko
NK Špansko
NK Špansko is a Croatian football club based in the city of Zagreb, founded on 16 February 1958. It used to be one of the strongest second division teams in Croatia. Nowadays , NK Špansko is playing in the third Croatian league.-Colors and club badge:...

.

Career

Strupar played in Belgium for KRC Genk
K.R.C. Genk
Koninklijke Racing Club Genk , usually referred to as Racing Genk or simply Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and they have won 3 Belgian champion titles in 1998–99, in 2001–02 and in 2010–11 as...

, winning promotion in the Belgian First Division in 1996 and becoming champion of Belgium with the same team in 1999. He also finished Player of the Year. In 1998, he finished top scorer with 22 goals. He moved to Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

 in December 1999, where he most notably scored the first British league goal of the year 2000 after two minutes against Watford
Watford F.C.
Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...

. While at Derby
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

 Strupar gained cult status with his prolific scoring ability.

Despite an excellent goals-to-games ratio when fit, injuries curtailed his Derby career, and he was eventually given a free transfer, with which he returned to Croatia for a brief spell at Dinamo Zagreb
Dinamo Zagreb
GNK Dinamo Zagreb, commonly referred to as Dinamo Zagreb , or by their nickname Modri are a Croatian football club based in Zagreb. They play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Croatian football, having won thirteen Croatian championship titles, ten...

to wind up his career.

Personal life

Strupar currently lives in Zagreb with his wife, daughters Dora and Laura and his son Bruno, born 16 March 2007.
He is also currently a sport commentator in Croatian network RTL in Barclays Premier League broadcast along with Filip Brkić.
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