Miladin “Dado” Pršo ['da?d? 'pr??] (born 5 November 1974 in Zadar, Croatia) is a professional football player who currently plays as a striker for Scottish Premier League club Rangers F.C. as well as the Croatian national team. Before turning professional Pršo was a full time car mechanic in Croatia.
There are contradicting claims about Pršo’s ethnicity. A number of Western media outlets reported that he is an ethnic Serb. On the other hand in November 2003 on the occasion of Croatia’s qualifying playoff tie for Euro 2004 versus Slovenia, Pršo was quoted in Croatian sports daily newspaper (Sportske Novosti) saying he is a Croat, and adding that “the rest is nonsense”. He also stated his Croatian affiliation at a news conference in 2004 after the match with France where he scored and was proclaimed “the man of the match”.
Pršo started playing professionally in 1991 with the hometown squad NK Zadar. He was then briefly in Hajduk Split, and then in the second-league team NK Pazinka from Pazin, without making much impact in any of these clubs. In 1993 he moved to France to play for FC Rouen, and then moved to San Raphael in 1995.
In 1996, the AS Monaco manager Jean Tigana noticed him and acquired him for Monaco. Once there, he became part of the second team and went on loan to AC Ajaccio. After two years there, in 1999 he returned to Monaco and that season the club won the French championship.
Pršo also helped AS Monaco to the UEFA Champions League final in 2004. He is well remembered for his four goal performance in the 8-3 drubbing of Deportivo de La Coruña (a game which was played on his birthday – 5 November), the highest scoring Champions League scoreline.
He was part of the Croatian team at Euro 2004 where he played in three games. Pršo is remembered in this tournament for the one goal he scored against France in Leiria on 17 June 2004.
Dado Pršo is featured on a board football game in Croatia, wearing his popular #9 jersey of the national team.
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Dado Pršo is featured on a board football game in Croatia, wearing his popular #9 jersey of the national team.
Over time, Pršo became an essential part of the Croatian attack formation. He contributed numerous good plays during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying rounds, but scored no goals during the tournament itself (where the team was eliminated after the first round).
In recent years, Pršo has exhibited a somewhat peculiar problem with his knees – after every game where he plays the full time, his knees get swollen to the extent that he sometimes cannot play for several days. This has resulted in some time spent outside the Rangers first-team. Departing Rangers manager Alex McLeish hailed Pršo as his “best Rangers signing”, at the end of the 2005-06 season.
Pršo has remained a member of the 2006-2007 Rangers team under new manager Paul Le Guen, despite announcing his retirement from international football. He has suggested he will retire from club football on the expiration of his current contract in 2007.
Clubs
NK Zadar
Hajduk Split
NK Pazinka
FC Rouen
San Raphael
AS Monaco (1996-2004)
AC Ajaccio (loan)
Rangers (2004-)