It is the obvious comparison: smoking on the pitch as well as off it. The rumours are true. Robert Prosinečki didn't spend his half-times at Portsmouth listening to Graham Rix's probably-not-so-inspiring team talks and tactical innovations. He was in the gents having a crafty cig. Just ask Linvoy Primus – a man so pleasant he physically cannot lie – and he will tell you the same. Prosinečki didn't need to listen though, because this was a footballer so talented that the English Championship was just child's play to him. It is a wonder how this mercurial, overweight, cigarette-puffing 32-year-old playmaker wound up on the south coast at all, but Fratton Park is a richer place because of it.Serbian-American businessmanMilan Mandarić had taken over Portsmouth in 1998, and they continued a habit of flirting inappropriately with (but never quite committing to) relegation to the third tier. Things had got just a bit too serious in May 2001, when a final-day 3-0 win at home to Barnsley was required to keep Pompey in the division. This wasn't the vision of English football Mandarić had signed up for. The trend needed to be arrested – and quickly. It required a talismanic figurehead to be the face of this 'sleeping giant' breaking free of its Division 1 snooze and finally mixing it with the big boys. Mandarić had just the man for the job, "a present to the Pompey fans," he said – and what a present it turned out to be.READ MORE: Dimitar Berbatov – Artist. Genius. Failure?Let's give this some context to really demonstrate what a coup this was for Mandarić. Robert Prosinečki was a bona fide superstar throughout the early nineties, but his rise to prominence did not come about without controversy. Even as a 17-year-old who scored on his professional debut at Dinamo Zagreb, his father fell out with then head coach Miroslav Blazevic, who famously claimed that he would eat his coaching certificates if Prosinečki ever became a successful footballer. A move to Red Star Belgrade swiftly followed. He flourished and had soon become one of Europe's hottest young talents, winning three league titles, one Yugoslav Cup and the crowning glory: the 1991 European Cup, in which 22-year-old Prosinečki opened the scoring in the penalty shootout. These four trophy-laden years led to a €15million move to Real Madrid, but despite massive expectations of the young Yugoslav, injuries and a perceived lack of adherence to the expected lifestyle meant he never reached his potential.He spent three more years in Spain after his stint at Real Madrid, turning out for then top-tier side Oviedo, as well as Sevilla and Barcelona (becoming only the eighth footballer to play for Real Madrid and then Barcelona). Internationally, he has the claim to have played for both Yugoslavia and Croatia, turning out for the former in the 1990 World Cup and for the latter at Euro 96. He was then a part of the Croatia squad that finished third at France 98, scoring twice in the third-place play-off.Read more on VICE Sports.
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