Robert Kovač (Croatian pronunciation: [rǒbert kǒʋaːtʃ, - kô-];^[2][3] born 6 April 1974) is a professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. Born in Germany, he played for the Croatia national team. He was known for his ability with the ball and skill at dispossessing opponents.^[4] His older brother is football manager and former player Niko.

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Robert Kovač

Kovač with Borussia Dortmund in 2007
Personal information
Full name	Robert Kovač[1]
Date of birth	(1974-04-06) 6 April 1974 (age 50)[1]
Place of birth	West Berlin, West Germany
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s)	Centre-back
Youth career
1980–1986	Rapide Wedding
1986–1991	Hertha Zehlendorf
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1991–1995	Hertha Zehlendorf	112	(12)
1995–1996	1. FC Nürnberg	33	(1)
1996–2001	Bayer Leverkusen	127	(1)
2001–2005	Bayern Munich	94	(1)
2005–2007	Juventus	35	(1)
2007–2008	Borussia Dortmund	26	(0)
2009–2010	Dinamo Zagreb	22	(0)
Total		449	(16)
International career
1999–2009	Croatia	84	(0)
Managerial career
2012–2013	Croatia U21 (assistant)
2013–2015	Croatia (assistant)
2016–2018	Eintracht Frankfurt (assistant)
2018–2019	Bayern Munich (assistant)
2020–2022	AS Monaco (assistant)
2022–	VfL Wolfsburg (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Close

Kovač represented Croatia in two World Cups, 2002 and 2006, and has also participated at two European Championships, 2004 and 2008.^[10] At World Cup 2006 he played well in defence, however after picking up a second yellow against Japan he missed the final group match against Australia through suspension. Without Kovač, Croatia struggled in defence with his replacement Tomas committing handball for Australia's first goal via penalty kick. Croatia eventually drew 2–2 with Australia but were eliminated from the tournament. With Croatia, Leverkusen, and Bayern, Kovač was teammates with his older brother Niko Kovač. He retired from the national team in the fall of 2009, having captained the team after his brother's retirement in 2008. His final international was an October 2009 World Cup qualification match away against Kazakhstan.^[11]

On 21 January 2013, Igor Štimac, the head coach of the Croatia national football team, announced that Kovač, alongside his older brother Niko, would take over as the Croatia national under-21 football team head coach.^[12] From October 2013 until September 2015, he was also an assistant manager to his brother, then the head coach of the Croatia senior team.^[13]

On 1 July 2018, he became the assistant manager of Bayern Munich.^[14] Robert's older brother, Niko, brought Robert with him to Bayern when he took over as the manager of the club. On 3 November 2019, he and his older brother parted ways with the club.^[15]

In July 2020, Kovač joined AS Monaco as assistant coach, with Niko serving as manager.^[16]

Kovač, along with his older brother Niko, was born in Berlin to a family of Bosnian Croat immigrants from Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is married to a former Croatian model and Miss World 1995 first runner-up, Anica Kovač.^[17]

As of 13 September 2009^{[18][19][20][21][22]}

Bayern Munich

• Bundesliga: 2002–03, 2004–05
• DFB-Pokal: 2002–03, 2004–05
• Intercontinental Cup: 2001

Juventus

• Serie B: 2006–07

Dinamo Zagreb

• Prva HNL: 2008–09
• Croatian Cup: 2008–09