Rajko Janjanin


Rajko Janjanin is a Yugoslav of Croatian Serb descent former international football player, who played as a midfielder and a manager.

Club career

Janjanin started his professional career in 1975 playing for Dinamo Zagreb, with whom he played for five years, winning the Yugoslav Cup in 1980.
Afterwards, he joined Red Star Belgrade for almost five years. His shining moment took place on 19 September 1984, when he scored a second half hat-trick in the 3–2 win over Benfica for the European Cup after Red Star was down by 0–2. With Red Star he won two Yugoslav First League and a Yugoslav cup in 1982, while he became an international footballer.
In November 1984, Janjanin moved to Greece and joined OFI, where he performed very well and had a decisive contribution to the Cretan team, achieving a second place finish in the following season's championship. In December 1986 his contract was coming to an end and despite the proposal of the management for a renewal, there was a gap between the two sides, since the player was asking for 18 million drachmas for a two-year contract and he was offered much less money. AEK Athens, which were interested in the player, fully met his demands and signed him, despite the opposition from OFI. At AEK he didn't achieve high performances, but occasionally showed samples of his football quality. In the summer of 1988, his contract was terminated and unable to find a club of his interest, Janjanin decided to finish his career.

International career

Janjanin was capped twice for Yugoslavia.

Managerial career

As a coach, Janjanin spent a long time at the P.O. Atsaleniou and then spent many years at the academy of Panathinaikos. In 2006 and in 2012 he served as an assistant of Alberto Malesani and Giannis Vonortas respectively in the men's team. In 2015 he was an assistant of Jasminko Velić at the bench of Episkopi, while he later stayed for a short time as the head coach of the Rethymno team. Then he signed at P.A.O. Krousonas for the 2015–16 season.

Personal life

His brother, Željko was also a footballer.

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb
Red Star