Mirko Grabovac - Goal Machine

Nationality: Croatian

D.O.B: 19 Sep 1971

Club: SAFFC (1999-2003) Tampines Rovers (2004-2007)

Position: Forward

Honours
S-league: 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005
Singapore Cup: 1999, 2004, 2006
ASEAN Club Championship: 2005
Player of the Year: 2000
S-league Top Scorer 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005

Player history

Five-time top scorer in just 9 years, that remarkable stats in whichever league one play in, should secured Mirko Gaboavc’s place in the hall of fame; let alone his other achievements of 4 league titles and 3 Singapore Cup as well as the Player of the Year in 2000.

The then-Croat arrived in Singapore in 1999 as SAFFC started rebuilding after their glorious trio of Velimir Crljen, Ivica Raguz and Jure Eres were all released, after a disappointing 98 season, even as the Warriors retained their league crown, for their dominances were starting to fade.

He wasted no time showing everybody what a goal machine he was as he started to rack in the goals in his first season to finish with 29 goals in 28 matches as well as an addition 7 more in the Asian Cup Winners’ Cup. 

But his goals were not enough in the end to secure the Warriors the title that season as Home United ran away with it and yet he will still win his first medal in Singapore as the club won the Singapore Cup; beating Jurong FC 3-1 in the Final with 2 goals from Gaboavc himself.

A year later, it will be the league crown as Gaboavc played a pivot role yet again with 25 goals in 28 matches.

After 2 consecutive years of impressive performances, - and one is not just talking about his goals but also his deft touches and passes as well as as his amazing dribbling skills in which the ball is glued to his feet - it was no surprise FAS handed him the Player of the Year Award at the end of the 2000 season alongside a League medal and a second Top Scorer trophy.

Surely, he could no be able to better the 2000 season come 2001 but he did as he went on to set an amazing record of 42 domestic goals in 36 games.

It stood the test of time until Aleksandar Duric better it in 2007 but, as of now, nobody has better the 39 league goals he got and it will take some beating to surpass it

With a third consecutive Top Scorer Award in the bag come the talks that FAS was interested in asking Mirko Gaboavc to play for the Lions under the FTS and it was no surprise when the news finally broke - Mirko Grabovac was to play for the Lions in 2002.

But it was no fairytale pairing for despite finishing with yet another Top Scorer Award and a league medal in 2002; he was injured at the crucial junction - before Tiger Cup 02 – in an arranged Philippines friendly which saw him missed a penalty and then go on to limp out of the match.

The then 31-year-old was subsequently left out the Tiger Cup squad and it was a disappointment although he can count it as his blessing instead.

From that point on, Mirko Gaboavc career appeared to have taken a nosedive as he was never able to shake off the injury he suffered and it was a disaster 2003 season as for the first time ever, since his S-league career started, he was not able to secure the Top scorer Award and more shockingly was the fact, he was consistently out-of-form in matches.

The critics rounded up on the Singaporean forward and SAFFC released him at the end of the 03 season.

But, the now, nearly, 33-year-old was to have the last laugh as he joined Tampines Rovers and went to score 28 domestic goals in just 30 games; signaling to his critics that talks he was over-the-hill as nothing but hot air.

His goals saw his new employer, Tampines Rovers, secured their first-ever S-league Double and he was back at the top of the summit once again.

That form had saw him earn his last ever international cap, against Japan, but even the goal machine cum comeback kid had to admit he was not able to continue his international career any longer as his body needed more time to recover now so he called time on it.

Thus, his international career ended without him scoring a single goal for the Lions.

But his club career continue to fly high as he matches his goal tally of 28 domestic goals, a season earlier, to win the Top Scorer Award for the last time, and more importantly, his goals was a pivotal factor - with the Champions successfully defending their league crown.

His 7 goals in Asia that year, in the AFC Cup and ASEAN Club Championship, also aided the Champions cause as they successfully negotiated their way into the quarter-final for AFC Cup as well as win their first international trophy at their first attempt.

Tampines Rovers was now crowned King of ASEAN and the 34 year-old has to take his bow for 1 of his 4 goals at the ASEAN Club Championship came at the crucial time in the Final to level up the score at 2-2 after Pahang have gone ahead 2-0.

The Stags would build on his goal and go on to win the ASEAN trophy 4-2 against Pahang.

By 2006, the decision to call time on his international career back in 04 looked the correct one as age and injury caught up with him once again.

While he managed to hit a respectable 23 goals in all competitions, it was clear he was finding it hard to hit the highs of the previous two seasons as he missed a number of games and he was not even fit enough to start in the Singapore Cup Final that year.

Still, he managed to collect a third Singapore Cup medal as the Stags won the Final 3-2 against Thai side Chonburi.

By 2007, things got ever worse with Mirko Gaboavc nearly not making it to the start of the S-league season as he repeated failed to pass the Beep Test until the last moment and it showed how much fitness he had lost over the years.

The 07 season can only be described as a disappointing one for the now 35-year-old with him failing to score 20 goals for the first time in his S-league career and he lost his place with the Stags as the club felt Gaboavc was wrong to have talked with Sengkang Punggol without permission from them.

He was released at the end of the season and joined Sengkang Punggol as assistant coach cum player but he never saw a single game for the Hougang club as he was never fit enough to pass the Beep Test.

It was the end of the 36-year-old S-league career and even a comeback kid like Gaboavc must have known it.

After a career with 244 domestic goals in just 281 games, Mirko Gaboavc cannot be described as anything other a goal machine even as he has other attributes like his amazing ball skills (Which I must highlight again as he could dribble his way pass opponent as though they were not there and how many can do that)

One can say his abilities are indeed up there among the Asian class, even as he failed to notch a single international goal, for 17 goals in Asian competitions will not be scored without one having some abilities especially with 10 of them in 26 games – a respectable average of 1 goal for every 2.6 games.

A goal machine and an S-league legend, that will be hallmark of Gaboavc time in Singapore. 

Tampines Rovers

Year	League App	Goal	Cup App	Goal
2004	24 (1)	23	6 (1)	5
2005	25	26	4	2
2006	23 (3)	20	4 (1)	1
2007	29 (7)	14	6 (1)	1
Total	101 (11)	83	20 (3)	9

GEYLANG UNITED vs TAMPINES ROVERS – 5/3/04

Tampines Rovers - Asia

Year	Asian App	Goal	Other	Goal
2005	12	7	2	0
2006	6 (3)	2	-	-
2007	6 (3)	1	-	-
Total	24 (6)	10	2	0

SAFFC

Year	League App	Goal	Cup App	Goal
1999	22	24	6	5
2000	22	19	6	6
2001	31	39	5	3
2002	33	34	3	2
2003	30 (3)	19	2	1
Total	138 (3)	135	22	17

SAFFC - Asia

Year	Asian App	Goal
1999	-	7
2000	-	0
2001	-	0
2003	-	0
Total	-	7