Tomislav Butina (; born 30 March 1974) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as goalkeeper for Dinamo Zagreb, Club Brugge and Olympiacos. He was also capped 28 times for the Croatia national team in the period from 2001 to 2006, and was member of Croatian squads at the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups, as well as UEFA Euro 2004.
Butina began his professional career with Dinamo Zagreb, debuting for the first team on 23 May 1993, when the club was known as "Croatia Zagreb". However, he struggled to make an impact at the club at the time when Dražen Ladić was the club's longtime first-choice goalkeeper. In the mid-1990s, he had several loan spells with lower-tier Croatian sides Karlovac, Samobor and Slaven Belupo. In the late 1990s, he became a regular member of the squad, and, following Ladić's retirement in 2000, took over as Dinamo's first choice goalkeeper in the 2000–01 season.
In July 2003, Butina joined Belgian First Division club Club Brugge, where he spent three seasons before moving on to Greek powerhouse Olympiacos in 2006. Following an unsuccessful two-season spell with the club, he returned to Dinamo Zagreb for the 2008–09 season. He made 49 league appearances in his final spell with the club, before being released early in the 2010–11 season, on 18 August 2010.
Internationally, Butina represented Croatia at the under-20 and under-21 levels in 1994 and 1995, making a total of twelve appearances at youth levels. On 5 September 2001, he made his full international debut in a 2002 World Cup qualifier against San Marino. He went on to appear in all of Croatia's three matches at the Euro 2004 finals, and kept his place as the national team's first-choice goalkeeper over the following 18 months. He was also part of Croatia's 23-man squads for the 2002 and 2006 World Cup finals, but did not feature in any of the team's six matches during the two tournaments. In August 2006, he announced his retirement from the national team.
Club career
Dinamo Zagreb
Butina became a member of Dinamo Zagreb senior squad in the inaugural season of the Prva HNL. He marked his debut for the club on 23 May 1993. He returned to Dinamo in 1997, made six league appearances in both the 1997–98 and the 1999–2000 title-winning campaigns and became the club's first-choice goalkeeper after Ladić's retirement in 2000. On 13 June 2003, he was transferred to the Belgian First Division side Club Brugge. Butina played his last match for Club Brugge on 15 February 2006 against Roma in a 2–1 defeat at Jan Breydel Stadium in the 2005–06 UEFA Cup.
150px|right|thumb|Tomislav Butina in 2008.
Olympiacos
On 16 July, Butina was transferred to Olympiacos.
Return to Dinamo Zagreb
200px|right|thumb|Tomislav Butina delivering a goal–kick during the [[UEFA Champions League|Champions League qualifier vs. Red Bull Salzburg.]]
On 23 May 2008, exactly 15 years following his debut for the Dinamo Zagreb first team, he signed a two-year deal with the Croatian club after previously being released from his contract with Olympiacos. In first season following his return, Butina made 24 league appearances, conceding 18 goals. He also featured in three 2008–09 UEFA Champions League qualifiers, four matches in UEFA Cup and six matches in Croatian Cup which Dinamo have won third time in a row.
Butina helped the club defend the league title the next season, featuring in 25 league matches. On 17 August 2010, at the start of the 2010–11 season, Butina was released from his contract with Dinamo Zagreb along with his teammate Ante Tomić. He made a total of 50 league appearances for Dinamo Zagreb following his return, also winning four domestic trophies.
Butina went on to make his full international debut for Croatia in their 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier against San Marino on 5 September 2001 in Serravalle which Croatia won 4–0. Butina won a total of 28 international caps in almost five years of playing for the Croatia national football team. He made his last international appearance in Croatia's 1–0 defeat to Poland in a friendly match played on 3 June 2006 in Wolfsburg during the two teams' preparations for the 2006 FIFA World Cup tournament. It was his only international appearance in 2006.
Personal life
Butina is married and a father of two children: Magdalena (born c. 2003) and Hrvoje (born 2009). Formerly a resident of Velika Gorica, in 2009 he moved with his family to the Šalata neighborhood in Zagreb. Butina currently he resides in Dubai with his family, working as a coach in Al-Nasr youth academy.
Butina is well known as an art lover. He is interested mainly in modern Croatian art and owns a large collection of paintings, as well as an art gallery.
Career statistics
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="2"|League
|-
!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="9"|Dinamo Zagreb
|1992–93
|1||0
|-
|1993–94
|0||0
|-
|1997–98
|6||0
|-
|1998–99
|0||0
|-
|1999–2000
|6||0
|-
|2000–01
|29||0
|-
|2001–02
|29||0
|-
|2002–03
|32||0
|-
!colspan="1"|Total
!93!!0
|-
|Karlovac (loan)
|1994–95
|0||0
|-
|Samobor (loan)
|1995–96
|0||0
|-
|Slaven Belupo (loan)
|1996–97
|0||0
|-
|rowspan="4"|Club Brugge
|2003–04
|9||0
|-
|2004–05
|33||0
|-
|2005–06
|19||0
|-
!colspan="1"|Total
!42!!0
|-
|rowspan="3"|Olympiacos
|2006–07
|2||0
|-
|2007–08
|0||0
|-
!colspan="1"|Total
!2!!0
|-
|rowspan="4"|Dinamo Zagreb
|2008–09
|24||0
|-
|2009–10
|25||0
|-
|2010–11
|1||0
|-
!colspan="1"|Total
!50!!0
|-
!colspan="2"|Career total
!216!!0
|}
Honours
Samobor
- Croatian Second League: 1995–96 (West)
Dinamo Zagreb
- Croatian Championship (6): 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2008–09, 2009–10
- Croatian Cup: 1997–98, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2008–09
- Croatian Supercup: 2010
Club Brugge
- Belgian First Division: 2004–05
- Belgian Supercup: 2005
Olympiacos
- Super League Greece: 2006–07, 2007–08
- Greek Cup: 2007–08
- Greek Super Cup: 2007