Tomislav Butina (born March 30, 1974 in Zagreb, Croatia) is a Croatian football goalkeeper currently a member of Dinamo Zagreb. Famous for his abilities to stop penalty kicks,
his dominant presence reassures defenders and provides a formidable
barrier for attackers. Butina is also known for being an art lover and
a collector of paintings in his spare time.
Butina became a member of Dinamo Zagreb's first team already in 1991, but since Dražen Ladić
was irreplaceable as the club's first-choice goalkeeper at the time,
Butina decided to go on loan to some smaller clubs in 1994 due to
minimum chances to become a member of the starting eleven. He came back
to Dinamo in 1997, made six league
appearances in both the 1997/98 and the 1999/00 title-winning campaigns
and became the club's first-choice goalkeeper after Ladić retired in
2000. Previously, he also managed to make three appearances in the UEFA Champions League as understudy to the injured Ladić in the autumn of 1999. Butina went on to play a major role in 2000/01 as Dinamo defeated HNK Hajduk Split over two legs in the Croatian Cup final.
He continued to play for Dinamo impress over the next two seasons,
helping the club retain the cup in the first and claim another league
title success until the end of the 2002-03 season , when he was
transferred to the newly-crowned Belgian champions Club Brugge KV in May 2003.
He was understudy to Dany Verlinden in his first season but the veteran then retired, and Butina conceded just 22 goals in 33 games as Club Brugge claimed the Belgian First Division title. Hit by injury in 2005/06, he then joined Olympiacos CFP on a free transfer.
In early 2006, he signed a pre-contract with Olympiacos and officially became a member of the club's team on July 1, 2006.
At Olympiacos, he has been the second-choice goalkeeper ever since
joining the club and has only played one competitive match in the Greek Cup up to date.
In May 2008 he was released by Olympiacos and signed for Dinamo Zagreb.
Butina made his debut for the Croatian national team in a 2002 World Cup qualifier against San Marino on September 5, 2001 in Serravalle and was then also a member of the Croatian team at the final 2002 World Cup tournament, where he spent all three group matches on the bench as the team's second-choice goalkeeper, as understudy for Stipe Pletikosa, but the latter's injury at UEFA EURO 2004 meant Butina started all of Croatia's games.
He played all three group matches at the Euro 2004 finals as understudy to the injured Stipe Pletikosa and went on to make eight out of possible ten appearances in the qualifying session for the 2006 World Cup, but was left on the bench in all three group matches at the finals
after missing most of his club's matches in the spring of 2006 due to
an injury and he subsequently went on to announce his retirement from
international football on August 1, 2006.
He won a total of 28 international caps in almost five years of playing
for the Croatian national team, with his last international match being
a World Cup preparation friendly against Poland on June 3, 2006 in Wolfsburg, Germany. This was also the only international match he played in the year 2006.
