Former Premier League defender Igor Stimac has swapped football for wine-making, running Europe's best vineyard after taking over the family business in Croatia. The 59-year-old, who earned 53 caps for his country, will likely watch as Croatia hosts England in the Nations League on Saturday night.
Football Career Highlights
Stimac last played for Croatia in February 2002, more than two decades ago. He also spent time in England, playing for Derby County and West Ham United. He made 67 appearances for Derby, scoring twice and finishing second in the Championship in his debut season in 1995, earning promotion to the Premier League.
Four years later, Stimac joined West Ham and made 50 appearances across two seasons. His most successful period came with his country, where the centre-half finished third at the 1998 World Cup with Croatia. Across his 53 caps, he made five goal contributions and later became head coach of Croatia a decade after retiring in 2002. In just over a year under Stimac, Croatia won eight, drew two, and lost five of 15 games.
Vineyard Success
Now, the former defender has turned his attention to his family's vineyard and has reportedly created the "most beautiful" winery in Europe. According to a study from passenger ferries portal DFDS, Stimac's business - Rizman Winery - scored 94/100 and earned the title of the best wine destination across the continent.
The business also produces oils, with Stimac's virgin olive oil winning a prestigious award in 2013 at the Sol d'Oro International Extra Virgin Olive Oil competition in Italy. The oil won out of 14 other nominees, with the ex-Croatia international's brother, Damir, stating at the time: "It is great news! It is the first time we have sent our oil to a competition outside of Croatia and we have immediately won an award."
Family Business Challenges
Damir also discussed his sibling's football success in an interview about the winery, admitting that Igor's fame made it difficult to look after the business. He told Grape Collective in 2018: "We are a sports family and all three brothers including me were in sports.
"Igor was the most popular name from our family; he was a former player and now he is a very successful coach. So sometimes it has been good and sometimes it has been a little bit heavy to have that surname when we started with the wine business. I want to separate our brand from our name because I want to let the wines shows and present their own story.
"So that was one of the reasons that we chose the nickname of our grandfather, Rizman. A lot of people today also don't know who the owners of Rizman are and we have a lot of wine buyers."
