Robert Kovač (Croatian pronunciation: [rǒbert kǒʋaːtʃ, - kô-];[2][3] born 6 April 1974) is a professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back.

Kovač started his career in lower league clubs Rapide Wedding and Hertha Zehlendorf before making his Bundesliga debut with 1.

Kovač had an unsuccessful comeback to the Bundesliga and was sold to Dinamo Zagreb at the winter transfer window of 2008–09 season.

[8] Kovač finished the season with a total of 22 appearances for Dinamo in all competitions, before it was officially announced on 1 June 2010 that he retired from active football.

[10] At World Cup 2006 he played well in defence, however after picking up a second yellow against Japan he missed the final group match against Australia through suspension.

Without Kovač, Croatia struggled in defence with his replacement Tomas committing handball for Australia's first goal via penalty kick.

[16] Kovač, along with his older brother Niko, was born in Berlin to a family of Bosnian Croat immigrants from Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina.