Born in Pristeg, a village in the outskirts of
Benkovac, back then part of
SR Croatia, he started playing football at a very early age. Most of his friends and neighbors were supporters of
Red Star Belgrade. Recognising his talent, DIF professor Veljko Aleksić sent Crnokrak to the capital to join
Red Star Belgrade for training. There he was taught by authorities in the field such as
Ćiro Blažević,
Branko Stanković,
Dragoslav Šekularac,
Vladica Popović,
Ratomir Dujković, and
Dragan Džajić. This provided him the ability to attend and participate in UEFA seminars. When he started, the team was ranked 193 in FIFA rankings, and by time he left it had risen to 135. He put the team among the top eight
CONCACAF teams, but a lack of financial resources stopped the project and Crnokrak left. ==References==