named as croatia's first-choice goalkeeper at the uefa euro 2004 in portugal, he sustained an injury a few days before the beginning of the tournament and was replaced by reserve goalkeeper tomislav butina. butina retained the position of number one goalkeeper during the qualification rounds for the 2006 world cup. as a result, pletikosa appeared in only two qualifying matches. nevertheless, pletikosa was chosen over butina in the finals, since butina was still recovering from an injury sustained early in the year.