Mario Mandžukić

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Mario Mandžukić
Personal information
Full name Mario Mandžukić
Date of birth May 21, 1986 (1986-05-21) (age 22)
Place of birth    Slavonski Brod, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Dinamo Zagreb
Number 17
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2004-2005
2005-2007
2007-
NK Marsonia
NK Zagreb
Dinamo Zagreb
23 (14)
50 (14)
26 (12)   
National team2

2007-
Croatia U21
Croatia
 ? (?)
1 (0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of May 10, 2008.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of March 16, 2008.
* Appearances (Goals)

Mario Mandžukić (born May 21, 1986) is a Croatian football striker, currently playing for Dinamo Zagreb.

He started his career with German club Ditzingen, near Stuttgart. Upon his return to his maternal city he started playing for NK Marsonia. In the summer of 2005 he made a move to NK Zagreb. He thrived under the tuition of Miroslav Blažević and earned a lot interest from other clubs. In the summer of 2007 he was bought by city rivals Dinamo Zagreb for €1.3 million as a replacement for star striker Eduardo da Silva[1]. After putting together a string of solid performances in the Croatian First League as well as Dinamo's UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup qualifications he has earned himself a call up to the to the Croatian national team, and debuted against Macedonia on 17 November 2007. Despite his full international statues Mandžukić is still a key player in the Croatian national under-21 team

His most memorable game so far was in a UEFA Cup qualifier against Ajax Amsterdam. Dinamo was down 1-0 on aggregate, having lost at home in the first game. Mandžukić earned a penalty early in the game to even out the aggregate and eventually scored 2 goals in extra time to put Dinamo through to the UEFA Cup group stages.

Reports claim that some foreign clubs have made formal approaches for the youngsters signature, with a possible transfer upcoming for the 21 year old.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dinamo act quickly to replace Eduardo, uefa.com, Tuesday 10 July 2007

[edit] External links