Mario Stanić

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Mario Stanić
Personal information
Full name	Mario Stanić
Date of birth	April 12, 1972 (1972-04-12) (age 36)
Place of birth	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	187 cm (6'2")
Playing position	Midfielder
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1988-1992 1992-1993 1993-1994 1994-1995 1995-1997 1997-2000 2000-2004	Željezničar Hašk-Građanski Sporting Gijon Benfica Club Brugge Parma A.C. Chelsea	77 (12) 25 (10) 34 (7) 14 (5) 37 (27) 77 (19) 59 (7)
National team
1991 1995-2003	Yugoslavia Croatia	2 (0) 49 (7)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13/2/2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Mario Stanić (born April 10, 1972 in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia) is a former Croatian football midfielder.

He started his career with Željezničar Sarajevo. He was considered to be one of the most talented young players in former Yugoslavia. In 1992, war began and he went to Croatia, where he played for Dinamo Zagreb. After only one season, he moved to Spanish Sporting de Gijón, and year later to SL Benfica in Portugal. In 1995 he arrived at Club Brugge and was top scorer of the Jupiler League that year with 20 goals. Then Parma bought him in 1997 and he played four seasons with that side. He was then transferred to Chelsea in 2000.

He won 49 international caps and scored 7 goals for the Croatian national team between 1995 and 2003, making his international debut in a Euro 1996 qualifier against Estonia in September 1995. He made three appearances for Croatia at the Euro 1996 finals in England and went on to appear in all of the team's seven matches at the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals in France, where they won the bronze medal. At the latter tournament, he scored Croatia's first-ever World Cup goal in their opening 3-1 victory over Jamaica and assisted in Robert Jarni's opening goal in their 3-0 victory over Germany in the quarterfinals. Stanić also made two appearances for Croatia at the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals as a second-half substitute, only to see Croatia fall short of qualifying for the second round of the tournament. His last international appearance came in April 2003 as a half-time substitute in a friendly match against Sweden.

He was forced to retire at the age of 32 after sustaining a serious knee injury during the 2003-04 league season.

Perhaps his most memorable goal was on his Chelsea debut. The athletic midfielder nochalantly juggled the ball on his knee before smashing an unstoppable volley in the top corner of the net. This goal was later nominated as goal of the season for 2000-2001 English Premier League.

[edit] References

• RSSSF

v • d • e Croatia squad - UEFA Euro 1996 1 Ladić • 2 Jurčević • 3 Jarni • 4 Štimac • 5 Jerkan • 6 Bilić • 7 Asanović • 8 Prosinečki • 9 Šuker • 10 Boban • 11 Bokšić • 12 Mrmić • 13 Stanić • 14 Soldo • 15 Pavličić • 16 Mladenović • 17 Pamić • 18 Brajković • 19 Vlaović • 20 Šimić • 21 Cvitanović • 22 Gabrić • Coach: Blažević

v • d • e Croatia squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup Third Place 1 Ladić • 2 Krpan • 3 Šerić • 4 Štimac • 5 Jurić • 6 Bilić • 7 Asanović • 8 Prosinečki • 9 Šuker • 10 Boban • 11 Marić • 12 Mrmić • 13 Stanić • 14 Soldo • 15 Tudor • 16 Kozniku • 17 Jarni • 18 Mamić • 19 Vlaović • 20 Šimić • 21 Jurčić • 22 Vasilj • Coach: Blažević

v • d • e Croatia squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Pletikosa • 2 Šerić • 3 Šimunić • 4 Tomas • 5 Rapaić • 6 Živković • 7 Vugrinec • 8 Prosinečki • 9 Šuker • 10 Niko Kovač • 11 Bokšić • 12 Butina • 13 Stanić • 14 Soldo • 15 Šarić • 16 Vranješ • 17 Jarni • 18 Olić • 19 Vlaović • 20 Šimić • 21 Robert Kovač • 22 Balaban • 23 Vasilj • Coach: Jozić