Mario Mandzukic

Profile Football Stars | Mario Mandzukic | The summer of 2007 he was bought by the Croatian powerhouse Dinamo Zagreb for € 1.3 million as a replacement for Their star striker Eduardo da Silva. He finished his first season at Dinamo with 12 goals and 11 assists throughout 29 matches, but also had a bad discipline record, collecting eight yellow cards. In the 2008-09 Mandžukić Prva HNL league's top goalscorer was, bagging 16 goals in 28 appearances. After the 2008-09 season had finished he was linked with German side Werder Bremen, but the € 12m offer was rejected by Dinamo Zagreb who board were of opinion That Mandžukić's price was at least € 15m.

On 17 September 2009, after Dinamo lost 2-0 at home to Anderlecht in the Europa League, Mandžukić was controversially fined € 100k after being Accused for poor performance. On 20 September, Mandžukić captained Dinamo to a 6-0 victory against Rijeka in Prva HNL. In a post-match interview Mandžukić rejected any speculations about him leaving the club after the fine, stating That it was his childhood dream to captain Dinamo side and that 'he tends to give his best in any match he plays for the club.

On 14 July 2010 signed for VFL Wolfsburg Mandžukić for a fee believed to be around € 8 million. According to Kicker, Mandžukić is available for transfer at a fair price, though as he still has two years left on his contract, is not available on a free transfer.

After putting together a string of solid performances in the 2007-08 Prva HNL, as well as in Dinamo's UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup matches, he earned a call-up to the Croatian national team, for the which he debuted in a game against Macedonian on 17 November 2007. On 10 September 2008, he scored his first ever goal for Croatia in a 4-1 loss against England. He scored twice in Croatia's opening game of Euro 2012 against Republic of Ireland.

Personal information
Full name Mario Mandžukić
Date of birth 21 May 1986 (age 26)
Place of birth Slavonski Brod, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Striker / Winger

Club information
Current club VFL Wolfsburg
Number 18

Youth career
1992-1996 TSF Ditzingen
1996-2003 Marsonia
Zeljeznicar Slavonski Brod 2003-2004

Senior career
years Team
2004-2005 Marsonia 23 (14)
NK Zagreb 2005-2007 51 (14)
Dinamo Zagreb 2007-2010 81 (42)
2010-VfL Wolfsburg 56 (20)

National team
Croatia 2005-2007 U21 7 (1)
2007-Croatia 31 (8)

Honours

Club
     Dinamo Zagreb Croatia
         Croatian champions: 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10
         Croatian Cup: 2008, 2009 

Individual
         Prva HNL top goalscorer: 2008-09
         Prva HNL best player: 2008-09