World Cup South Africa 2010
History - Groups - Players - Venues
Favorite Players by Country (Germany 2006)
Group F - Croatia:
Niko Kranjčar
Place of Birth: Zagreb, Croatia
Date of Birth: August 13th, 1984
Position: Midfielder
Clubs: Hajduk Split
Kranjčar has been part of the Croatian national Under-16, -17, -19 and -21 teams before advancing to the senior national team of which he is currently part.
No Croatian footballer has been hyped over the past five years as the young Niko Kranjčar. Kranjčar seemed destined for stardom ever since he stunned coaches, opponents, writers and spectators alike in his initial senior appearances with Dinamo Zagreb in early 2001.
A month after his promotion to the first team, he appeared as a sub in the Cup final second leg when Dinamo beat Hajduk Split 1-0 securing their fifth Croatian Cup. His rise was meteoric: three weeks before his 17th birthday he scored on his League debut, later that season he collected another Cup medal and at the start of 2002/03 season was made the club's youngest ever skipper.
Early into his career, Niko was in the sights of both Juventus and Milan, but his dream is to join Barcelona and in fact his career adviser the prominent Davor Šuker, has already linked him with the Catalan giants who reportedly have acquired an option over Kranjčar.
He appeared in the 1985 Cup Winners Cup finals in Rotterdam against Everton (3-1 for the Toffees) and collected only 11 caps and three goals for Yugoslavia, plus two caps for a fledgling Croatian team in 1990.
He holds both Croatian and Austrian passports.
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