Mario Mandzukic, one of the most prolific goal scorers Croatia has ever produced, was voted Croatian Footballer of the Year in 2012 and 2013 in a row. With more than 30 goals for his national team, Mario is also the top scorer of all time for the team, which has only been surpassed by retired Davor Šuker.
He has also achieved outstanding performances for some of the world’s biggest clubs. He won his first major trophy – the UEFA Champions League with Bayern Munich in 2012. With Juventus, Mario reached the Champions League final in 2017 with an outstanding header that earned him the UEFA Goal of the Season award. Mandzukic has also played for the Spanish team Atletico Madrid.
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Mario Mandzukic Bio
Mario Mandzukic was born on 21 May 1986 in Slavonski Brod, SFR Yugoslavia. When he was 5 years old, his family came to Ditzingen, a town near Stuttgart, Germany, on the run from the Yugoslavian wars, where Mario began to take an interest in football.
He started his youth career in 1992 at TSF Ditzingen. After the end of the war, Mario returned to Croatia and continued his youth career with Marsonia. In 2004 he made the leap into the reserve of the senior national team. After playing in the senior Marsonia team for one season, Mario moved to NK Zagreb in 2005 and Dinamo Zagreb in 2007.
Mario’s career began in Dinamo, where he became the top scorer for Prva HNL, attracting the attention of the major European teams. VfL Wolfsburg won his heart with a tempting transfer deal worth €7 million, which he was to prove worth every cent.
Mario was one of the outstanding players at Euro 2012, and so Wolfsburg lost him to Bayern Munich, who made him an offer of 13 million euros. Again, Mario’s goalscoring qualities did not let him down, as he proved his worth by leading the team to triple their total. Mandzukic was also the team’s top scorer.
After Pep Guardiola took over as Bayern’s manager for the 2013/2014 season, Mario struggled to adapt to his style but was unable to do so. As a result, he left the team and moved to Atlético Madrid from La Liga, where he signed a 4-year contract whose value was hidden from the media.
Mario did not hold out until the end of the contract, however, when Juventus became aware of his services and made an offer of 19 million euros with a bonus of 2 million euros. Mario opened his doors to Juve and joined the site in July 2015. He struggled with injuries in the first season, but resumed normal service in the second season and helped the team reach the 2016/2017 Champions League final, which they, unfortunately, lost to Real Madrid.
His Family
The Croatian star was born from parents Mato and Jelica Mandzukic. After his family moved to Ditzingen, Mario’s father Mato, who was a professional footballer, played for the local club TSF Ditzingen and was to have the future sports director of VfB Stuttgart, Fredi Bobic, as a teammate. Mato also played in the fourth-class club league Oberliga Baden-Württemberg.
His family was refused permission to extend their stay in Germany and had to move to their now habitable home country, where they had gained their own independence.
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Mario has a sister named Ivana. She has been living in Germany since 2007, and while Mario was playing for Bavaria, she traveled to Munich every weekend to support Mario. Mario’s sister is married and has a son named Marino. In 2013, a photo of Mario, his sister, and his nephew appeared online via a Twitter post.
Mario Mandzukic is known for leading a very quiet life and staying out of the spotlight as much as possible. So not many details about his family have been revealed.
Later it turned out that he was in a romantic relationship with a certain Ivana Mikulic (not to be confused with his sister). While some sources state that they have been together since 2008, others claim that they have only been together since 2015.
His very private life makes it quite difficult to tell what is true. Although Mario runs social media accounts (Twitter and Instagram), he rarely posts about his personal life.
However, it has been observed that Mario often has the name of his girlfriend and her dog Lene on his football boots.
Height, Weight, Body Measurements
The body measurements from Mandžukic according to his player profile on ESPN are as follows;
Height: 6 feet (1.85 m)
Weight: 78 kg (172 lbs)
While these are known, his other body statistics such as the chest, biceps, and waist circumference still need to be explained publicly. But if you look at his appearance, you can easily testify that he is well built.
