One of the most prolific goal scorers that Croatia has ever produced, Mario Mandzukic has won the Croatian Footballer of the Year back-to-back in 2012 and 2013. With over 30 goals netted for his national side, Mario is also the all-time highest goal scorer for the team, bested only by retired Davor Šuker.
He has also achieved outstanding feats playing for some of the world’s biggest clubs. He won his first major trophy – the UEFA Champions league with German side Bayern Munich in 2012. With Juventus, Mario reached the Champions League finals in 2017 scoring an outstanding overhead kick that earned him the UEFA Goal of the Season accolade. Mandzukic has also played for the Spanish side, Atletico Madrid.
Mario Mandzukic Bio
Mario Mandzukic was born on 21 May 1986 in Slavonski Brod, SFR Yugoslavia. When he was 5 years old, his family in a bid to flee the Yugoslav Wars came to Ditzingen, a town near Stuttgart where Mario began developing an interest in football.
He began his youth career in 1992 with TSF Ditzingen. After the war had ended, Mario returned to Croatia and continued his youth career with Marsonia and in 2004, he made it to the reserve of the senior team. After one season playing with the Marsonia senior team, Mario joined NK Zagreb in 2005 and then Dinamo Zagreb in 2007.
Mario’s career really began to pick up in Dinamo where he became Prva HNL’s highest goal scorer thus attracting attention from big European teams. VfL Wolfsburg won his heart with a tempting €7 million transfer deal which he would go on to prove to be worth every dime.
Mario was one of the outstanding players at the Euro 2012 and as a result, Wolfsburg lost him to Bayern Munich who came with a €13 million offer. Again, Mario’s goal-scoring prowess didn’t let him down as he proved his worth by leading the team to a treble. Additionally, Mandzukic was also the team’s highest goal scorer.
After Pep Guardiola took over as Bayern’s manager in the 2013/2014 season, Mario struggled to fit into his style but couldn’t. As a result of this, he departed the team to join La Liga’s Atlético Madrid on a 4-year deal with the worth concealed from the media.
However, Mario didn’t last until the end of that deal as Juventus came knocking for is services bringing with them a €19 million offer with a bonus of €2 million. Mario opened his doors to Juve, joining the side in July 2015. He struggled in the first season due to injuries but resumed normal service in the second season, helping the team reach the 2016/2017 champions league final which unfortunately they lost to Real Madrid.
His Family
The Croatian star was born to parents Mato and Jelica Mandzukic. Upon his family’s relocation to Ditzingen, Mario’s father Mato who was a professional footballer played in the local club side TSF Ditzingen and would have future VfB Stuttgart sporting director Fredi Bobic as his teammate. Mato also played in the fourth-tier club side Oberliga Baden-Württemberg.
His family was denied permission to prolong their stay in Germany and had to relocate to their homeland which had become inhabitable and had gained her own independence.
Mario has a sister named Ivana. She began living in Germany in 2007 and while Mario played for Bayern, 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 surfaced online via a Twitter post.
Mario Mandzukic is known for living a very quiet life keeping away from the spotlight as much as possible. Thus, not many details about his family have come to light.
It was later discovered that he has been in a romantic relationship with a certain Ivana Mikulić (not to be confused with his sister). While some sources say that they have been together since 2008, others claim that they only started dating in 2015.
His very private life makes it quite difficult to tell which is true. Though Mario does operate social media accounts (Twitter and Instagram), he rarely ever posts about his personal life.
However, it has been observed that Mario often wears the name of his girlfriend and their dog Lene on his football boots.
Height, Weight, Body Measurements
Mandžukić’s body measurements 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 like his chest, biceps, and waist measurements are yet to be publicly declared. But going by his looks, one can easily attest that he is well built.
