Mario Stanić

Mario Stanić (born 10 April 1972) is a Croatian former professional footballer. A versatile offensive player, he played in forward or attacking midfield positions, and was also deployed as a wing-back in the Croatia national team. He is currently assistant manager at Shakhtar Donetsk.

Mario Stanić
Personal information
Date of birth (1972-04-10) 10 April 1972 (age 52)
Place of birthSarajevo, SFR Yugoslavia
Height1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)Winger
Forward
Team information
Current team
Shakhtar Donetsk (assistant)
Youth career
0000–1988Željezničar
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1988–1992Željezničar63(17)
1992–1993Croatia Zagreb26(11)
1993–1994Sporting Gijón34(7)
1994–1995Benfica14(5)
1995–1996Club Brugge37(27)
1996–2000Parma77(19)
2000–2004Chelsea59(7)
Total310(93)
International career
1991Yugoslavia2(0)
1993Croatia U212(1)
1995–2003Croatia49(7)
Managerial career
2023–Shakhtar Donetsk (assistant)
Medal record
Representing Croatia
Bronze medal – third placeFIFA World Cup1998
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career edit

Born in Sarajevo, Stanić started his career with hometown club Željezničar. He was considered to be one of the most talented young players in former Yugoslavia. In 1992, war in Bosnia and Herzegovina began and Stanić escaped to Slavonski Brod wading the Sava and moved to Croatia, where he played for Croatia Zagreb. After only one season, he moved to Spanish Sporting de Gijón, and year later to S.L. Benfica in Portugal. In 1995, he arrived at Club Brugge and was top scorer of the Belgian First Division that year with 20 goals. Then Parma bought him in late 1996 and he played four seasons with that side.

Chelsea edit

Stanić joined Chelsea on a £5.6 million transfer in June 2000. He became Vialli's third signing, after Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eiður Guðjohnsen.[1] Stanić made his league debut in a 4–2 home win against West Ham United in August 2000, where he scored a brace, one of them a strike from 35 yards.[2] The goal was later nominated for the Goal of the Season on BBC's Match of the Day programme.[3]

International career edit

After playing twice for Yugoslavia in 1991, Stanić won 49 international caps and scored seven goals for the Croatia national team between 1995 and 2003,[4] making his international debut in a UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying 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.[5]

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

Career statistics edit

Club edit

[6][7]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupContinentalTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Željezničar1988–89Yugoslav First League000000
1989–9014000140
1990–9128110291
1991–922111512612
Total63126100006913
Croatia Zagreb1992–93Prva HNL2611983519
Sporting Gijón1993–94La Liga347433810
Benfica1994–95Primeira Divisão1351010155
Brugge1995–96Belgian First Division3020541[a]0414025
1996–9777000061138
Total372754101025333
Parma1996–97Serie A133133
1997–982345140325
1998–991877060317
1999–20002461000943410
Total78201310019411025
Chelsea2000–01Premier League122200000152
2001–02271412020352
2002–03184312120256
2003–042000201050
Total5979261508010
Career total31088421730346400114
  1. ^ Appearance in Belgian Super Cup

International edit

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
110 April 1996Gradski vrt, Osijek  Hungary4 – 14 – 1Friendly
2–322 April 1998Gradski vrt, Osijek  Poland2 – 04 – 1Friendly
3 – 0
414 June 1998Félix-Bollaert, Lens  Jamaica1 – 03 – 1World Cup 1998
521 August 1999Maksimir, Zagreb  Malta1 – 02 – 1Euro 2000 Qualifying
69 October 1999Maksimir, Zagreb FR Yugoslavia2 – 22 – 2Euro 2000 Qualifying
726 April 2000Ernst Happel, Vienna  Austria2 – 12 – 1Friendly

Honours edit

Croatia Zagreb

Club Brugge

Parma

Chelsea

Croatia

Individual

Orders

References edit

  1. ^ "Chelsea sign Croatian star". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 28 June 2000. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  2. ^ "Stanic brace sinks Hammers". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 20 August 2000. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  3. ^ "Super Mario arrives". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 15 May 2001. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  4. ^ Mario Stanic - International Appearances - RSSSF
  5. ^ "Player Database". eu-football.info. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Stanić Mario statistics". bdfutbol.com. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  7. ^ "Dinamo". Povijest.gnkdinamo.hr. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  8. ^ "ODLUKU KOJOM SE ODLIKUJU REDOM DANICE HRVATSKE S LIKOM FRANJE BUČARA" (in Croatian). hrvatska.poslovniforum.hr.
  9. ^ "PREDSJEDNIK TUDJMAN ODLIKOVAO HRVATSKU NOGOMETNU REPREZENTACIJU" (in Croatian). hrt.hr. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016.

External links edit