9 - Mario Mandžukić

ccording to Mario Mandzukic's father, it was not the team effort on the field that brought Croatia their win against the Republic of Ireland in the first-round game of the tournament, or manager Slaven Bilic's tactics. It was a tiny insect.

On the day of the match, Mandzukic Sr saw a ladybug on the window drape in his apartment in Slavonski Brod. He called his son in Poland to tell him about it, but not before he had made a wish – in Croatia ladybugs are believed to bring good luck, and he had asked for his son to score not just one, but two goals. And so he did.

Without the ladybug's help, Mandzukic fired in another goal in the match against Italy, as Croatia levelled the score on 72 minutes. "That was an amazing moment for me," he said. "As a kid, I watched many of Gigi Buffon's games and dreamed of scoring against him one day. I was overwhelmed with happiness when that actually happened."

Mandzukic, now 26, is enjoying the limelight before having to return to the uncertainty of his club career. Even though he had a decent season at Wolfsburg, scoring 12 goals (seven of which were headers – the most in the Bundesliga), his club has put him on the transfer list, with the manager, Felix Magath, saying they "will accept any fair offer."

So how come they want to get rid of him if he's that good? The answer lies in the player's nature, which has been compared to that of another Super Mario. No, not Gomez.

When asked about Mario Balotelli's threat ahead of the Italy game, Bilic said: "Geniuses are always the closest to lunatics and he [Balotelli] is a borderline case. But we have a couple of those in our team as well." Mandzukic is one of them.

He does not go around setting houses on fire, throwing darts at people or breaking into women's prisons in his spare time, but his behaviour on the pitch is just as unpredictable. While he was at Dinamo Zagreb, Mandzukic frequently got booked for peculiar reasons – such as tackling recklessly when his team was 3-0 ahead, kicking the ball out of play after the final whistle, and yelling at referees. He also publicly admitted he did not have enough motivation to play against the "village teams".

When the word about his character spread, the club had to settle for a much lower transfer fee than they originally had asked for, with Mandzukic signing for Wolfsburg for just under £6m in 2010. There he has put in some good performances but has also got into conflict with Magath this season. The manager resented him for not working hard enough in training, as well as his lack of defensive effort.

"No coach can tame him," Magath said of Mandzukic. "He's a shrewd and aggressive striker, but often looks reluctant and arrogant on the pitch," added a report on ZDF, a German public-service TV channel, recently. "When midfielders fail to pass him the ball, he sometimes gets upset and reacts like a little baby." It has also been reported that he enjoys taunting the younger players in training, waiting for them to collect all the balls at the end of the session and then firing them at the goal again.

Mandzukic's defensive failings came to light in Croatia's draw with Italy. He was supposed to drop deep and track Andrea Pirlo when Italy were in possession but did so for only a few minutes, thus putting his team in danger. Bilic reacted with a stroke of genius, fitting of a man who once wrote a rock song called "Blazing Madness": instead of subbing Mandzukic he changed the whole formation at half-time, moving the forward to the right from where he cut inside to score his dream goal against Buffon and become a hero in Croatia. If Mandzukic can score against Spain on Monday as well, big-name suitors are sure to come knocking, regardless of his character.

"They [Spain] are a grand team, but we have no fear of them," Mandzukic said. "We're ready to leave our hearts on the pitch, but we will need a little luck, too." Papa Mandzukic is probably on the hunt for bugs right now.

Aleksandar Holiga is an independent football writer from Croatia. Follow him on Twitter: @AlexHoliga

Angelus a écrit:Balloteli du pauvre ? ( Tiré du journal anglais, the Guardian )

ccording to Mario Mandzukic's father, it was not the team effort on the field that brought Croatia their win against the Republic of Ireland in the first-round game of the tournament, or manager Slaven Bilic's tactics. It was a tiny insect.

On the day of the match, Mandzukic Sr saw a ladybug on the window drape in his apartment in Slavonski Brod. He called his son in Poland to tell him about it, but not before he had made a wish – in Croatia ladybugs are believed to bring good luck, and he had asked for his son to score not just one, but two goals. And so he did.

Without the ladybug's help, Mandzukic fired in another goal in the match against Italy, as Croatia levelled the score on 72 minutes. "That was an amazing moment for me," he said. "As a kid, I watched many of Gigi Buffon's games and dreamed of scoring against him one day. I was overwhelmed with happiness when that actually happened."

Mandzukic, now 26, is enjoying the limelight before having to return to the uncertainty of his club career. Even though he had a decent season at Wolfsburg, scoring 12 goals (seven of which were headers – the most in the Bundesliga), his club has put him on the transfer list, with the manager, Felix Magath, saying they "will accept any fair offer."

So how come they want to get rid of him if he's that good? The answer lies in the player's nature, which has been compared to that of another Super Mario. No, not Gomez.

When asked about Mario Balotelli's threat ahead of the Italy game, Bilic said: "Geniuses are always the closest to lunatics and he [Balotelli] is a borderline case. But we have a couple of those in our team as well." Mandzukic is one of them.

He does not go around setting houses on fire, throwing darts at people or breaking into women's prisons in his spare time, but his behaviour on the pitch is just as unpredictable. While he was at Dinamo Zagreb, Mandzukic frequently got booked for peculiar reasons – such as tackling recklessly when his team was 3-0 ahead, kicking the ball out of play after the final whistle, and yelling at referees. He also publicly admitted he did not have enough motivation to play against the "village teams".

When the word about his character spread, the club had to settle for a much lower transfer fee than they originally had asked for, with Mandzukic signing for Wolfsburg for just under £6m in 2010. There he has put in some good performances but has also got into conflict with Magath this season. The manager resented him for not working hard enough in training, as well as his lack of defensive effort.

"No coach can tame him," Magath said of Mandzukic. "He's a shrewd and aggressive striker, but often looks reluctant and arrogant on the pitch," added a report on ZDF, a German public-service TV channel, recently. "When midfielders fail to pass him the ball, he sometimes gets upset and reacts like a little baby." It has also been reported that he enjoys taunting the younger players in training, waiting for them to collect all the balls at the end of the session and then firing them at the goal again.

Mandzukic's defensive failings came to light in Croatia's draw with Italy. He was supposed to drop deep and track Andrea Pirlo when Italy were in possession but did so for only a few minutes, thus putting his team in danger. Bilic reacted with a stroke of genius, fitting of a man who once wrote a rock song called "Blazing Madness": instead of subbing Mandzukic he changed the whole formation at half-time, moving the forward to the right from where he cut inside to score his dream goal against Buffon and become a hero in Croatia. If Mandzukic can score against Spain on Monday as well, big-name suitors are sure to come knocking, regardless of his character.

"They [Spain] are a grand team, but we have no fear of them," Mandzukic said. "We're ready to leave our hearts on the pitch, but we will need a little luck, too." Papa Mandzukic is probably on the hunt for bugs right now.

Aleksandar Holiga is an independent football writer from Croatia. Follow him on Twitter: @AlexHoliga

Angelus a écrit:Au début ils reviennent sur sa performance à l'Euro et face à l'Italie où il a marqué un but contre une de ses idoles, Buffon. Ensuite vient la question de savoir pourquoi sa carrière en club est si incertaine ( c0est écrit avant le transfert ).

Le journaliste dit que c'est parce qu'il n'est pas sans rappeler un certain Mario Balotelli, en moins flamboyant car, c'est confirmé par son coach Bilic, il est entre le génie et le fait d'être lunatique. Alors il ne fait pas exploser des toilettes avec des feux d'artifices ou ne va pas filer du pognon au piler de bar de son quartier mais li a une réputation de type instable. Du genre à se prendre un carton rouge alors que son équipe gagne 3-0 pour un tacle trop appuyé, du genre à s0embrouiller avec les arbitres ou à déclarer publiquement avoir de la peine à se motiver face aux petites équipes.

Ensuite viennent des réactions de Magath qui dit qu'il ne changera jamais et de journalistes qui le déclare être pas du tout ouvert aux tâches défensives ou qui rappellent le voir crier sur ses partenaires lorsque les passes ne lui connviennet pas. De plus il aime bien provoquer un peu les jeunes du club, ce genre de bêtise.

Ils disent aussi que pour le match contre l'Italie le coach à du réorganiser l'équipe à la mi-temps parce qu'il ne participait pas aux tâches défensives qui consistait à mettre Pirlo sous l'entonnoir. Bref apparemment il a du talent mais l'égo qui va avec.

Après on verra bien. Entre se permettre certaines choses dans des clubs plus petits et au Bayern dans un grand club, il y'a un monde. Pis bon, ça se trouve c'est des "bêtises" de journaliste. Laissons-lui sa chance

Angelus a écrit:Au début ils reviennent sur sa performance à l'Euro et face à l'Italie où il a marqué un but contre une de ses idoles, Buffon. Ensuite vient la question de savoir pourquoi sa carrière en club est si incertaine ( c0est écrit avant le transfert ).

Le journaliste dit que c'est parce qu'il n'est pas sans rappeler un certain Mario Balotelli, en moins flamboyant car, c'est confirmé par son coach Bilic, il est entre le génie et le fait d'être lunatique. Alors il ne fait pas exploser des toilettes avec des feux d'artifices ou ne va pas filer du pognon au piler de bar de son quartier mais li a une réputation de type instable. Du genre à se prendre un carton rouge alors que son équipe gagne 3-0 pour un tacle trop appuyé, du genre à s0embrouiller avec les arbitres ou à déclarer publiquement avoir de la peine à se motiver face aux petites équipes.

Ensuite viennent des réactions de Magath qui dit qu'il ne changera jamais et de journalistes qui le déclare être pas du tout ouvert aux tâches défensives ou qui rappellent le voir crier sur ses partenaires lorsque les passes ne lui connviennet pas. De plus il aime bien provoquer un peu les jeunes du club, ce genre de bêtise.

Ils disent aussi que pour le match contre l'Italie le coach à du réorganiser l'équipe à la mi-temps parce qu'il ne participait pas aux tâches défensives qui consistait à mettre Pirlo sous l'entonnoir. Bref apparemment il a du talent mais l'égo qui va avec.

Après on verra bien. Entre se permettre certaines choses dans des clubs plus petits et au Bayern dans un grand club, il y'a un monde. Pis bon, ça se trouve c'est des "bêtises" de journaliste. Laissons-lui sa chance

Angelus a écrit:
Le topic Gomez étant fermé, je poste l'information ici vu que cela a une influence directe sur Mandzukic. Notre SuperMario est out pour un moment. Il va se faire opérer de la cheville. Pas d'informations sur le temps que cela va durer.