Mario Mandžukić | Photo: AP
London: Croatian player Mario Mandžukić has announced his retirement on Friday. One of the greatest Croatian footballers of all time hung his boot after a successful 17 years in top flight football. Mario announced his retirement through his Instagram post on Friday.
"Dear little Mario,
While you put on these boots for the first time, you can't even imagine what you will get to experience in football. You'll score goals at the biggest stages and you'll win the biggest trophies with the biggest clubs. Proudly representing your nation, you will help write the history of Croatian sports.
You'll succeed because you'll have good people around you – teammates, coaches, fans, and family, agent and friends who will always be there for you. You'll be forever grateful to all of them!
Above all, you'll succeed because you'll always give your best. At the end, that's what you'll be most proud of. You'll sacrifice a lot, but you'll know it was worth it because of all the amazing moments.
You'll recognize the moment to retire, to put these boots in a cabinet and you'll have no regrets. Football will always be a part of your life, but you'll look forward to a new chapter.
Enjoy!
Your big Mario
The striker, who last played for AC Milan, decided to retire from football at the age of 35.
During his career, Mandzukic played for teams such as Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and AC Milan. He played 128 matches in Serie A, while in the Bundesliga he played in 110 matches for Bayern and Wolfsburg.
The former great Croatian striker also spent a season in Spain, at Atletico Madrid, July 2014 / July 2015. In the 2012/2013 season, Mandzukic managed the triple with Bayern Munich. The striker then won the championship in Germany, the German Cup, but also the Champions League.
He has won four Serie A titles with Juventus and had managed to acclaim several accolades in Croatia, with Dinamo Zagreb. At the international level, he participated in four major tournaments for his country that are Euro 2012, 2014 World Cup, Euro 2016, and the 2018 World Cup. In total, he made 89 international appearances and scoring 33 goals in the process.
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