Mario Mandzukic is a Croatian footballer who plays as a forward for Italian club Juventus and the Croatia national team. On 15 July his team was in the World Cup final for the first time. Mandzukic scored an awesome goal, but unfortunately it wasn't enough.

After a glorious advance to the World Cup final Mario Mandzukic walked around in the Luzhniki Stadium with a Croatian flag. The name of his hometown Slavonski Brod was labeled on the flag in large letters. It’s an industrial city near the Bosnia and Herzegovina border. He was born there in 1986. 

When Mandzukic was five, his family had to leave the country: the war broke out. “People were killed right next door. We couldn’t staying at home. I was worried about my family safety”, Mario’s father told.

The Mandzukics moved to Germany. That’s where Mario started playing football. Their life was quiet till the local authorities banished the family from Stuttgart district in 1996. They had to return to Slavonski Brod.

Despite the fact that it wasn’t easy to get on at home, Mandzukic fell for his homeland. Now he never misses an opportunity to glorify the city. At the World Cup he played in boots with his hometown’s name labeled on them.

Last year when wildfires raged out of control in Croatia, Mandzukic contacted the fire station in Slavonski Brod and asked whether he could help. On their advice, he bought equipment costing 20,000 euros for the firemen from Supetar. “Mario wanted his endowment to remain anonymous, but we decided to thank him in public. It’s incredible when someone is capable of such an important deed. He did it with all his heart”, the firemen representative said.

In 2016 Mandzukic bought balls and uniforms for his hometown club Marsonia, where he had been playing from 1996 to 2003 as a youngster. He also held a training for the youth. That’s where his tradition to play under number 17 comes from. Once he scored 17 goals for a season in Marsonia, and when he had to choose the number to play for NK Zagreb and Dinamo Zagreb, he opted for 17. And it was further entrenched in Germany.

Mandzukic learnt how to work with ceramics in Slavonski Brod. It’s still one of his main hobbies. “Actually for many people my life may seem boring. There's nothing I like more than spending time with my girlfriend at home”, Mandzukic told. His girlfriend’s name is Ivana. It’s also labeled on his boots. The girl doesn’t have public accounts in social networks and they never go out in public. Mandzukic considers that it’s better to protect the family from undue attention.

“I always find peace in my beautiful home region Slavonia”, Mario wrote on his Instagram in 2017.

Mandzukic also supported a social event for air purification in some Croatian regions: “The alarming level of pollution requires urgent intervention of able officials”.

During the World Cup, he paid for the beers for fans watching the match between Croatia and Russia in Slavonski Brod. It cost about 3400 euros.

The hometown is incredibly happy. The citizens even thank Mario in person for the winning goal in the semi-final against England.

“Mario is the soul of the Croatian team”, the coach of the Croatian team Zlatko Dalic claims, “He moves us forward”.

Source: Sports.ru