Davor Shuker, whose biography, sports career and personal life are described in this article, is the legendary Croatian footballer. Playing in the most powerful clubs in Europe, the forward has collected many titles and awards. At the 1998 World Cup he became the bronze medalist and top scorer of the tournament.
Biographical data
Davor Shuker was born in January 1968 in the Croatian city of Osijek. His family is almost fully involved in sports - his father was once the country's champion in shot put, and his uncle and older sister were members of the national volleyball teams.
The future superforward first started messing with the ball first on the streets, and from the age of 12 - at the academy of the local club of the same name. Thanks to Osijek’s children’s trainers, an ordinary guy turned into a very promising young football player.
The beginning of a professional career
In 1984, Davor Shuker signed his first professional contract with his native Osijek team. The 16-year-old striker has established himself very well in games with such strong Yugoslav clubs as Hajduk, Partizan, Dynamo (Zagreb) and Crvena Zvezda. Against such teams, the modest “Osijek” was very difficult to play - in the five years spent by Shuker here, he never once held a position at the top of the standings.
But even here Davor was able in 1989 to become the top scorer of the championship of Yugoslavia. After that, at the invitation of the famous coach Miroslav Blazhevich, he moved to Zagreb Dynamo.
In the new team, Shuker, together with another legendary striker of the Croatian national team - Zvonimir Boban - smashed all the teams of the Yugoslav championship. “Dynamo” was weaker than “Red Star”, which also played the future world football stars - Dejan Savichevich, Robert Prosinechki and Darko Panchev.
In the 2000/01 season, Davor Shuker scored 22 goals and with this indicator took second place in the championship scorer.
Due to the collapse of Yugoslavia and the subsequent civil war, the striker replaced the club. He moved to Seville.
Spanish career stage
When Davor Shuker moved to the Spanish club, his results left much to be desired. “Seville” could not finish the championship at least in tenth place in the standings.
Shuker made his debut for the Spanish team in November 1991, when he entered the field almost before the final whistle. Already in the next game he appeared in the first team. The Croatian striker was unable to quickly adapt to the new team, but when he succeeded, Shuker almost single-handedly started to withdraw the Seville club from the middle peaks Examples to its leaders, which made it possible to participate in the UEFA Cup.
Especially successful for Davor was the 1993/94 season. In the championship, he scored 24 goals against opponents and became the second scorer, losing only to the legendary Brazilian Romario, who played for Barcelona.
In total, “Sevilla” “Shukermen” (such a nickname was given to him by Andalusian fans) spent 5 seasons, played in 153 matches and scored 76 goals. Such indicators were not left without attention from the side of Real Madrid, and in 1996 he joined the ranks of the Royal Club.
In Madrid, the statistics of Davor Shuker made all football experts talk about him. And this is not surprising: the newcomer to Real Madrid in 38 Spanish fights. Examples scored 24 goals. This was the best indicator among the players of “Real” and the third - in the country. Largely due to the excellent game of strikers Shuker and Raul, “Creamy” became the first in the domestic championship that season.
The following year, Real Madrid first won the match for the Spanish Super Cup, and then, after more than thirty years, became the triumph of the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup. These two years are considered the best in the sports career of Davor Shuker.
In the 1998/99 season, with the arrival of coach Jupp Heynckes, the Croatian striker increasingly began to give way in the first team to the younger Raul and Fernando Morientes. Moreover, his performance was no longer the same as before: in 19 games, Shuker scored only 4 goals. Unsatisfied with such indicators, Davor left not only Real Madrid, but also Spain.
Completion of a gaming career
The next club for the Croatian striker was the London “Arsenal”. As part of the “Gunners” footballer Davor Shuker held 39 fights, in which he scored 11 accurate punches. But strong competition from the young and progressive Thierry Henry prevented the striker from becoming the star of the London club. In addition, the Croats made the main anti-hero of the UEFA Cup final , where Shuker did not score a penalty shootout at the Galatasaray goal. As a result of this mistake, Arsenal lost the trophy, and Davor was harassed both by the Gunners and the journalists. As a result, the striker could not stand the pressure and left the team.
The next club for Davor Shuker was the English West Ham United. But here, the Croat could not find a second football youth. He played in just 11 Premier League matches, in which he scored two goals. At the end of the championship, Shuker left the team and left England.
For the 2001/02 season, Davor was in the German club "Munich 1860". According to the results of the championship, the Croatian striker's performance was rather modest - 4 goals scored in 14 matches. The following season they became even worse: in 11 matches, Shooker scored only one accurate shot.
At the end of the championship, Davor announced the end of his playing career. The legendary striker did not have one goal in the championships of different countries to bring their number to 200.
Performances for the national team of Yugoslavia
At the level of national teams, Davor Shuker played no worse than in different clubs. It all started with the youth team of Yugoslavia, for which the striker has played since 1987. At the World Cup, held in Chile, Shuker became the second most successful player. In total, for the Yugoslav “youth team”, which won that championship, Davor scored 15 goals in 23 matches.
In 1988, a 20-year-old forward as part of the Olympic team went to Seoul. Unfortunately, his team was not able to leave the group there.
In 1990, Davor Shuker was included in Yugoslavia at the World Cup. But the young striker never appeared on the field, giving way to more experienced players.
A year later, the football player became the silver medalist of the youth continental championship. In addition, Shuker was recognized as the best player in the competition.
For the national team of Yugoslavia, Davor managed to hold two matches, in one of which he scored a goal.
Legend of Croatia
On December 22, Shuker played for the first time for the newly created Croatian national football team. Already in the second match he made a winning double. He also brilliantly qualified for Euro 2006 - 12 goals in 10 games. During the final part, Shuker chalked up 3 out of 5 goals of Croatia and entered the symbolic national team of the championship.
But real world recognition came to the striker after the 1998 World Cup in France. The Croatian national football team, which for the first time in its history made its way to this tournament, made a splash.
Already at the stage of the group stage, the striker first signed at the gate of Jamaica, and then scored the winning goal for the Japanese team. In the 1/8 finals, Davor Shuker decided the fate of the game with Romania with an accurate kick from the 11-meter mark.
At the next stage, the Croats met with one of the main contenders for victory in the World Cup - the Germans. However, Davor and the company defeated them with a score of 3: 0, and the very same Shuker put the winning point in the match.
In the semifinals, the Croats opposed the hosts of the tournament - the French. The exact blow of Davor at the beginning of the second half made many Balkan fans believe in miracles. But that evening, the defender of the French national team Lilian Thuram “shot” , who for the first time in his career took a double and brought his team a victory.
In the match for third place, Schucker again became the author of the winning goal against Holland. The whole world circled around a photograph in which a happy striker tries his bronze medal on a tooth.
In seven matches held at the World Cup Davor Shuker scored 6 goals and became the top scorer of the tournament.
Four years later, the attacker decided to go with the national team to the World Cup in Japan and South Korea as a captain, but there he could not show a vivid game. After that, Shuker no longer went on the field in the shirt of the national team of Croatia. In total, he played 69 matches for his country and scored 45 goals. Nobody has been able to repeat this indicator so far.
Awards and titles
Among the personal achievements of Davor Shuker, perhaps the most valuable trophy is the UEFA Champions Cup, won with Real Madrid in 1998. He also became the champion of Spain, the owner of the Super Bowl of Spain and the Intercontinental Cup.
As part of the youth team of Yugoslavia, Shuker in 1987 became the world champion, and with the Croatian national team - the bronze medalist of the 1998 World Cup.
In addition, Davor six years in a row (from 1992 to 1998) was recognized as the best player in his country. He set Croatia records for goals scored at the World and European Championships, as well as for the number of goals for his team. Shuker is included in the Top 100 best football players of all time according to FIFA.
Non-football activities and personal life
After completing his playing career, Davor Shuker became a football agent. And in 2012, he led the Croatian Football Union. Since then, the national team of his country has not missed a single international championship.
But with the personal life of the striker it turned out much worse than on the football field. During his stay at Real Madrid, a whole scandal arose over his romance with actress Ana Obregon. Fans of the “royal” club believed that it was she who blamed the striker’s performance.