The hard player: Niko Kranjčar
Niko Kranjčar came through the ranks at Dinamo Zagreb (119 matches, 22 goals) before heading to England. He made 101 appearances for Portsmouth, scoring 12 goals, then moved to Tottenham Hotspur for 72 matches and 11 goals. He also represented Hajduk Split (63 matches, 19 goals) and Queens Park Rangers (33 matches, 2 goals) – a winding career that only real connoisseurs of Croatian and English football could piece together.
At international level, he pulled on the Croatia shirt from as early as the under-17s, with 11 caps and 5 goals at that level. Born on 13 August 1984 in Zagreb, this Croatian midfielder drifted through leagues without ever grabbing the headlines – which probably explains why only 30% of players managed to put a name to his face.
Discovering Le Roi des Footix? Identify 3 football players a day, climb the leaderboard, become the Roi des Footix.
PlayThe medium player: Edin Džeko
Born on 17 March 1986 in Sarajevo, Edin Džeko is the kind of striker who lets his numbers do the talking. At Wolfsburg, he buried 85 goals in 142 games before joining Manchester City, where he scored 72 times in 189 appearances. His peak came at AS Roma: 109 goals in 221 matches. He then moved on to Inter Milan (31 goals in 101 games) and Fenerbahçe (46 goals in 99 games).
For Bosnia-Herzegovina, Džeko tallied 148 caps and 73 goals, a remarkable record for a country still finding its feet on the world stage. Born in Sarajevo in the former Yugoslavia, he was always his nation’s most reliable weapon.
The easy player: Riyad Mahrez
Born on 21 February 1991 in Clichy, Riyad Mahrez cut his teeth at Le Havre before heading to the top of English football. At Leicester City, he truly announced himself: 179 appearances, 48 goals. Manchester City then came calling, and he delivered again with 236 matches and 78 goals.
With Algeria, Mahrez racked up 113 caps and 38 goals, cementing himself as a cornerstone of the Fennec Foxes. After his stint with Al-Ahli FC (122 matches, 37 goals), the right winger from Clichy kept finding the net wherever he went.