Croatian hopes will be riding high on Hajduk Split midfielder Nico Krancjar when he takes to the field in the 2006 World Cup. Nico, a teenage phenom is one of the brightest prospects in Croatian soccer and in 2003 became the youngest captain in Dinamo Zagreb history at age 18. He is hailed as an attacking midfielder with pinpoint passes, great vision, and excellent ball control. Nico’s dream is to play for Barcelona and the club is apparently trying to bring him over. His career advisor: Davor Suker, WC 1998’s Golden Ball winner.
Nico’s father is Zlatko Kranjcar, the Croatian national team’s coach and himself a legend in Yugoslavian and Croatian soccer. In fact, he was the captain of the free Croatian team when they played their first international against the USA on Ocotber 17, 1990. His long career started with Dinamo Zagreb in 1966 when he was just 10 and he played 556 matches for the team scoring 98 goals. In 1983, he transferred to Rapid Wien. He also played in the European Cup final against Everton in 1986.
Zlatko Kranjcar heads a very strong Croatian team with standout striker Ivan Klasnic, (Werder Bremen, Germany), Ivica Olic (CSKA, Moscow), midfielder Marko Babic (Bayer Leverkausen, Germany), and a strong defense in sentinels Stejpan Tomas (Galtasaray, Turkey) and Dario Simic (AC Milan).
Yugoslavian and Croatian soccer is defined by this storied family of soccer stars and Croatia is hoping that they bring further glory to their country during this World Cup.