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Mario Stanić
Personal information
Date of birth	10 April 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth	Sarajevo, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Winger; Forward
Team information
Current team	Shakhtar Donetsk (assistant)
Youth career
0000–1988	Željezničar
Senior career*
Years	Team
1988–1992	Željezničar
1992–1993	Croatia Zagreb
1993–1994	Sporting Gijón
1994–1995	Benfica
1995–1996	Club Brugge
1996–2000	Parma
2000–2004	Chelsea
Total
International career
1991	Yugoslavia
1993	Croatia U21
1995–2003	Croatia
Managerial career
2023–	Shakhtar Donetsk (assistant)
Medal record
Representing Croatia
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mario Stanić (born 10 April 1972) is a Croatian former professional footballer. A versatile offensive player, he played in forward or attacking midfield positions, and was also deployed as a wing-back in the Croatia national team. He is currently assistant manager at Shakhtar Donetsk.

Club career

Born in Sarajevo, Stanić started his career with hometown club Željezničar. He was considered to be one of the most talented young players in former Yugoslavia. In 1992, war in Bosnia and Herzegovina began and Stanić escaped to Slavonski Brod wading the Sava and moved to Croatia, where he played for Croatia Zagreb. After only one season, he moved to Spanish Sporting de Gijón, and year later to S.L. Benfica in Portugal. In 1995, he arrived at Club Brugge and was top scorer of the Belgian First Division that year with 20 goals. Then Parma bought him in late 1996 and he played four seasons with that side.

Chelsea

Stanić joined Chelsea on a £5.6 million transfer in June 2000. He became Vialli's third signing, after Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eiður Guðjohnsen.^[1] Stanić made his league debut in a 4–2 home win against West Ham United in August 2000, where he scored a brace, one of them a strike from 35 yards.^[2] The goal was later nominated for the Goal of the Season on BBC's Match of the Day programme.^[3]

International career

After playing twice for Yugoslavia in 1991, Stanić won 49 international caps and scored seven goals for the Croatia national team between 1995 and 2003,^[4] making his international debut in a UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying against Estonia in September 1995. He made three appearances for Croatia at the Euro 1996 finals in England and went on to appear in all of the team's seven matches at the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals in France, where they won the bronze medal. At the latter tournament, he scored Croatia's first-ever World Cup goal in their opening 3–1 victory over Jamaica and assisted in Robert Jarni's opening goal in their 3–0 victory over Germany in the quarterfinals. Stanić also made two appearances for Croatia at the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals as a second-half substitute, only to see Croatia fall short of qualifying for the second round of the tournament. His last international appearance came in April 2003 as a half-time substitute in a friendly match against Sweden.^[5]

He was forced to retire at the age of 32 after developing a serious knee injury during the 2003–04 league season.

Career statistics

Club

^[6]^[7]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Željezničar	1988–89	Yugoslav First League	0	0	0	0	–		–		0	0
	1989–90		14	0	0	0	–		–		14	0
	1990–91		28	1	1	0	–		–		29	1
	1991–92		21	11	5	1	–		–		26	12
	Total		63	12	6	1	0	0	0	0	69	13
Croatia Zagreb	1992–93	Prva HNL	26	11	9	8	–		–		35	19
Sporting Gijón	1993–94	La Liga	34	7	4	3	–		–		38	10
Benfica	1994–95	Primeira Divisão	13	5	1	0	1	0	–		15	5
Brugge	1995–96	Belgian First Division	30	20	5	4	1^[a]	0	4	1	40	25
	1996–97	Belgian First Division	7	7	0	0	0	0	6	1	13	8
	Total		37	27	5	4	1	0	10	2	53	33
Parma	1996–97	Serie A	13	3	–		–		–		13	3
	1997–98		23	4	5	1	–		4	0	32	5
	1998–99		18	7	7	0	–		6	0	31	7
	1999–2000		24	6	1	0	0	0	9	4	34	10
	Total		78	20	13	1	0	0	19	4	110	25
Chelsea	2000–01	Premier League	12	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	15	2
	2001–02		27	1	4	1	2	0	2	0	35	2
	2002–03		18	4	3	1	2	1	2	0	25	6
	2003–04		2	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	5	0
	Total		59	7	9	2	6	1	5	0	80	10
Career total			310	88	42	17	3	0	34	6	400	114

^ Appearance in Belgian Super Cup

International

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	10 April 1996	Gradski vrt, Osijek	Hungary	4 – 1	4 – 1	Friendly
2–3	22 April 1998	Gradski vrt, Osijek	Poland	2 – 0	4 – 1	Friendly
2–3	22 April 1998	Gradski vrt, Osijek	Poland	3 – 0	4 – 1	Friendly
4	14 June 1998	Félix-Bollaert, Lens	Jamaica	1 – 0	3 – 1	World Cup 1998
5	21 August 1999	Maksimir, Zagreb	Malta	1 – 0	2 – 1	Euro 2000 Qualifying
6	9 October 1999	Maksimir, Zagreb	FR Yugoslavia	2 – 2	2 – 2	Euro 2000 Qualifying
7	26 April 2000	Ernst Happel, Vienna	Austria	2 – 1	2 – 1	Friendly

Honours

Croatia Zagreb

Prva HNL: 1992–93

Club Brugge

Parma

Chelsea

FA Charity Shield: 2000

Croatia

FIFA World Cup third place: 1998

Individual

Orders

Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar - 1995^[8]
Order of the Croatian Trefoil - 1998^[9]

References

^ "Chelsea sign Croatian star". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 28 June 2000. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
^ "Stanic brace sinks Hammers". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 20 August 2000. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
^ "Super Mario arrives". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 15 May 2001. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
^ Mario Stanic - International Appearances - RSSSF
^ "Player Database". eu-football.info. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
^ "Stanić Mario statistics". bdfutbol.com. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
^ "Dinamo". Povijest.gnkdinamo.hr. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
^ "ODLUKU KOJOM SE ODLIKUJU REDOM DANICE HRVATSKE S LIKOM FRANJE BUČARA" (in Croatian). hrvatska.poslovniforum.hr.
^ "PREDSJEDNIK TUDJMAN ODLIKOVAO HRVATSKU NOGOMETNU REPREZENTACIJU" (in Croatian). hrt.hr. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016.