The Peninsula
Croatian international Mario Mandzukic has set the ball rolling for a ‘new journey’ with QNB Stars League leaders Al Duhail with his arrival in Doha yesterday.
The 33-year-old, who was pivotal in Croatia’s impressive run to the World Cup final last year, scoring three times during the tournament in Russia, is keen to extend his career after making the move to Qatar from Iitalian giants Juventus.
The Croatian made the move to Qatar on a free transfer deal at the end of his contract with Juventus. The Croatia international won four Serie A titles and the Coppa Italia on three occasions during a hugely successful four-and-a-half-year spell in Turin, will be looking to pick one title in Qatar with Al Duhail.
Mandzukic had expressed his happiness with the new experience as he set to play in Asia for the first time stressing that he would seek to leave his mark with Al Duhail.
“I am preparing for a new journey in the world of football with one of the biggest and most popular clubs in Asia and certainly I will work hard with my team-mates to help the team in achieving all its goals,” Mandzukic said upon his arrival in Doha.
Prior to joining Juventus, the forward had stints in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg, as well as a season at Atletico Madrid in La Liga.
Mandzukic started his career in his hometown club Marsonia from where he moved to two Croatian capital city football clubs, first joining NK Zagreb and then signing with Dinamo Zagreb in 2007, where he was Prva HNL top goalscorer in the 2008–09 season.
His prolific scoring earned him a transfer to VfL Wolfsburg in 2010. After some impressive performances at UEFA Euro 2012, where he was the joint top scorer with three goals, he was signed by Bayern Munich.
In 2014, Mandzukic left the German gaints for Atletico Madrid and a season later he was signed by Juventus and he stayed in it for four seasons in a row until his recent transfer to Qatar Mandzukic won the best Croatian player award once in his journey in 2012 after his shining with Wolfsburg team and Bayern Munich.
Meanwhile, Al Duhail team manager Ismael Ahmed asserted that the presence of Mandzukic in the team’s ranks is a good addition to Al Duhail and the QSL.