Darijo Srna

Hajduk Split

Srna's talent was seen by many scouts in Croatia while he was young. He was later signed by Hajduk Split as his talent became desirable for the Croatian giants. At Hajduk, he won the 1999–2000 and 2002–03 Croatian Cup, as well as the 2000–01 Prva HNL. The club played in the first round of 1999–2000 UEFA Cup, 2001–02 UEFA Cup, 2002–03 UEFA Cup, as well as the second round of the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League and the third round of the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League. He made 84 appearances for the club, including 64 in the league, and scored eight goals, four of which came in the league, before moving to Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk.

Shakhtar Donetsk

In 2003, Srna was sold, along with Hajduk goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa, to Shakhtar Donetsk. He is a common member and the captain in his club side, for whom he has made a large impact in the league. In his first season with the club, he made 29 appearances, including 19 in the league, scoring three goals, all in the Ukrainian Cup. He helped the club to win the Ukrainian Cup, his first honour with the club, and to a second-place finish in the Premier League. In his second season, Shakhtar won the Super Cup and the Premier League. He made 42 appearances for the club, 22 of which came in the league, and netted two goals, once in the league and once in the cup. Srna made his debut in the main stage of the UEFA Champions League on 14 September 2004 against Milan. His third season saw Shakhtar retain the…

Euro 2004

Srna made his full international debut for the Croatia national team in a friendly match against Romania in November 2002. He went on to score his first international goal on his competitive debut for Croatia in their UEFA Euro 2004 qualifier against Belgium in March 2003, netting the opening goal in Croatia's 4–0 win. He made a total of six appearances in Croatia's qualifying campaign for Euro 2004, including both play-off matches against Slovenia. At the Euro 2004 finals, he appeared as a substitute in Croatia's group matches against Switzerland and England, before they were knocked out in the first round.

2006 World Cup

After Euro 2004, Srna went on to become one of the key players in Croatia's 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, scoring five goals in nine appearances and being the team's top goalscorer in the competition. During the 2006 World Cup qualifying, he scored both goals in Croatia's two 1–0 wins over Sweden, including a long-range free kick in the away fixture in Gothenburg. He also netted both goals in Croatia's 2–2 home draw against Bulgaria, as well as one goal in their 3–1 away win at Iceland. Srna then starred in all three of Croatia's games at the 2006 World Cup. He was highly praised and remembered for his spectacular 30-yard free kick, which put Croatia ahead against Australia in the infamous "Graham Poll three-yellow card" blunder, which ended 2–2. However, in previous group match against Japan he missed a penalty in a…

Club

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International

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Croatia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Srna goal

Srna was born in Metković on Adriatic coast of southern Dalmatia to Bosniak father Uzeir and Croat mother Milka. His father, a World War II orphan and a former footballer for FK Sarajevo, supported his fledgling football career despite discrimination during the Yugoslav Wars and widespread corruption among football coaches. Before leaving Croatia to join for Shakhtar Donetsk, he gave his parents a brand new Mercedes-Benz A-Class. He has a tattoo of a deer playing football on his leg, as "srna" in Croatian means "roe deer". Srna has also helped Bosnian club Borac Šamac, where his father played as goalkeeper and was also a coach. Srna has a half-brother, Renato, a coach at Neretva, from their father's first marriage. His other brother, Igor, has Down syndrome. As a result, Srna dedicates all his goals to him, and even revealed a shirt under his jersey saying "Igor, svi smo uz tebe" ("Igor, we are all here for you") after scoring a goal against Macedonia in international play. He also has a tattoo reading "Igor" on his heart. While at Shakhtar, Srna frequently bought match tickets for orphans and often financed their travel to the stadium at his own expense. In late 2014, he purchased 20 tonnes of mandarins from farms near Metković and had them donated to over 23,000 primary school children in the Donbas region during the ongoing war there. Srna married long-time girlfriend Mirela Forić, whom he met through mutual friend and footballer Boško Balaban. Their daughter Kasja was…