Davor Šuker

Davor Šuker ^* (born January 1, 1968) is a legendary former Croatian football striker who was the top scorer and the Golden Boot winner at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, where he scored 6 goals in 7 matches and led the Croatian national team to their sensational third place finish in their first World Cup appearance. He is also the Croatian national team's all-time goal scoring leader with 45 goals.

Born in Osijek, Šuker began his playing career at his local team NK Osijek in 1984, whence he moved to Dinamo Zagreb in 1989. After impressing in the Yugoslav First League, he made his international debut in 1990 for then newly founded Croatian national team against Romania. In 1991, just before the Yugoslav wars broke out, Šuker played in two matches for the Yugoslav national team, where he scored his first international goal. Also in 1991, he moved to Spanish club Sevilla.

After featuring highly in the Pichichi charts, Šuker went on to score three goals for Croatia at the . Šuker then moved to Real Madrid in 1996, which saw him realise his dream of capturing major trophies, collecting the Spanish League title in 1997 and the Champions League in 1998. At the end of this successful season, he went on to claim the Golden Boot at the 1998 World Cup with six goals and led the Croatian team to their sensational third place finish in their very first appearance at the Football World Cup. Šuker moved to Arsenal in 1999 and subsequently moved to West Ham United and 1860 Munich, where he finished his career in 2003. He was also part of the Croatian team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but played for only 64 minutes in their unsuccessful opening match against Mexico.

In his career he collected a total of 71 international matches, 2 for Yugoslavia and 69 for Croatia, and scored a total of 46 international goals. Towards the end of his playing career he opened his own football school, the Davor Šuker Soccer Academy, with training camps in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb. In March 2004 he was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers.

External link

Official site for Šuker's soccer academy

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