Ante Budimir #11

Profile

A true late bloomer who became an Osasuna legend despite only joining them at age 29 -his Croatia debut came a few months later - Budimir has sometimes been described as a “poor man’s Mario Mandzukic” mainly for his hard work off the ball and strong presence in the air. A war refugee from Bosnia, he is also a really nice guy and a university student of economics and business who lists Roberto Benigni’s La vita è bella as his favourite film. Soon 35, he may finally be Croatia’s first choice up front. Oh, yes - he’s also the protagonist of one of the worst penalties ever taken in football, the bizarre effort against Valencia that caused mass facepalming on the home bench and in the crowd. Just google it.

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