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Alen Bokšić

Alen Bokšić
Personal information
Date of birth (1970-01-21) 21 January 1970 (age 47)
Place of birth Makarska, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 1 12 in)
Playing position Forward
Youth career
Zmaj Makarska
Hajduk Split
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1991 Hajduk Split 95 (27)
1991–1992 Cannes 1 (0)
1992–1993 Marseille 58 (33)
1993–1996 Lazio 67 (17)
1996–1997 Juventus 22 (3)
1997–2000 Lazio 48 (14)
2000–2003 Middlesbrough 68 (22)
Total 359 (116)
National team
1993–2002 Croatia 40 (10)
Teams managed
2012–2013 Croatia (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Alen Bokšić (pronounced [alen bokʃitɕ]; born 21 January 1970) is a former Croatian football player. A prolific forward who spent most of his career in France and Italy, he was renowned for his technique and power, and is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the Croatia national football team.

With Marseille Bokšić won the 1992–93 UEFA Champions League, and was voted fourth in the 1993 European Footballer of the Year poll. That same year he was named Croatian Footballer of the Year. He also won two Serie A titles in 1997 and 2000 with Juventus and Lazio respectively, and is regarded as one of the best foreign players in the history of Serie A since 1980.

Although selected for Yugoslavia squad at the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, the 20-year-old Bokšić did not play in the tournament, with coach Ivica Osim preferring more experienced forwards in the lineup. Following Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia Bokšić became an integral part of Croatia's national team in the 1990s under coach Miroslav Blažević. He played for Croatia at the 1996 European Championship but was not included in the squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France due to an injury he suffered only weeks before the tournament. Bokšić finally made his World Cup debut at the age of 32 at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan, appearing in all three of the team's group stage matches, before retiring only a year later in 2003.


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