Ivan Klasnić (born January 29, 1980 in Hamburg, Germany) is a
Croatian football player who, as of 2004 was playing for Werder
Bremen. He is considered as one of Croatia's brightest young
talents. Speedy and a telling figure in the air, Ivan Klasnic is
also a tricky customer on the floor, where he has a knack for
scoring from unpromising situations. In the 2003-2004 season, he
won the German Championship as well as the German Cup with
Werder Bremen, scoring 13 goals. After this breakout season, he
was selected to play for Croatia in the 2004 European Football
Championship. However, he was left on the substitutes bench
throughout the tournament. Croatia did not advance past the
group stage and the media often attributed that to the lack of
inclusion of Klasnić, among other things.
Participating in the 2004-2005 UEFA Champions League, Klasnić
scored 5 goals, including a hat-trick, helping Bremen advance to
the first knock-out stage of the competition before losing to
Lyon. |
