Alen Bokšić
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Alen Bokšić (; born 21 January 1970) is a former Croatian professional footballer. A 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 The Croatia national football team () represents Croatia in men's international Association football, football matches. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS), the governing body for football in Croatia. It is a member of UEF ...
. With
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
, 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 The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
titles in 1997 and 2000 with Juventus and
Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...
respectively, and is regarded as one of the best foreign players in the history of Serie A since 1980. Although selected for
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
squad at the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, the 20-year-old Bokšić did not play in the tournament, with coach
Ivica Osim Ivan Osim (6 May 1941 – 1 May 2022), best known as Ivica Osim, was a Bosnian professional Football player, footballer and Manager (association football), football manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Bosnian football managers of all ...
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 The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...
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.


Club career


Hajduk Split

Bokšić was born in
Makarska Makarska () is a town on the Adriatic coastline of Croatia, about southeast of Split (city), Split and northwest of Dubrovnik, in the Split-Dalmatia County. Makarska is a prominent regional tourist center, located on a horseshoe-shaped bay bet ...
and started his club career at Zmaj, from Makarska. As a young player, he moved to Hajduk Split and was introduced into the first team (1987–91). With Hajduk, he won the
Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...
in 1987 and 1991. In 174 games for Hajduk, he scored 60 goals. Bokšić scored in the 1991 Yugoslavian Cup final against
Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...
for what proved to be the winning goal. It was the last ever goal scored in the Yugoslavian Cup, as the country dissolved just few months after that.


Olympique Marseille

Bokšić moved to
Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
in France (1991–92), but was plagued by injuries and played only one game for the entire season. In the summer of 1992, he was signed by French club
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
. In his only full season with Marseille (1992–93), he was the
Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...
top goalscorer, leading the charts with 23 goals. That season he won the French league, but Marseille were later stripped of the title. His biggest success with the club came in May 1993, when Marseille defeated AC Milan to win the 1993 UEFA Champions League Final. Bokšić was the club's joint top goalscorer in the competition alongside teammate Rudi Völler, as he scored six goals in the 1992–93 UEFA Champions League. He played another 12 league matches for the club at the beginning of the 1993–94 season, until December 1993, when he was sold to
Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...
. Bokšić left the club in the wake of one of the biggest football club scandals in history. In 1994, due to financial irregularities and a match fixing scandal involving then president Bernard Tapie, they suffered enforced relegation to the second division.


Lazio

After joining
Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...
in Italy in 1993, Bokšić was voted fourth for the 1993 European Footballer of the Year, behind winner Roberto Baggio, Dennis Bergkamp and Eric Cantona. In his first half-season with Lazio, Bokšić appeared in 21 Serie A matches, scoring four goals, as Lazio ended fourth. In the 1994–95 season, Lazio were managed by Zdeněk Zeman, and Bokšić played an important part in the club's best Serie A position since 1974, finishing second. Bokšić was a part of a praised attacking trident formed by Bokšić, Giuseppe Signori and Pierluigi Casiraghi. He scored a total of nine goals in the 1994–95 Serie A season.


Juventus

In the summer of 1996, Bokšić signed for Juventus, then managed by Marcello Lippi. During his one season with the club, he managed to win three trophies, as Juventus won the 1996–97 Serie A, the 1996 Intercontinental Cup and the 1996 UEFA Super Cup. The club also reached the final of the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League, but lost the match 3–1 against
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
. Bokšić played as a forward until the 88th minute of the match, alongside Christian Vieri, and provided the assist for Alessandro Del Piero's goal. Bokšić was the club's top goalscorer in the competition with four goals. He also netted three goals in 22 league appearances on their way to the Serie A title.


Return to Lazio

Bokšić returned to Lazio in 1997, now under new manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. In his first season back at the club, he scored ten goals in Serie A, with Lazio finishing seventh in the league; this was a disappointing result for Lazio, but they managed to reach the final of the 1998
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
and also won the Coppa Italia that year. In the 1998–99 season, Lazio won the Supercoppa Italiana, finished second in the league and won the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. However, Bokšić made only three Serie A appearances due to injury. The 1999–2000 Season was Bokšić's most successful season with Lazio, as the club won the
UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...
, the 1999–2000 Serie A title and another Coppa Italia; Bokšić scored four goals en route to the scudetto. After six years of playing in Serie A, he decided to leave Italy at the end of the season. In 2010, Bokšić was voted number 32 on the list of the best foreign players in the history of
Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
.


Middlesbrough

Following his spell at
Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...
, Bokšić surprised the footballing world by joining English
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
club
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
for a transfer fee of £2.5 million. On his debut for Middlesbrough, Boksic scored twice and claimed an assist in a 3–1 win over Coventry City. At the time of his signing, some reports claimed that he had become the highest-paid player in English football, earning a reputed £63,000 per week. However, there are no documented sources for this claim, which was vehemently denied by manager Bryan Robson: "The wages quoted are a total nonsense. I got to hear about this long before anyone else and that's why we acted quickly and decisively. Talk of £63,000 a week is utter rubbish." Despite his injury problems, he went on to score twelve goals in his first season at Middlesbrough, and was subsequently named their Player of the Year. He was less affected by injuries in the 2001–02 season, but could only muster eight goals in a Boro side short of goals and creativity throughout the entire side. Whilst a Middlesbrough player, he went to the 2002 World Cup finals with Croatia, but failed to score in his country's three group games. On 1 February 2003, Boksic announced his decision to retire from football, after a succession of injuries had restricted his appearances at the Riverside Stadium. Bokšić came to a mutual agreement with Middlesbrough to bring the curtain down on his illustrious career. His last match for Middlesbrough was on 11 January 2003, in a 2–2 draw with
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
, while his final goal for the club had come in a memorable 3–1 win over
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
on Boxing Day 2002.


International career

Twenty-year-old Bokšić was a member of the Yugoslavia national squad during
1990 World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...
, but coach
Ivica Osim Ivan Osim (6 May 1941 – 1 May 2022), best known as Ivica Osim, was a Bosnian professional Football player, footballer and Manager (association football), football manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Bosnian football managers of all ...
did not give him a single minute of action, preferring the more experienced Zlatko Vujović and Darko Pančev for places upfront. For the Croatia national team, Bokšić was capped 40 times, scoring ten goals. He made his debut for them in a June 1993
friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...
against
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
and his final international was an October 2002 European Championship qualification match against
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
. He played for his country at Euro 96. He missed Croatia's surprising third-place run in the
1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...
due to injury. This was a devastating blow for the Croatian team as they could not pair him together with Davor Šuker. He finally made his World Cup playing debut in the 2002 World Cup at the age of 32.


Style of play

Bokšić was a dynamic, well-rounded, physically strong, and prolific forward, who was renowned for his technique, skill, creativity, movement, power, stamina and pace on the ball, which enabled him to open up defences and create space for his teammates and provide depth to his team with his attacking runs; despite his ability and consistent goalscoring rate throughout his career, he drew criticism at times in the Italian media for his occasional lack of accuracy in front of goal during his time in Serie A. He was also injury prone throughout his career.


Career statistics


Club


International

:''Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bokšić goal.''


Honours


Player

Hajduk Split *
Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...
: 1990–91 Marseille *
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
: 1992–93 Juventus *
Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
: 1996–97 * Intercontinental Cup: 1996 *UEFA Champions League runner-up: 1996–97 Lazio *Serie A: 1999–2000 * Coppa Italia: 1997–98, 1999–2000 * UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1998–99


Individual

* French Division 1 top scorer: 1992–93 * French Division 1 Foreign Player of the Year: 1993 * Onze d'Argent: 1993 * 1993 Ballon d'Or: 4th place * Croatian Footballer of the Year: 1993 * Middlesbrough Supporters' club player of the year: 2000–01


Orders

* Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar: 1995 * Order of the Croatian Trefoil: 1998


Personal life

Bokšić married Ajda in 1990. The couple had three children (daughter Stella and sons Toni and Alen) before divorcing in 2000. In 2004 from a relationship with girlfriend Jadranka Bokšić had another daughter Laura.Boksic u zagrljaju s djevojkom prosetao zagrebackom spicom
index.hr, 17 November 2010


Notes


References

*''Nogometni leksikon'' (2004, in Croatian)


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boksic, Alen 1970 births Living people Sportspeople from Makarska Footballers from Split-Dalmatia County Men's association football forwards Yugoslav men's footballers Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's international footballers 1990 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1996 players 2002 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Champions League–winning players HNK Hajduk Split players AS Cannes players Olympique de Marseille players SS Lazio players Juventus FC players Middlesbrough F.C. players Yugoslav First League players Ligue 1 players Serie A players Premier League players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Croatian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in England Croatian expatriate sportspeople in England 21st-century Croatian sportsmen