Alen Bokšić

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.

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 in 1987 and 1991.

In 174 games for Hajduk, he scored 60 goals.

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.

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.

Bokšić scored in the 1991 Yugoslavian Cup final against Red Star Belgrade 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.

Bokšić moved to Cannes in France (1991–92), but was plagued by injuries and played only one game for the entire season.

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.

In the summer of 1992, he was signed by French giants Marseille.

In his only full season with Marseille (1992–93), he was the Ligue 1 top goalscorer, leading the charts with 23 goals.

That season he won the French league, but Marseille were later stripped of the title.

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.

His biggest success with the club came in May 1993, when Marseille defeated Milan to win the 1993 UEFA Champions League Final.

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.

Bokšić left the club in the wake of one of the biggest football club scandals in history.

After joining Lazio 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 1994, due to financial irregularities and a match fixing scandal involving then president Bernard Tapie, they suffered enforced relegation to the second division.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 1999–2000 Serie A title and another Coppa Italia; Bokšić scored four goals en route to the scudetto.

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.

Bokšić was born in Makarska and started his club career at Zmaj, from Makarska.