This article is part of the Guardian’s 2018 World Cup Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 32 countries who have qualified for Russia. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 14 June.

Andrej Kramaric has gone against the grain and, against sizeable odds, come out on top. The Hoffenheim forward has risked his career in sticking to his principles and now stands to shine for a Croatia side whose attack has often struggled for fluency.

A recent court anecdote casts light on the forces Kramaric has had to battle. It also explains why Croatia have lost so much support at home, with players scorned rather than celebrated going into the World Cup.

It centres on Zdravko Mamic, the most powerful man in domestic football. Mamic is on trial for, among other things, massive-scale embezzlement of Dinamo Zagreb’s funds. While at the club, he took big chunks of transfer money paid to Dinamo.

He would first sign personal contracts with young players that entitled him to a large share of their earnings; then, acting as a club executive, put clauses in their contracts specifying the split of transfer fee between the club and the player. Once a player received a portion of any money a foreign club paid Dinamo for his services — as high as 50% — he would forward most of it to Mamic.

That is not being disputed by Mamic’s lawyers. But the prosecution is trying to prove some of those clauses, including in the cases of Luka Modric and Dejan Lovren, were added and backdated only after the players had been sold. Modric and Lovren asserted that during the investigation but changed their testimonies in court as witnesses for the prosecution, saying the investigators had confused them.

Modric has been charged with perjury and Lovren is being investigated for it. This has turned large sections of the public against the players.

Among the papers Mamic submitted to court as “evidence of his innocence”, something was discovered: a document investigators claim was a list of instructions for Lovren on how to answer specific questions asked by the prosecution. Apparently he had followed those almost to the letter.

Kramaric says he refused to follow in the more experienced players’ footsteps and sign such a contract. It nearly destroyed his career but he does not discuss it. “There is no need; everyone knows what was happening and the stories you hear are true,” he said last year. “I came out of it with a smile on my face and made a success for myself. But of course it left a bitter taste. Dinamo was my dream ever since I was a kid.”

The Zagreb-born youngster joined the club at six and scored 452 goals, by his count, for their youth teams. He was the best attacking talent their academy produced in decades and Mamic repeatedly approached Kramaric’s family, promising money and various perks if he came under his wing. The family declined and things were made difficult for Kramaric.

Although he made a promising start for the first team, he would be benched at the first sign of a drop in form. He would be sent on loans to Lokomotiva, Dinamo’s farm club, and even after he did very well there Dinamo coaches tended to favour other players. Meanwhile the club declined inquiries from foreign clubs – hoping to break him into signing a contract with Mamic.

Andrej Kramaric joined Leicester for £9m in January 2015 but featured in only 15 league games before joining Hoffenheim, first on loan and then permanently. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images

But Kramaric did not buckle. In 2013 he went public with complaints about a lack of playing time, his father insinuating it related to their refusal to go with Mamic. He was transfer-listed and Rijeka signed him.

There, Kramaric revived his career. He scored 27 goals in his first season and 28 the next. This attracted Leicester City, who made him their record signing in January 2015. He was 23, far beyond the age at which most Croatian talents make their big moves.

Kramaric did not succeed in England. After Leicester had won their relegation battle, he barely featured and was loaned to Hoffenheim in winter 2016, missing the Foxes’ title win. “The other lads took their chances and I had to take the hard road,” he said. “Again.”



Again he flourished, this time under Julian Nagelsmann, especially after signing permanently. In 2016-17 he won the player of the year award from Hoffenheim fans; at the end of the most recent season, he made Kicker magazine’s Bundesliga team of the season.

His international career has been only slightly less arduous. Since his debut in 2014 he has not fully established himself in competition with Mario Mandzukic and Nikola Kalinic but has been able to unlock the team’s largely dormant attacking potential. He became a hero with both goals in the 2-0 win in Ukraine that took Croatia to the World Cup play-offs.

But, far beyond that, Kramaric has become a symbol of a refusal to go with the flow and support the powers that have alienated so many fans. He is different, on and off the pitch – respected by fans, regardless of the club they support and whether they can muster any enthusiasm for Croatia. It is perhaps Kramaric’s greatest achievement.

Aleksandar Holiga writes for Telesport.

Follow him on Twitter here.

Click here for our Croatia team guide.



