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Croatian star midfielder Kranjcar currently plays for English club Portsmouth.
Known for his playmaking abilities such as his range of passing, his vision,
his exceptional dribbling, his ability to shoot with both feet from long range,
and also his mastery from free-kicks and set-pieces.
He scored his first Premiership goal in March 2007 against Fulham. In 2006,
he was linked with a 4 million Euro move from Hajduk to the French side Rennes.
But the low bid was rejected and he finally settled wit Portsmouth for 3.5 million Pounds.
Kranjcar spent most of his youth playing for Dinamo Zagreb, with which he was later captain.
In 2005, following a disagreement with the management, he made a surprise move of shifting
to Dinamo’s biggest rivals Hajduk. After the 2006 World Cup, the world press hailed him
for his talents, and several clubs wanted to buy him. Among those clubs were the French
club Stade Rennes and the Spanish Club Celta de Vigo. But in the end, Pompey came with the best offer for him.
Kranjcar has been part of the Croatian national Under-16, -17, -19 and -21 teams
before advancing to the senior national team.His senior debut for Croatia came on
18 August 2004 in a friendly match against Israel. He was a regular for Croatia
during their qualifying campaign for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, making nine appearances
and scoring two goals. He also played in all of Croatia's three group matches at the
2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany. Kranjcar was also a regular for Croatia in their
ongoing qualifying campaign for the UEFA Euro 2008, having appeared in all twelve matches, scoring 2 goals.
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