History of Josip Juranović.
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Union knocked Ajax out of the Europa League (0:0, 3:1), and Croatian Josip Juranović became one of the heroes of the victorious match in Germany - he scored himself and made an assist. This text about the defender, who until the age of 18 was not known even inside Croatia, we first published during the World Cup. And now we are happy to raise.

Juranović's slow journey from no-name to Celtic mainstay - through a commercial project that recognized him as the best amateur

Juranović's career boost happened at the beginning of 2014. Then he took part in the Nike competition, which recognized Juranović as the best amateur football player in Croatia (at that time, he played for the second league club Dubrava). Juranović was photographed with Mario Mandzukic and received a prize - a trip to London. In the video with the unknown Juranović, there are only comments that he will stop Vinicius in eight years.
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But still, Juranović was a bit of an amateur. Since childhood, he went to the academy five minutes from home, where he studied with two brothers. Juranović admits that football is his first love, but he also had to work outside of sports. For example, for some time, he replaced a waiter friend. I even liked it: "I liked communicating with the guests."

After the Nike competition, Juranović was noticed by "Hajduk." But no one was sure that he would succeed in a big club. After all, Juranović studied at the academy of a weak team and moved to Hajduk more because of the media story with Nike.

In Hajduk, Juranović progressed (and, for example, got into the team of the year of the Croatian championship), but there was no big take-off. After five seasons in Croatia, Juranović played for Legia for a year before moving to Celtic. And in an interview, he constantly says that a team of this level is a chance he never dreamed of.
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Juranović got into the national team after another defender was injured, and even now (after top matches), he does not think that it is worth a lot

In 2019, Zlatko Dalic called Juranović to the national team for the first time. Because Tin Edvay is out, a temporary replacement is needed on the right flank of the defense. So Juranović got a chance. For Dalic, this is the primary example: how to endure, work and wait. Then everything will work out. This is the essence of the Croats.

"If I chose the man of the match, I would name Juranović. He " killed" Vinicius and crushed him in defense and attack. Vinicius was removed because he could not do anything, and Josip was still trampling on the flank.

Who is hardworking, who is honest, who believes and works, such a chance cannot be accidental. What Juranović has done: jumping from an amateur to today'stoday's level, is an example of the fact that everything is possible. He worked independently, fought, and became one of the best players against Brazil. This is an exact reflection of our team," Dalic said frankly after the Brazilians.
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The media wrote that Barcelona, Chelsea, and Atletico wanted Juranović, but he was modest and denied leaving Celtic: "I am not the player who is worth 20-30 million. And I even asked the agent not to send me anything now [about offers from clubs]. It doesn'tdoesn't interest me at all now."

In January, he ended up in Union, with whom he will compete for the championship in the Bundesliga and, apparently, get as far as possible in the Europa League.

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