The 28-year old has seen a challenging season this World Cup but has displayed the capacity to create an opportunity for Croatia to move past the group stages for the first time in 16 years. He predominantly sat on the bench in the 2006 World Cup, having made only two substitute appearances and hardly an impact, but he has been ripping the fields this World Cup. He scored two storming goals against Cameroon, helping his team become on level with Mexico. With Cameroon out of the World Cup and Brazil topping the group, the match between Croatia and Mexico becomes extremely crucial as the winner of this match goes on to the net round whereas the loser is eliminated.
The Bayern Munich player is happy playing as striker and shows immense ball control. This world cup has seen a fair share of his powerful headers (both goals and attempts) as well. Having trained with Bayern Munich means he has faced and won against several powerful goalkeepers and his Croatian teammates are indeed depending upon him to face down Ochoa, thus securing a spot in the Round of 16. If he plays as the second striker in a 4-4-1-1 position, it will be easy for one striker to distract the opposing defense/goalkeep while the Mandzukic seizes the chance to score.
Mandzukic's fantastic goals are a delight to watch! He is able to manipulate his style of scoring according to the opposing goalkeeper as well as their defensive strategies. If he continues this spree, Croatia might just be the team that accompanies Brazil to the next round.
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