January 23, 2022 - Andrej Kramarić scored his jubilee 100th Hoffenheim goal on Saturday, which was also his first goal after more than three months!

Andrej Kramarić scored in Hoffenheim's 2:3 home defeat against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. The Croatian footballer equalized for 1:1 in the first minute of stoppage time in the first half. Kramarić played the whole match.

This was his first goal after more than three months, but also the jubilee 100th for Hoffenheim. This is only his third Bundesliga goal this season, the first since October 29 last year. He nailed the back of the net with a half volley, reports Jutarnji List.

"Of course, I'm overjoyed with my 100th goal for TSG. It really took a long time. I would like to thank my family, club, and teammates. My son was at the stadium for the first time today, I'm glad I managed to score in front of him," Kramarić said and commented on the match:

"I am extremely angry about the defeat because we played superbly. Dortmund had three shots in the box and scored three goals (official statistics say two, and the third goal is an own goal). We are not happy with the result, but the game was really good. It is clear to everyone that we were better. We need to keep building on this game so the results will come with which to climb the ladder."

Kramarić's Croatia national teammate Marin Pongračić entered the game for Borussia Dortmund in the 83rd minute. 

Third place in the Bundesliga standings was confirmed by Bayer with a convincing 5:1 home victory against Augsburg. The absolute first name of the match was the Frenchman Moussa Diaby who scored three of the five goals for Leverkusen. Bellarabi and Alario scored for Bayer, and the only scorer for the guests was Maier.

Only the second league victory of the season was recorded by Greuther Fuerth, who beat Mainz 2:1 at home. 

Stuttgart is penultimate in the rankings. This time they lost to Freiburg (0:2) and recorded their fourth defeat in the last five league appearances (with one draw). Croatian footballer Borna Sosa played the whole game for Stuttgart, and the scorers for the winning team were Ito (own goal) and Schade.

Union Berlin broke through to fourth place, winning 2:1 in Moenchengladbach. The hero of the match was Kruse with two goals. He scored the winning goal in the 84th minute.

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January 26, 2021 - Andrej Kramaric has surpassed Ivica Olic to become the top Croatian scorer in Bundesliga!

Croatia national team player Andrej Kramaric scored two goals in Sunday's (3-0) Hoffenheim victory against Cologne, resulting in a stellar 74 Bundesliga goals - the most of any Croatian footballer in the German league, reports Index.hr.

Kramaric scored both goals from penalty kicks, the first in the 7th and the second in the 75th minute. Goalkeeper Timo Horn flew in the wrong direction on both penalties, and Kramaric scored his 11th and 12th Bundesliga goals of the season. Kramaric played for Hoffenheim only 19 times in the new season, and in addition to the goals, he also recorded two assists.

Kramaric has thus become the top Croatian scorer in the Bundesliga 74 goals, two more than Ivica Olić.

Ivica Olic scored 72 in his Bundesliga career, followed by Mario Mandzukic (53), Mladen Petric (51), and Ivan Klasnic (50). However, while the legendary Olic needed 238 games for 72 goals, Kramaric reached 74 goals in only 146 matches.

"Even before the game, I knew that with one goal, I would reach Ivica Olic and become the most successful Croatian scorer in the history of Bundesliga. I never thought in my career that I would achieve something like that, this is a great honor for me, and I am very proud of this success," said Andrej Kramarić (29), for 24 Sata.

"I have to admit, I was motivated by Ivica Olic's figure, I really wanted to reach him. I play all the time for Hoffenheim, while Olic and Mandzukic had the opportunity to play in much bigger clubs like Bayern, so I reached this number with a lot fewer games played. I believe that all this adds value and even more importance to my success. None of them have congratulated me on this record yet, but I know the guys will get back to me soon."

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October 17, 2020 - Croatia national team player Andrej Kramaric received great recognition for his effective performances at the beginning of the new football season in Germany. 

The Hoffenheim striker and 2018 World Cup finalist was named the best player in the official selection of the Bundesliga in September!

Kramaric scored five goals in the first two rounds of the new championship - three against Cologne and two against Bayern - and overcame Gnabry, Sane, Kimmich, Füllkrug, and Kalajdžić in the selection. Before the first round, he also scored two goals in the German Cup against Chemnitzer.

With the mentioned five goals, he almost reached the record of Gerd Müller, who scored six in two introductory rounds of the 1977/1978 season.

He continued his excellent form in October, with a league goal against Eintracht. During the national team break, he came off the bench to secure Croatia's victory against Sweden in the Nations League.

Unfortunately, it was announced on Friday that the Croatia national team representative was infected with the coronavirus upon his return to Germany from the national team campaign.

"Two players who participated in the national team matches tested positive for COVID-19 upon their return to Germany. None of them have been in contact with the rest of the team, and they are now in self-isolation in their homes and are asymptomatic," Hoffenheim announced without naming the players.

It was later found out and confirmed by the Croatian Football Federation that one of the positive players was the Croatian striker Andrej Kramaric. Another infected player at the club is Kasim Adams.

Kramaric is one of nine Hoffenheim players who joined their national teams over the past 10 days.

Earlier on Friday, Spanish first division team Osasuna announced that Croatia national team player, Ante Budimir, had returned to the club positive for the coronavirus.

"The competent epidemiological service assessed that Croatia teammates of Kramaric and Budimir and the members of the staff were not risky contacts and that it is not necessary to prescribe mandatory self-isolation to any member of the national team," HNS announced.

Source: HNS

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September 19, 2020 - With a convincing 8:0 Bayern victory against Schalke, the German football Bundesliga opened on Friday. On Saturday, a hattrick for Andrej Kramaric helped Hoffenheim win their first-round match. 

T.portal reports that on Saturday, Andrej Kramaric led Hoffenheim, who played away in Cologne. The Croatia national team player already scored two goals in the first half. Cologne equalized to 2:2 in the 86th minute, but the Croatian striker scored his third goal for the 3:2 victory in the second minute of added time. 

Recap

Hoffenheim and Cologne met in the first round of the new season on Saturday afternoon. In the third minute, Cologne was punished by the class of Andrej Kramaric.

Namely, goalkeeper Timo Horn played his stopper, Jonas Hector. His weak pass saw Kramaric rush the player and managed to nutmeg the Cologne goalkeeper and found the back of the net for a Hoffenheim lead of 1:0.

The hosts came back in the 22nd minute, and the equalizer was scored by the Swedish national team player Sebastian Andersson.

Andrej Kramaric shined again in the 5th minute of added time in the first half when he routinely nailed a penalty in the opposite corner of the goal. Earlier, referee Daniel Siebert sought the help of the VAR to make sure that Christoph Baumgartner was fouled in Cologne's box.

The hosts equalized for 2:2 in the 86th minute thanks to Drexler, but in the second minute of added time, Andrej Kramaric scored this third goal to bring the 3:2 victory to Hoffenheim.

Of course, we are especially pleased with Kramarić's successful entrance into the season, which shows he had enough time to make a full recovery and great preparations with the German club.

?️ “In the first half, we were better and we should have been two or three up. In the second half, we weren’t the #TSG we know. I love Hoffenheim, and it’s for that reason I say, “we need to do better.”

Hat-trick Hero Andrej #Kramaric. #KOETSG pic.twitter.com/2X23egC9yI

— TSG Hoffenheim EN (@achtzehn99_en) September 19, 2020

With this strong of a start, it could be his most successful season in the German Bundesliga. So far, it was the 2017/18 season, when he scored 17 league goals.

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June 28, 2020 - Hoffenheim defeated Borussia Dortmund 4:0 on Saturday, with all four goals scored by Croatia national team player Andrej Kramaric.

Kramaric scored all four goals differently, though the most beautiful was the first, when he nailed the left corner from 20 meters out on a rebound from the helpless Dortmund goalkeeper. Kramaric's first goal of the match came in the 8th minute.

With this incredible feat, Kramaric is the first Hoffenheim footballer to score four goals in a Bundesliga game, and he is also the first footballer to score four goals against Borussia on their pitch during a championship match.

The Croatian striker was thrilled: 

"It's a great feeling, I scored four goals and we secured sixth place leading to the Europa League. It's hard to find words; something like this doesn't often happen in my career. Thanks to my teammates. I didn't know I was the first Hoffenheim player to score four goals in one league game. It's an amazing feeling to print the pages of history. This has not been an easy season due to numerous injuries. That makes it feel even better," said Kramaric.

The Croatian striker has had a lot of problems with injuries this season, but he finished it in the best way. His Hoffenheim teammates were full of praise for him after the match.

"Simply a great Andrej show. We are very happy and excited for him. He had a hard season, but he always makes a difference when he plays. We seemed to want the victory more than Dortmund," said Robert Skov.

Oliver Baumann shared a similar opinion.

"Andrej is simply a player who makes a difference and who is of great help to us. He came back on the pitch after an injury and we thought he was at 80 percent. But he warmed up quickly and immediately came back completely. He always attracts the attention of players and we are happy he is with us," Baumann said.

UK-based SPORTbible, a sports-focused social media publisher, also couldn't hide their praise for the Croatian, and honored Kramaric in front of their 1.3 million Twitter followers.

☑️ No-look penalty
☑️ Makes Dortmund defence look bang average
☑️ 10/10 performance

Yes...the same Andrej Kramaric that flopped at Leicester! ?https://t.co/AM4y8SSpkb pic.twitter.com/yk3FDHB3uH

— SPORTbible (@sportbible) June 27, 2020

Source: HRT

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May 28, 2020 - Marin Pongracic played two great games in the space of only four days for German club Wolfsburg.

Gol.hr reports that in the last four days, the future stopper of the Croatia national team, Marin Pongracic, presented himself in a phenomenal way to the German and international football public. In his fifth appearance for Wolfsburg, he scored two of four goals in a big 4-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen.

Pongracic scored twice by a header, but many may have been even more surprised by his significant reactions in defense, where he was faced with two hellish attackers, the best in the league.

Recall, just four days earlier, Wolfsburg welcomed Borussia Dortmund and was defeated 2-0. But Pongracic played great in that match and made Erling Haaland, the Norwegian attacking sensation who has scored 41 goals in the Austrian and German leagues so far this season, completely invisible.

He did the same last night to Kai Havertz, who scored 14 goals this season for Bayer.

Man of the hour ⭐

On only his fifth Bundesliga appearance, 22-year-old centre-back, Marin Pongracic, leads Wolfsburg to victory with two headed goals ?#B04WOB 1-4 pic.twitter.com/6d4DY8QLyV

— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) May 26, 2020

"The man of the game! In just the fifth appearance, 22-year-old stopper Marin Pongracic led Wolfsburg to victory with two headers," reads the Bundesliga announcement on social media.

During the match against Borussia, Pongracic achieved a sprint speed of as much as 34 km / h, which is only two km / h less than the Bundesliga record held by Achraf Hakimi.

Pongracic arrived in Wolfsburg in January for 10 million euro from Salzburg, Austria. Born in Landshut, Germany and of Croatian descent, Pongracic joined the Croatia U17 team in 2014 after he was called up for training camp. 

Marin’s senior football career began in 2016 for 1860 Munich II, following by a season with 1860 Munich, and 34 appearances for Red Bull Salzburg, before joining Wolfsburg in 2020. 

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November 4, 2019 - Niko Kovac is no longer the coach of Bayern Munich, which was confirmed the Bavarian Club on its official website on Sunday.

The former Croatia national team coach was ruled out after the heavy defeat Bayern suffered on Saturday against Eintracht Frankfurt, when they lost 5-1.

The leaders of the Bavarian giant, President Uli Hoeness, executive chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and sports director Hasan Salihamidzic, agreed to relieve Kovac by mutual consent. 

“The performances of our team in recent weeks and the results have shown us that there was a need for action. Uli Hoeneß, Hasan Salihamidzic and I had an open and serious discussion with Niko this Sunday based on that and came to the mutual decision that Niko is no longer head coach of FC Bayern. We all regret this development. I would like to thank Niko Kovac on behalf of FC Bayern for his work, particularly for last season’s double win," Rummenigge said.

For now, assistant coach Hans Flick will be in charge of first-team training ahead of the important games against Olympiakos in the Champions League and Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga. 

Niko Kovac took over Bayern in April 2018, replacing Jupp Heynckes - though he already on the verge of being fired in the first season.

Bayern had a poor start to the season and after 15 rounds, was already nine points behind Borussia, which seemed almost an impossible mission to come back from. Halfway through the season, Borussia was six points ahead, and after 20 rounds they were up by seven. However, only four rounds later, Bayern closed the gap and both teams had 54 points after 24 rounds.

Borussia then suffered a major crisis and achieved only one win with two draws and a defeat from the 20-24th rounds, while the Bavarians booked four victories. In perhaps the most pivotal game of the season, Bayern crushed Borussia 5-0 and made a crucial step on the road to a record 29th Bundesliga title.

Niko Kovac eventually celebrated the title and also won the German Cup, while in the Champions League, Bayern lost in the round of 16 to the soon-to-be European champion Liverpool.

Bayern has not been convincing this season and is currently ranked fourth with 18 points, which is four less than Borussia Moenchengladbach.

"My brother Robert and I would like to thank FC Bayern for these past 18 months. During that time, our team won the Bundesliga, the DFB Cup, and the Supercup. It was a good time. I wish the club and the team all the very best," said Kovac after the announcement.

Kovac led the Bavarian club in 65 appearances in all competitions, recording 42 wins, 15 draws, and eight losses.

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August 13, 2019 - Ivan Perišić is a new member of Bayern Munich! 

#FCBayern have signed Croatia international Ivan Perišić. The World Cup runner up will join the club on loan from Inter Milan with immediate effect. #ServusIvan #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/gHJVZtxYOC

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) August 13, 2019

Croatia national team player Ivan Perišić is officially a new player of Bayern Munich. According to German media, Bayern will pay five million euros for a one-year loan for Perišić, with the option of buying his contract at the end of the season for 20 million euros, reports HRT.

Perišić has spent the last four seasons in Inter Milan, collecting 163 appearances with 40 goals scored. 

“I am overjoyed to be in Germany again. Bayern is one of the biggest clubs in Europe. We will attack not only the Bundesliga and the Cup, but also the Champions League,” Perišić said after the signing.

Prior to joining Inter, Perišić had already played in the Bundesliga for a season and a half for Borussia Dortmund, and two and a half seasons for Wolfsburg.

“Ivan will immediately help us with years of international experience. He is technically strong and flexible in the attack. I'm sure he'll fit in quickly because he knows the Bundesliga and our coach very well,” said Bayern Munich sports director Hasan Salihamidžić.

In the Croatia national team jersey, with which he became World Cup finalists in Russia last year, Perišić has so far collected 82 appearances with 23 goals scored.

Recall, the attacking winger of Inter and Croatia missed Friday’s game between Inter and Valencia due to precaution. And it only makes sense, since Bayern turned to Perišić as a backup option after their first-choice, Leroy Sane, was badly injured in his last game for Manchester City after his transfer to Bayern was virtually settled. Instead of going to a new club, Sane is forced to take a break for half of the year.

This transfer news confirms that Perišić is just one of the victims of Inter's new coach Antonio Conte and his major cleanup of the Inter dressing room. 

But while Icardi and Nainggolan are being chased away for their poor character, Ivan Perišić is out thanks to his overpaid salary, which amounts to 8 million euros a year, and because he does not fit into the new Inter concept. Namely, Conte plays in a 3-5-2 system that has no room for wingers like Perišić.

Fortunately for Perišić, Bayern desperately needed a winger after the departure of the legendary Ribéry, and the injuries of Coman and Leroy Sane.

Niko Kovač thinks Ivan is an excellent plan B. He is experienced but not too old (30), proven himself in top football, and although he is a foreigner, he will not need to adapt to a new country, language, and league.

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Former Croatia national team coach Niko Kovač did not hide his joy after Bayern Munich defeated Eintracht 5-1 to win the Bundesliga title in the final round, reports Gol.hr on May 18, 2019. 

Just before the final round, Bayern Munich had only two more points than Borussia Dortmund and needed a victory against Eintracht to claim their seventh consecutive Bundesliga title. Borussia faced Mönchengladbach in the last leg and their hope for the title could be secured only if Bayern lost and they won. 

Bayern celebrated 5-1, while Borussia won 2-0, which kept the Bavarian club two points up on Borussia for the title. 

Behind Bayern coach Niko Kovač is a tough season which the media ruthlessly displayed. Kovač had disagreements with his players and was criticized by the club's leaders. At one point, Bayern was nine points behind Borussia Dortmund, but Kovač managed to prevail and eventually win the championship with the ovation of a packed Allianz Arena.

"I believe I will lead Bayern next season. I am confident that I will continue, I have first-hand information, not second-hand," Kovač said after winning.

Niko Kovač is just the second former Bayern player after Franck Beckenbauer to win the Bundesliga title as a player and a coach. 

However, the journey to the top was anything but smooth.

Recall, Bayern had a poor start to the season and after 15 rounds, they were nine points behind Borussia. Then, it seemed an impossible mission to compensate from so far behind. Halfway through the season, Borussia was up six points, and after 20 rounds, seven. However, only four rounds later, Bayern caught up, and both teams had 54 points after the 24th round. 

Borussia then went into crisis, and from the 20th to the 24th round, they secured just one win, two draws and one defeat, while Bayern managed four wins in a row. In the key match of the season, Bayern crushed Borussia 5-0 and made a significant step on the road to the record 29th championship title.

"It was not an easy season, I think we all saw it," said Kovač, before adding:

"We were nine points behind; however, what the team did after all the criticisms shows the quality of these players.”

Kovač commented on the ovations of fans who chanted his name.

"The fans sang my name? Of course, I am happy; I'm a man of blood and flesh," Kovač concluded. 

This is Kovač’s second trophy at the helm of Bayern after winning the Superkup at the start of the season with a 5-0 win against Eintracht. On May 25, Bayern will play in the Cup final against RB Leipzig.

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Ante Rebić is the fastest footballer in the Bundesliga this season, sharing first place with Achraf Hakimi from Borussia Dortmund.