Darijo Srna (pronounced [daːrio sr̩na]; born 1 May 1982) is a Croatian footballer who plays for Shakhtar Donetsk as a captain and is also the captain of the Croatian national team.

Srna was born in Metković.

Srna's talent was seen by many scouts in Croatia while he was young. He was later signed by Hajduk Split as his talent became desirable for the Croatian giants.

At Hajduk, Srna won the 1999–2000 Croatian Cup, 2002–03 Croatian Cup and the 2000–01 Prva HNL. They played in the first round of 1999–2000 UEFA Cup, 2001–02 UEFA Cup, 2002–03 UEFA Cup, as well as the second round of the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League and the third round of the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League.

In 2003, Srna was sold, along with Stipe Pletikosa to Shakhtar Donetsk. He is a common member and the captain in his club side, for whom he has made a large impact in the league.

After the 2006 World Cup, Benfica were reported to be after the player's signature but nothing materialized, with what many considered a fallen or rejected sale. Since then, he has been linked with a number of other clubs, including S.S. Lazio.

Mateo Kovačić (born 6 May 1994) is a Croatian professional footballer who currently plays for Prva HNL team Dinamo Zagreb. He also playing in the Croatia national under-19 football team and Croatia national under-21 football team in the Attacking Midfielder role.

Born in Linz in Austria to Bosnian Croat parents who had moved there in 1991 from Kotor Varoš in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kovačić began playing at an early age at the local LASK Linz's academy. In 2007, when Kovačić was 13, the talented midfielder was spotted by scouts from several prominent European clubs including VfB Stuttgart, Ajax, Juventus and Bayern Munich, but his family opted to move to Zagreb instead where he joined Croatian giants' Dinamo Zagreb academy.

Kovačić suffered a serious injury in 2009 in which his leg was broken, but he returned to the pitch after a lengthy recovery on 31 May 2010, appearing in the last match of the Croatian U17 academy league, a 5–0 win against RNK Split U17s.

The young midfielder started training with the club's senior squad under manager Vahid Halilhodžić four months later on 6 October 2010, but continued to appear for the club in academy league matches during October. Later that month it was reported by the local sports daily Sportske novosti that Arsenal's chief scout Steve Rowley had arrived in Zagreb to watch him perform in U17 matches against Cibalia and NK Zagreb.