Background and career
Darijo Srna (Croatian pronunciation: [dâːrijo sř̩na]; born 1 May 1982) is a Croatian former professional footballer and current director of football of Ukrainian Premier League club Shakhtar Donetsk. During most of his career he played as a right wing-back.
He began his career at Hajduk Split, before moving to Shakhtar in 2003. He has won numerous trophies during his time at Shakhtar, including a UEFA Cup title in 2009, seven Ukrainian Premier League titles, five Ukrainian Cup titles and five Ukrainian Super Cup titles. He left Shakhtar in 2018 and signed a one-year contract with Cagliari and then returned to Shakhtar to work as an assistant manager.
Srna made his international debut for Croatia in November 2002 and is the third most capped player in the history of the Croatia national team with 134 caps, having represented his country at the 2006 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, as well as at UEFA Euro 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. In 2009, then manager Slaven Bilić made him the captain of the national team, a position he would hold until his retirement from international football in 2016; the captaincy then passed to Luka Modrić.
He is the most capped player in Shakhtar's history, with 536 appearances. He was popularly dubbed the "Icon of Shakhtar". Srna's consistent quality and playing style earned comparisons to Cafu.
