It took a long time for Vedran Runje to win international recognition but he proved to be a sensible choice for Slaven Bilic in Croatia's Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.
Born in the town of Sinj near Split, Runje was the Hajduk goalkeeper before Stipe Pletikosa came through the youth-team ranks. The latter's emergence eventually triggered Runje's transfer to Standard Liege in 1998.
Three years with Standard produced only two Belgian Cup runners-up medals but Runje was named the Jupiler League's best goalkeeper in both 1999 and 2001.
A switch to Marseille followed, with Runje the first-choice goalkeeper before eventually being forced to play second fiddle to Fabien Barthez.
Runje then returned to Standard for two seasons - picking up another goalkeeper gong - before deciding to try his luck with Besiktas in 2006. It was while playing in Turkey that he finally received his first Croatia call-up and was selected for the key Euro 2008 qualifier in Israel, which Croatia won 4-3.
His family failed to settle in Istanbul - particularly his wife Tihana, said to be Croatia's answer to Victoria Beckham - so he moved on again in 2007 to the more sedate surroundings of Lens in northern France.
Runje, now 32, won three further caps in 2007, including the 6-0 qualifying win in Andorra, before being selected as back-up to Pletikosa for Euro 2008.
















Croatia