Mario Mandzukic named Croatian Player of the Year

Mario Mandzukic has joined the list of Bayern Munich players that have been named Player/Sportsman of the Year in their native countries including players like Franck Ribery, David Alaba, and Pierre Hojbjerg.

Croatia's biggest newspaper Vecernji list presented him with the trophy at the Allianz Arena after Saturday's 2-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen. (You can see a picture of Mandzukic holding the trophy at the official FC Bayern website.) The game featured the forward scoring his 17th goal in the Bundesliga and 23rd in all competitions. The Croatian currently leads the Bundesliga is scoring.

"It's a great honor for me. I'm very proud about the award and it's a great endorsement of all my hard work."

For the second year in a row, Mandzukic finished ahead of Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric. The winner is chosen by 11 former Croatian internationals. Mandzukic is the second Bayern player to win this award. The club's former forward Ivica Olic also won it twice when he was with FC Bayern.

While many doubted how well Mandzukic fit Pep Guardiola's plans before the season, he's shown throughout the course of the year that he remains a very important cog in the Bayern Munich machine.