A feisty midfielder who forages for possession with unremitting zeal, Ognjen Vukojević was new to the international scene when he appeared at UEFA EURO 2008 but has now developed into an indispensable member of Slaven Bilić's Croatia team. He has spent the past four years in Ukraine with FC Dynamo Kyiv.

• Born in Bjelovar, he made early waves with NK Slaven Koprivnica, making 53 top-flight appearances in two seasons before an ill-fated move to Belgian club K. Lierse SK.

• Failed to settle at Lierse and returned to Croatia in December 2005, joining GNK Dinamo Zagreb, where he became a first-team regular in 2006/07, winning both domestic trophies – the Croatian Cup at the expense of former employers Slaven, beaten 2-1 on aggregate in the final.

• An outstanding 2007/08 campaign, in which he scored 11 league goals and four in Europe and captured another domestic double, led to a first call up by Croatia; made the most of the opportunity by scoring on his debut − a 3-0 win on 16 October 2007 against Slovakia − before making one substitute appearance in UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying and two at the finals.

• Signed a five-year contract with Dynamo just before UEFA EURO 2008 and proved a worthy acquisition in his first season, helping the club to the Ukrainian title, appearing in all six UEFA Champions League group games and scoring two important goals − against FC Metalist Kharkiv and Paris Saint-Germain FC − during Dynamo's run to the UEFA Cup semi-final.

• Reached the quarter-finals of the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League with Dynamo − which enabled him to pass the milestone of 50 appearances in UEFA club competition − and appeared in eight UEFA EURO 2012 qualifiers for Croatia.