Croatia defender Darijo Srna c will return home today after his father passed away on Sunday afternoon.
The 34-year-old, regarded as one of Croatia’s finest players of all time, captained his nation to victory in their opening Euro 2016 game on Sunday against Turkey at the Parc des Princes.
However, the full-back was dealt the devastating news following the encounter in the French capital.
Srna will now return home to attend his father’s funeral in Metkovic and Croatia have not disclosed when their skipper will return, if at all.
However, Croatia did release a statement offering their condolences to Srna ahead of their second group game against Czech Republic this week.
“The Croatian Football Federation hereby expresses its condolences to the captain and his family for this irreparable loss,” a statement read on the federation’s official website.
Srna, who is the most capped player in the history of Croatian national team with 131 appearances, has represented his country at six major tournaments.
The full-back, who came agonisingly close to scoring against Turkey on Sunday on two occasions, is held in high regard in Ukraine as well having spent the last 13 years with Shakhtar Donetsk.
Srna has been captain of the Croatian national team since 2008 after succeeding fellow icon Niko Kovac.
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