A trio made up of goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic and forwards Bruno Petkovic and Mislav Orsic is very prominent in Qatar, to which should be added defender Josip Sutalo, the fourth player to wear both the national checkered shirt and the Dinamo's blue tunic this season.

But they are much more to have evolved with the most successful club in Croatia.

Eight other players from the current selection have thus passed through the "Blues", including the captain and Ballon d'Or 2018, Luka Modric.

Born in Zadar, like the goldsmith of Real Madrid and the Vatreni, goalkeeper Livakovic, 27, has become a national hero since stopping three penalty kicks against Japan in the round of 16 before doing it again in quarters against Brazil by stopping that of Rodrygo.

"King Livi"

Apart from 'King Livi', as the local media call him, his two Dinamo teammates, Petkovic and Orsic, also played a crucial role against Brazil.

Petkovic, served by Orsic, equalized in the 117th minute (1-1), offering extra time, then shots on goal to the 2018 World Cup finalists, exercise specialists.

Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic fends off Brazilian Rodrygo's shot on goal during the quarter-final of the World Cup on December 9, 2022 in Doha © Ina Fassbender / AFP

The Croatian daily Jutarnji List praised the "trio who earn their living in the stadiums of the Croatian league, often playing in a gloomy atmosphere in front of one or two thousand supporters".

Since Croatia broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991, Dinamo's domination has been absolute: 23 championships and 16 Cups.

Only one league title has eluded him since 2006, when Rijeka was crowned in 2017.

The club's ability to shape or polish nuggets is further confirmed in Qatar, where eight other players hail from Dinamo: masterful midfield trio Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic, striker Andrej Kramaric, midfielder Lovro Majer, defenders Dejan Lovren, Borna Sosa and their young teammate Josko Gvardiol.

At 20, the impressive central defender from Leipzig embodies the new generation.

Before them, big names in Croatian football had also started their careers at Dinamo, from Zvonimir Boban to Robert Prosinecki via Dario Simic, Vedran Corluka and Niko Kranjcar.

Dinamo's training center is considered the best in the country and the institution has a network of scouts, responsible for spotting future stars, which is highly developed in the country and in neighboring Bosnia.

Croatian midfielder Luka Modric controls the ball against Brazil in the quarter-finals of the World Cup on December 9, 2022 in Doha © JACK GUEZ / AFP

The sulphurous Mamic

But the Zagreb club is also known for its controversial former boss, Zdravko Mamic, who was sentenced to prison on a corruption charge and still widely seen as the strongman of Croatian football.

Mamic, who is hiding in Bosnia where he fled just before the verdict, was Dinamo's executive vice-president from 2003 to 2016.

In 2018, he was convicted along with his brother and ex-Dinamo coach Zoran Mamic, as well as a former club manager and tax inspector, of embezzling more than €15m from the club and causing damage of 1.5 million euros to the State.

He was sentenced to six years and six months in prison.

The money was diverted through fictitious transactions linked to player transfers, including those of Modric and Lovren.

The Mamic brothers are also being sued in another embezzlement case.

Like its former leader, who remained omnipresent behind the scenes, the club remains a must in Croatian football.

Like a dynamo, which converts mechanical energy into electrical energy, "Dinamo Zagreb is the source of energy for the Croatian selection", summarizes for AFP Dean Bauer, eminent sports journalist in Croatia.

© 2022 AFP