Ana Maria Markovic may have turned her back on soccer in the United States, but she hasn’t turned her back on summer. A few weeks ago, she thanked Brooklyn FC after spending just one season in New York.
The Croatian soccer player, who has been on the OutKick radar for a long time, returned home to Croatia as a member of Hajduk Split. This is the fifth different team she’s played for since 2024.
Ana Markovic addresses the audience during the first day of Web Summit 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal, on Nov. 14, 2023. (SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Markovic is still trying to get back to where she was before suffering a major knee injury in March 2023 as a member of Switzerland’s Grasshopper Club. It hasn’t been easy as she reportedly hasn’t scored a goal since the injury.
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Ana Maria Markovic, team manager of Las Ligas Ladies, celebrates the victory over the Gönrgy Allstars in the Baller League Final Four at PSD Bank Dome in Duesseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, on Oct. 7, 2024. (dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images)
That didn’t keep her from landing on a decent team. Hajduk Split is coming off of their first Croatian Women’s First Football League championship title, which they won back in May.
The ups and downs haven’t kept the “World’s Most Beautiful Soccer Player,” a title that Markovic was once given, from putting a successful beach day in the books either.
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At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. It’s not how you handle success. It’s about what you do when you’re knocked down.
For Ana Maria Markovic, she chooses to get back up time and time again. She’s bounced around a little, but it hasn’t knocked her off her game.
She’s still showing up and she’s still contributing.
Ana Maria Markovic of Croatia during the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 Play-Off Round 1 second leg match between Northern Ireland and Croatia at the National Football Stadium in Windsor Park, Belfast, United Kingdom, on Oct. 29, 2024. (Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Hajduk Split just wrapped up the preliminary qualification rounds in the UEFA Women’s Champions League and while they were knocked out of contention for a qualifying spot there’s a lot more soccer left to be played.
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The team is now focusing on their upcoming Croatian Women’s League schedule. Let me be one of the first to wish them luck.
Let’s hope Markovic finds the back of the net and puts a few more successful beach days in the books before the end of summer.
