Mladen Rudonja is a retired Slovenian footballer, who represented his country at two major tournaments - Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup. He most often played as a winger or striker. Despite this, he did not score a goal for the Slovenian national side until his 53rd cap - in the second leg of a playoff for the 2002 World Cup against Romania in Bucharest. The match finished 1?1, a result that was enough to secure Slovenia's qualification, having won the first leg 2?1 in Ljubljana. He has always been very popular with the fans and after this match he gained almost national hero status. All in all, he accumulated 65 caps for the national side, which makes him the 6th most capped player in Slovenia's history. He was voted 3rd best national team player in a TV competition. His main assets were speed and seemingly endless stamina. His performance against Spain in Korea saw Joe Royle note that he never stopped for 90 minutes. As a result, he gained a position that was possibly unique in world football: a purely defensive centre forward. 

July 26th, 1971 in Koper (Age 53)