Meet the CroatianSports.com TEAM

Dedicated to ‘Uniting Croatian Fans Around the  World’, we strive to enlighten and entertain our readers by bringing you all the latest in the world of Croatian sports, one news topic at a time.

Ante Kvartuč, born July of 1986, is a first-generation Croatian-American from San Pedro, California, born to parents from Zadar. His love of soccer and sports began at age four when he first kicked a ball at AYSO camp in Los Angeles and has not stopped playing since. He was a member of the Mladi Hrvati Nogometni Klub in 1996 and played four years of varsity soccer at Mary Star High School.

As a fourteen-year-old freshman, Ante earned a writing position at the 100,000 circulation Daily Breeze newspaper in Torrance, CA as a video game critic. The job got Kvartuč his first glimpse of writing as a journalist in a weekly column, which included the perk of attending and reporting from the world’s largest video game expo, E3, every year. Kvartuč attended both San Diego State University and Cal State Long Beach after high school.

Kvartuč founded CroatianSports.com in 2008 and has interviewed Croatian royalty over the past decade, including: Luka Modrić, Ivan Rakitić, Davor Šuker, Joe Šimunić, Stipe Miocic, Marin Čilić, Bojan Bogdanović, Ivica Zubac, and Andrew Bogut, to name a few.

Matt Lebo has been with the CroatianSports.com family since the beginning. If you follow our Twitter on a daily basis, it’s all him. He doesn’t believe writing in the ‘third person’ matters and has the perfect arsenal of GIFs for all those keyboard warriors out there in the Twitter-verse trying to shame Croatian sports and our athletes.

Colin “O’Haravić” O’Hara is St. Petersburg, Florida’s biggest Dinamovac. When not attempting to become the world’s best over-30 Sunday League goalkeeper, he’s home teaching his small daughter the intricacies of the Prva Liga and taunting the local Hajduk supporters in the neighborhood. After stumbling across “Croatian Soccer Report” in 2008, Colin has been (off and on) reporting on the HNL since 2010 and has since been banned from every football stadium in Zagreb (True Story). Since the indictment and banishment of the Mamić family, you may find him sneaking back into Maksimir during summer vacations to catch a glimpse of his beloved Dinamo. On the rare days where he is not totally absorbed by Croatian football, he can be found brushing up on his geography, drinking beer and singing from the rafters of the nearest pub.

CroatiaU14 is the CroatianSports.com Instagram Manager and contributing writer for the website. U14 spends much of his time tracking youth soccer in Croatia, and enjoys projecting how Croatian youngsters will turn out. Alongside Markus and Nikola Vukmanić (Vuki), U14 has formed many youth statistic sheets, and has interviewed future Croatian superstars, most notably Ivan Šaranić. CroatiaU14 is a supporter of Dinamo Zagreb and is an avid fan of the club’s 2nd team and youth squads.

Rob Uvanović is a first-generation Croatian-American from Boston, who has been fortunate enough to see Croatia play in two World Cups (’14, ’18) and two Euros (’12, ’16). A lifelong soccer player and writer himself, one of Rob’s best childhood memories is watching and celebrating the ’98 World Cup wins with his dad, who is from Slavonski Brod. Rob enjoys contributing to the CroatianSports community as a way to both support the Vatreni from afar, but also to connect with fellow dijaspora supporters. 

Markus is a proud Croatian supporter from Montreal, Canada. He has been following Croatian footy since the 2012 Euros. He enjoys nothing more than discussing Croatian football with other Croatians around the globe. Joining the CroatianSports team was the perfect opportunity for him to do so. Markus has a keen eye for the new generation of Croatian players coming up the ranks. Alongside CroatiaU14, Markus has had his eye on the likes of Josko Gvardiol, Luka Sucic, and Stipe Biuk before it was cool. Markus is a tremendous asset to the CroatianSports.com team.