Bojan Krkić Pérez (Serbian: Бојан Кркић Перез; born 28 August 1990, in Linyola, Lleida, Catalonia) often known as just Bojan, is a Spanish footballer of Serbian descent who currently plays as a striker for Spanish La Liga club FC Barcelona.Bojan shot to prominence at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Luxembourg in May 2006 when he was joint top-scorer. He achieved this despite being a year younger than most of the other players in the tournament and only playing 40 minutes in four out of five of Spain Under-17's matches. He scored a hat-trick against Luxembourg, before inspiring his side to a 3--0 victory over the eventual champions Russia, with all of the goals of the game being scored with him on the pitch as a second half substitute. In the third match of the tournament, he scored a penalty after once again being introduced at half time. He started the semi-final against the Czech Republic but, after his team-mate Roberto García was sent off, Spain struggled and lost 2--0 in a shock result. In the third-place play-off, Bojan was once again a second half sub and scored the opener in the 53rd minute. When the match went to penalties, he scored and Spain won 5--4 to finish third. In the 2007 European Under-17 Football Championship, Bojan led Spain to victory scoring the only goal against England in the final. He also scored in the semi-final against Belgium.
There was controversy surrounding Bojan's call up to the Spain U-17 squad for the 2007 Under-17 World Cup in South Korea, because Barcelona wanted to keep him so that he could be part of their Asian tour. The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) denied the request and further controversy arose when the RFEF denied one of Barcelona's medics, Ricard Pruna, the opportunity to accompany Bojan to the tournament to monitor a tendon problem in the player's knee.
During the tournament, Bojan scored five goals, finishing as joint third top scorer along with Germany and Bayern Munich midfielder Toni Kroos. He was inspirational in leading Spain to the final. However, in the semi-final against Ghana, Bojan was sent off for his second yellow card with only seconds left to play. He was suspended for the final and Spain lost to Nigeria on penalties. Because of his performances, Bojan was given the Adidas Bronze Ball, naming him the third best player in the tournament, behind Macauley Christantus (silver) and Toni Kroos (gold).[17]
Bojan scored for the Spanish Under 21s in their 2--0 win over Poland on 12 October 2007, quickly establishing himself as an important player, also prompting rumours of an eventual call-up from senior side's manager Luis Aragonés. Bojan was selected in the squad for the 2009 UEFA Under-21 Championship. However, the Spanish team underperformed and picked up one point from their first two games, leaving progression almost impossible.He was called up by the Serbian national team and team manager Radomir Antić but declined because of his wish to play for La Furia Roja (the Red Fury), which he considered the only national colours that he would have on his jersey.[18]
On 1 February 2008, Bojan was included in Luis Aragonés' squad for the friendly against France on 6 February 2008. Should he have featured in that match, Bojan would have made history by becoming the youngest player ever to represent Spain at 17 years, 5 months and 9 days, eclipsing Ángel Zubieta's record of 17 years and 9 months, which has stood for over 70 years.[19] However, Bojan fell ill and could not play.[20]
On 17 May 2008, it was revealed that Bojan had been left out of Spain's 23-man squad for Euro 2008, after having talked to Luis Aragonés asking if he could be left out of the team on personal grounds, and also citing fatigue.[21]
He made his debut on 10 September 2008 (at 18 years and 13 days) under Vicente del Bosque against Armenia, where he came on during the last ten minutes for Santi Cazorla and played on the right wing.
