(Football news) When CA Osasuna score a goal, it was probably put into the back of the net by Ante Budimir. Following his brace in Los Rojillos’ 2-0 victory over Cádiz CF on Saturday, the 32-year-old striker has now netted 13 times this LALIGA EA SPORTS season. Considering his team have scored just 29 goals in total, he is responsible for 45 percent of his club’s goals, the second-highest such ratio after Borja Mayoral and Getafe CF (46 percent).
In just the past two weeks, Budimir has won CA Osasuna two matches thanks to his goal in their 1-0 win away at Real Sociedad and thanks to the brace at home against Cádiz CF in Matchday 25. Although he only arrived at El Sadar in 2020, as the club’s most expensive signing, it’s fair to say that Budimir has already become a club legend. His 40 LALIGA EA SPORTS goals for the team put him third in CA Osasuna’s all-time ranking for top-flight goalscorers, only behind the 45 of Jan Urban and the 57 of Sabino Andonegi.
The Croatia international has become a fan favourite during this time. While it’s normal for supporters to idolise the players who score the most goals, Budimir has won over the hearts of the fanbase for his attitude off the pitch too.
He was involved in a heartwarming viral moment last season, when a 78-year-old woman stopped his car in the street and asked for a favour. In a rush to attend a hospital appointment and unable to find a taxi, she asked Budimir if he would drive her. The footballer was more than happy to take her. When she told him that her children wouldn’t believe that a CA Osasuna player had given her a ride to the hospital, they took a photo together, one which the woman’s daughter later shared on social media. “Well done CA Osasuna for signing people before stars,” the daughter wrote.
That is just one example of how Budimir has fallen in love with Pamplona and become just another resident of the city. He has also embraced the famous San Fermín festivities and has spoken about how he feels at home in the culture of Navarre, even if it’s some 1,600km from where he was born. As the footballer put it: “Pamplona is different, it’s a city that suits me.”
This season, when Budimir had a slow start in a scoring sense, having netted just twice across the first nine matchdays, he continued to receive the backing of the locals. That continued confidence translated into goals sooner rather than later and he is now on to 13 for the season, putting him fourth in the current Pichichi standings and just three goals behind the leader, Jude Bellingham. No CA Osasuna player has ever finished as the top scorer of Spain’s top division, but Budimir is already a player unlike any other. He is the World Cup semi-finalist who feels just as at home driving a 78-year-old CA Osasuna fan to her hospital appointment.
