Aleksandar Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Петровић; 8 September 1914 – 31 July 1987) was a

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and manager.

Club career

He was part of the famous SK Jugoslavia attack that become famous in the years before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

league interruption. He is also remembered as an excellent striker, being the sixth all-time pre-1941

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League ( Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

top-scorer, with a total of 51 goals. Having been born in Rača, a suburb of

Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Serbia, and is situated on ...

, he still young came to

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, where he played for several clubs. He started playing for Palilulac, between 1930 and 1932, and later in Čukarički, until 1936, when he moved to one of the major clubs in the country,

SK Jugoslavija Sportski klub Jugoslavija ( en, Sport Club Yugoslavia), commonly known as SK Jugoslavija (Serbian Cyrillic: Cпортски клуб Југославија) was a Serbian football club from Belgrade. It was originally formed as SK Velika Srbija ( ...

. He will play with them until 1943, becoming one of the major league strikers and a fans idol. Those were his best years in which he also became a member of the national team. All the success was interrupted by an unfortunate injury of the meniscus that would make him pause for entire three years! He never fully recovered, despite having returned and played four seasons with

FK Vojvodina Fudbalski klub Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Војводина), commonly known as Vojvodina and colloquially as Voša ( sr-Cyrl, Воша), is a Serbian professional football club based in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, the second la ...

, between 1945 and 1949, and a single season with

FK Željezničar Sarajevo Fudbalski klub Željezničar Sarajevo ( sh-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Жељезничap Сарајево; English: Football Club Željezničar Sarajevo), commonly referred to as Željo, is a professional football club, based in Sarajevo ...

where despite the difficulties, and his age, he managed to score 8 goals in 14 matches.

International career

He played nine matches for the

Yugoslavia national football team The Yugoslavia national football team; hr, Jugoslavenska nogometna reprezentacija; sl, Jugoslovanska nogometna reprezentanca; mk, Фудбалска репрезентација на Југославија, Fudbalska reprezentacija na Jugosl ...

and scored five goals. His debut was on 22 May 1938 against Italy in Genova, a 0–4 loss, and his final match was on 22 September 1940 in Belgrade against Romania, also a defeat, this time by 1–2. He was also part of Yugoslavia's squad for the football tournament at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

, but he did not play in any matches.

Coaching career

After finishing his playing career, he managed a number of Yugoslav clubs such as

NK Jesenice Nogometni klub Jesenice ( en, Jesenice Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Jesenice or simply Jesenice, is a Slovenian football club from Jesenice that competes in the Slovenian Third League The Slovenian Third Football League ( sl, Tr ...

FK Proleter Zrenjanin Fudbalski klub Proleter Zrenjanin () is a football club from the city of Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, Serbia. History Early period Soon after World War II, the club almost achieved promotion to the Yugoslav Second League after finishing top of the r ...

RFK Novi Sad RFK Novi Sad 1921 (Serbian Cyrillic: РФК Нови Сад 1921) is a professional football club from Novi Sad, Serbia. The club is currently playing in the Serbian First League. History The club was founded in 1921 with the name NTK (Novosadski ...

FK Radnički Niš Fudbalski klub Radnički (), commonly known as Radnički Niš ( sr-cyr, Раднички Ниш), is a professional football club based in ok Niš, Serbia. Its name means ''Labourers'' in Serbian and stems from the relationship with the Labour ...

and FK Zvezda Subotica, being considered his major achievement the promotion to the Yugoslav First League of a relatively minor Serbian club

FK Crvenka Fudbalski Klub Crvenka ( en, Football Club Crvenka) (Serbian Cyrillic: ФК Црвенка) is a football club based in Crvenka, Serbia. History The club was founded in 1919 as CSK - Crvenački Sportski Klub (Crvenka Sports Club). In 1945, it ...

, in 1970. After retiring from football, he continued living in

Subotica Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, ...

where he eventually died in summer of 1987 with 73 years of age.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petrovic, Aleksandar 1914 births 1987 deaths Sportspeople from Kragujevac Serbian footballers Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers Olympic footballers of Yugoslavia Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Footballers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Association football forwards FK Palilulac Beograd players FK Čukarički players SK Jugoslavija players FK Vojvodina players FK Željezničar Sarajevo players Yugoslav First League players Yugoslav football managers Serbian football managers FK Radnički Niš managers FK Željezničar Sarajevo managers FK Sutjeska Nikšić managers FK Bačka 1901 managers Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics