August Lešnik (; 16 July 1914 in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
– 24 February 1992 in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
) was a
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
n footballer. Lešnik played most of his club football for
Građanski Zagreb. In 1941 he was the
Croatian First League
The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, it was called Prva ...
's top scorer while playing for Građanski, and performed the same feat twice in the
Yugoslavian First League as well: in 1938 and 1939. He played for the
Yugoslavian football team in the late 1930s and the
Croatian national team from 1940 to 1944.
Club career
Lešnik started his career in 1929 playing for local club HŠK Derby. He spent there five years, and after that had a short spell in HŠK Šparta Zagreb. In 1936 Lešnik started playing for
Građanski Zagreb, the club where spent most of his career. In the first four years at Građanski, he was twice the top goalscorer of
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, ...
. In the
1937–38 season he scored 17 goals in 18 matches, and the
following season 22 goals in as much games. He clinched two titles with Građanski in 1937 and 1940, and one of his most famous club matches occurred in spring 1937 against
BSK BSK is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to:
Sports
* OFK Beograd, Serbian football club
* FK BSK Borča, Serbian football club
* FK BSK Batajnica, Serbian football club
* FK BSK Banja Luka, Bosnian-Herzegovinian football club
* FK BSK L ...
in
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 ...
in which Lešnik scored a hat-trick in the first seven minutes of the game.
In 1936, Lešnik scored three goals in an exhibition match against
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...
which Građanski won 5–1.
After
World War II
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 ...
, Građanski was disbanded by the communist Yugoslav authorities, and Lešnik finished his career with the newly formed
Dinamo Zagreb
Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...
.
International career
Lešnik made his debut for
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
in a May 1937
friendly match
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
away against
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
and earned a total of 10 caps, scoring 4 goals. He played his other 9 games for the unofficial team of the
Banovina of Croatia
The Banovina of Croatia or Banate of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Banovina Hrvatska, Бановина Хрватска) was an autonomous province ( banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1941. It was formed by a merg ...
and under the flag of the
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...
, a
World War II
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 ...
-era
puppet state
A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its o ...
of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. His final international was an April 1944 friendly against
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
.
Style of play
Lešnik had a natural instinct for goal and was very crafty and adept in using the opportunities to score; he was humorously described as being able to "score four goals out of two chances". Despite his abilities, he remained a controversial player due to an apparent absence of interest or effort in many games; it was often said that his
kit remained white and spotless even in the muddiest of conditions. Lešnik did not like to train either: he trained only on Fridays, while his teammates trained three times a week. By his own admission, he used his left foot "only for walking". Nevertheless, Lešnik was famed for his sudden sprinting bursts, usually close to goal, and his agility and execution were unmatched by any Dinamo player until generations later, by strikers such as
Dražan Jerković
Dražan Jerković (; 6 August 1936 – 9 December 2008) was a Yugoslav and Croatian professional football manager and player. His professional playing career spanned from 1954 to 1966, during which he played for Dinamo Zagreb and AA La Gantoise.
...
and
Davor Šuker
Davor Šuker (; born 1 January 1968) is a Croatian football administrator and former Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He served as president of the Croatian Football Federation from 2012 t ...
.
Bibliography
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesnik, August
1914 births
1992 deaths
Footballers from Zagreb
Association football forwards
Yugoslav footballers
Yugoslavia international footballers
Croatian footballers
Croatia international footballers
Dual internationalists (football)
HŠK Građanski Zagreb players
GNK Dinamo Zagreb players
NK Dubrava players
Yugoslav First League players