Ilija Mitic (born July 19, 1940, 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 ...

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

) is a former

Serbian American Serbian Americans ( sr, / ) or American Serbs (), are Americans of Serb ethnic ancestry. As of 2013, there were about 190,000 American citizens who identified as having Serb ancestry. However, the number may be significantly higher, as there w ...

professional soccer player. He was a star of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

, its 7th all-time leading scorer with 239 points in 166 games, including 101 goals. Mitić was the first soccer player to score 100 goals in the NASL, in July 1978 vs Memphis. Mitic played with

Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, link ...

Partizan players stats
at Partizan official site. as they won the Yugoslav championship in 1960–61. Earning 2 U-23 caps and 8 youth caps, he later joined

OFK Belgrade OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club'') is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, more precisely in Karaburma, ...

. Mitic signed with the

Oakland Clippers The Oakland Clippers, also named the California Clippers, were an American soccer team based out of Oakland, California. They played in the non-FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer Lea ...

of the newly formed National Professional Soccer League in 1967, won the league title, and was named to the NPSL's ''Best XI'' team. In the off-season, the NPSL merged with the

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American S ...

to form the NASL. With the Clippers he was the NASL's 3rd leading scorer in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

and again a ''Best XI'' selection. Mitic joined the

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. ...

as the Clippers folded and was named a ''Best XI'' for the third consecutive year in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

. Converting from

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, Mitic was also chosen as an NASL ''Best XI'' in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

and

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

. He played indoor soccer for the Tornado as well, and was named to the All-Tournament team in 1975. Traded after playing 3 games in 1975, he finished his NASL career with the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

and is the league's sixth all-time leading goal scorer. He played one 'A' international for the United States national soccer team, on August 10, 1973, at

Candlestick Park Candlestick Park was an outdoor stadium on the West Coast of the United States, located in San Francisco's Bayview Heights area. The stadium was originally the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 un ...

, as the U.S. lost to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

0–4 in a friendly.

References

Sources

* *
Profile
at OM1899

at Nasljeseys. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitic, Ilija 1940 births Living people Yugoslav footballers Serbian footballers United States men's international soccer players Serbian emigrants to the United States Association football midfielders FK Partizan players OFK Beograd players FK Bor players Yugoslav First League players Olympique de Marseille players Ligue 1 players FC Den Bosch players Indoor soccer players National Professional Soccer League (1967) players Oakland Clippers players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Dallas Tornado players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands American soccer players American expatriate soccer players Footballers from Belgrade American expatriate sportspeople in France American expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands SVV Scheveningen players