Ivan "Ivica" Šurjak (born 23 March 1953) is a Croatian retired
football 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 ...
. He was the driving force behind the success of
Hajduk Split as it became a force in the
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 1970s.
Club career
He started his career as a
left back, but with time learned
total football, according to which all players can, during the ebb and flow of the match, slot into every position as needed. He continued his career at
Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...
and
Udinese
Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a ...
, but turned down offers by the
New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to
* New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada)
* New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...
and
Real Madrid. He concluded his playing career in Spain at
Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...
.
International career
Šurjak 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 an October 1973
World Cup qualification
The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup.
Qualifying tournaments are hel ...
against
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, coming on as a 61st-minute substitute for
Petar Krivokuća
Petar Krivokuća (Serbian Cyrillic: Петар Кривокућа; born 12 June 1947) is a Serbian retired football defender who played for Yugoslavia.
Club career
Krivokuća made 13 Greek first division appearances for Iraklis Thessaloniki duri ...
, and earned a total of 54 caps, scoring 10 goals. His final international was a June
1982 FIFA World Cup match against
Honduras.
Post-playing career
He served as a sports director at
Hajduk Split of the
Croatian First Football League from 1999 to 2003.
Speedboat incident
In July 1999, Šurjak killed a swimmer while driving a speedboat near the coast of Trogir (Croatia). The swimmer, Miroslav Didak, died a few days after the accident, while in a
coma in the intensive care unit of the Firule hospital. Šurjak was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing.
Accomplishments
* Champion of Yugoslavia – 1974, 1975 and 1979
* Co-champion of Yugoslavia – 1976 and 1981
* Cup winner of Yugoslavia – 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976 and 1977
*
Coupe de France
The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...
–
1982
* 54 caps for Yugoslavia, 10 goals scored between 1973 and 1982
*
Yugoslav Footballer of the Year – 1976
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Surjak, Ivica
1953 births
Living people
Footballers from Split, Croatia
Men's association football midfielders
Yugoslav footballers
Yugoslavia men's international footballers
1974 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 1976 players
1982 FIFA World Cup players
HNK Hajduk Split players
Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players
Udinese Calcio players
Real Zaragoza players
Yugoslav First League players
Ligue 1 players
Serie A players
La Liga players
Yugoslav expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in France
Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in France
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Spain