Krasnodar Rora (23 March 1945 – 12 November 2020) was a Croatian professional

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

Rising through the ranks at

Šibenik Šibenik () is a historic city in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is a political, educational, transport, industrial and tourist center of Šibenik-Knin County, and is also the ...

, Rora rose to prominence as a key player of the local powerhouse

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 ...

in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and was part of the club's golden generation which won the 1967 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the team's first and only European silverware. After turning 28, the minimum legal age for Yugoslav players to move abroad, he played for

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

in Belgium under fellow Yugoslavs

Vlatko Marković Vladimir "Vlatko" Marković (; 1 January 1937 – 23 September 2013) was a Croatian professional football manager and player who served as the president of the Croatian Football Federation from 1998 to 2012. Playing career Club He played for: ...

and

Nedeljko Bulatović Nedeljko "Ned" Bulatović (born 19 April 1938) is a Serbian former footballer and football manager. Career Bulatović played as a midfielder for Vojvodina, Enschedese Boys, Twente, NEC, Sittardia and Fortuna SC. Coaching career He managed Tonge ...

, before moving on to France in 1975 where he spent two seasons at

AS Nancy Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine (), commonly known as AS Nancy Lorraine, or simply Nancy, is a French association football club founded in 1967 in Nancy, Grand Est and located in Tomblaine, in the inner suburbs of Nancy. The club currently ...

alongside the young

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, ...

under coach Antoine Redin.

International career

Rora also earned five caps 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 1967 and 1968, under the tenure of national manager

Rajko Mitić Rajko Mitić ( sr-Cyrl, Рајко Митић, ; 19 November 1922 – 29 March 2008) was a Serbian footballer, coach, executive and journalist. Mitić is considered one of the most important players in the history of Red Star Belgrade as he is th ...

, alongside several of his Dinamo teammates from the 1967 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final such as

Rudolf Belin Rudolf Belin (born 4 November 1942) is a Croatian retired football manager and player. Club career Belin started his career with Dinamo Zagreb in 1960, where he won the Yugoslav Cup three times and the 1967 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, beating the ...

Mladen Ramljak Mladen Ramljak (1 July 1945 – 13 September 1978) was a Croatian football defender. Club career Ramljak left Dinamo Zagreb for Dutch side Feyenoord after playing over 600 games for the club. He moved to AZ '67 after three seasons in Rotterd ...

, and

Slaven Zambata Slaven Zambata (24 September 1940 – 29 October 2020) was a Croatian professional football player best known for his time at Dinamo Zagreb in the 1960s, for whom he appeared in 171 Yugoslav First League matches. He was also a Yugoslav interna ...

. However, the only two Dinamo players Mitić eventually called up for the

UEFA Euro 1968 The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the third UEFA European Championship, an event held every four years and organised by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 5 and 10 June 1968. It ...

final four tournament in June were Belin and Ramljak, with Yugoslavia eventually winning the silver medal. His final international was an October 1968

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 ...

match 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 ...

Post-playing career

Rora retired from playing in 1978 at the age of 33 after a single season with a small French second-level side SR Hagenau under manager Raymond Hild, where he helped them win the regional Alsace Cup. In 1983, he had a short stint as assistant manager of

Branko Zebec Branislav "Branko" Zebec (17 May 1929 – 26 September 1988) was a Croatian footballer and manager who played for Yugoslavia. In his heyday, Zebec fascinated the world with his performances at the World Cups in 1954 and 1958. With Partizan he ...

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

replacing

Ulrich Meyer Ulrich (), is a German given name, derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements '' uodal-'' meaning "(noble) heritage" and ''-rich'' meaning "rich, powerful". Attested from the 8th century as the name of A ...

. He then moved back to his homeland and worked as a youth coach at Dinamo Zagreb and also had managerial stints at smaller Croatian clubs Radnik Velika Gorica,

Cibalia Hrvatski nogometni klub Cibalia, commonly known as Cibalia Vinkovci or simply Cibalia, is a Croatian football club from the town of Vinkovci in eastern Croatia. Cibalia currently play in the Prva NL, Croatia's second tier league. Their stadium ...

, as well as his original club

Personal life

Death

He died on 12 November 2020 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 ...

, aged 75.

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb *

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European Association football, football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecess ...

: 1966–67 * Yugoslav Football Cup: 1964–65, 1968–69

References

External links

*
Profile
on

Football Association of Serbia The Football Association of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски савез Србије, ФСС / ) is the governing body of football in Serbia, based in Belgrade. It organizes Serbian football leagues, namely the Serbian Superliga, the Serbia n ...

official website 1945 births 2020 deaths People from Vis (island) Sportspeople from Šibenik Association football midfielders Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers HNK Šibenik players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Standard Liège players AS Nancy Lorraine players FCSR Haguenau players Yugoslav First League players Ligue 1 players Belgian Pro League players Yugoslav expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in France Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in France Croatian football managers HNK Šibenik managers HNK Cibalia managers {{Croatia-footy-midfielder-stub