Kuzman Sotirović ( mk, Kузман Сотировиќ, sr-Cyrl, Kузман Coтировић; 16 October 1908 – 25 July 1990) was a Yugoslav

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 ...

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 ...

. In some sources, he is referred to as Kuzman Sotirovski (). He was part of Yugoslavia's team at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

Club career

A player of short stature and medium build, Sotirović usually played as an attacking midfielder where he used his good technical abilities to keep the ball and create scoring chances up front. He first started playing in youth sections at

BSK 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, ...

, and, after becoming a standard first-team member, won the best championship scorer in 1928, scoring 6 goals in 5 appearances. The very next season he went to France and played for

FC Sète FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

and

Montpellier SC Montpellier Hérault Sport Club (), commonly referred to as Montpellier HSC or simply Montpellier, is a French professional football club based in the city of Montpellier in Occitanie. The original club was founded in 1919, while the current ...

International career

Between 1928 and 1931 Sotirović also played for

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 ...

. He debuted on 6 May 1928 against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and his last game for the national team was on 4 October 1931 against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

at the

Balkan Cup The Balkan Cup was an international association football competition contested on and off from 1929 to 1980 by countries from the Balkans region. The most successful team was Romania with four titles. Overview The first edition featured Romania, ...

. He is considered to be the first player born on the territory of modern-day

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

to play in the Yugoslav national team.

Personal life

After retirement from football during 1930s, he continued to live in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

until his death in 1990. He was buried at the

Belgrade New Cemetery The New Cemetery ( sr, Ново гробље, ''Novo groblje'') is a cemetery complex in Belgrade, Serbia, with a distinct history. It is located in Ruzveltova street in Zvezdara municipality. The cemetery was built in 1886 as the third Christian ...

as per his wish.

Honours

* Yugoslav championship top scorer: 1927

References

External links

* *
Kuzman Sotirović
- Reprezentacija {{DEFAULTSORT:Sotirovic, Kuzman 1908 births 1990 deaths People from Tetovo Municipality People from Kosovo vilayet Serbs of North Macedonia Association football forwards Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers Olympic footballers of Yugoslavia Footballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Macedonian footballers Serbian footballers OFK Beograd players FC Sète 34 players Montpellier HSC players Yugoslav First League players Ligue 1 players Yugoslav expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in France French people of Serbian descent French people of Macedonian descent Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery