Miroslav "Meho" Brozović (26 August 1917 – 5 October 2006) was a Bosnian Croat professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

who played international football for the Yugoslavia national team, as well as the national team fielded by the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He played as a defender.

Club career

Brozović began his career with local sides JŠK and Zrinjski Mostar before moving to Građanski Zagreb in 1935. With Građanski, he won the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

in seasons 1936–37 and 1939–40 and

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

and

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

. The Communist authorities disbanded Građanski Zagreb, forcing Brozović to move to the newly formed

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

club Partizan, with whom he won the league title in the 1946–47 season. He also won the

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

. From 1948 to 1953, Brozović played for

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

. In the 1948–49 season, he as a

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

, won the

Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav Second League ( Bosnian: ''Druga savezna liga,'' Croatian: ''Druga savezna liga'', Serbian: ''Друга савезна лига'', Slovenian: ''Druga zvezna liga'', Macedonian: ''Втора сојузна лига'', ''Vtora sojuzna l ...

with Sarajevo. He became a club legend at the club. He ended his playing career at Sarajevo in 1953.

International career

Brozović debuted for the Yugoslavia national team in 1940. However, with the establishment of the

in 1941, he began playing for the Croatia national team. He suited up for Croatia 17 times during the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

before communist

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

came into existence after the war. Brozović won a silver medal for Yugoslavia in football at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

. He played four matches and scored no goals. His final international for Yugoslavia was an August 1948 Balkan Cup match against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Managerial career

Brozović started managing

in 1948 as a player-manager. He won the

in the 1948–49 season. After ending his playing career in 1953, he became a full-time manager. Brozović left Sarajevo in 1956, and was immediately named manager of Sarajevo's fierce city rival Željezničar. Brozović promoted the club to the

in 1957. He managed Željezničar until 1958. In 1959, Brozović once again became the manager of Sarajevo. He stayed at the club until 1961. Five years later, in 1966, for the fourth time in his career, Brozović became the manager of Sarajevo. As manager, he won the club's historic, first ever

title in the 1966–67 season. After the end of the season, he left Sarajevo in the summer of 1967. He would return to Sarajevo once again and manage the club from 1969 to 1970.

Death

Brozović died in

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2006, at the age of 89.

Honours

Player

Građanski Zagreb *

: 1936–37, 1939–40 *

: 1937–38,

Partizan *

: 1946–47 *

Sarajevo *

: 1948–49 Yugoslavia *

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

Runners-up:

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

Manager

Sarajevo *

: 1966–67 *

: 1948–49 Željezničar *

: 1956–57 (zone II A)

References

External links

* *
Miroslav Brozović
at legends section at fksinfo.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Brozovic, Miroslav 1917 births 2006 deaths Footballers from Mostar People from the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina Men's association football defenders Bosnia and Herzegovina men's footballers Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's international footballers Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Yugoslavia Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Footballers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Dual internationalists (men's football) HŠK Građanski Zagreb players FK Partizan players FK Sarajevo players Yugoslav First League players Yugoslav First League managers Yugoslav football managers Bosnia and Herzegovina football managers Croatian football managers FK Sarajevo managers FK Željezničar Sarajevo managers 20th-century Bosnia and Herzegovina sportsmen