Rudolf Cvek (17 October 1946 – 27 November 2005) was a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

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.

Club career

A native of

Novi Marof Novi may refer to the following : Places and jurisdictions Balkans * Novi Grad, Bosnia and Herzegovina * Novi Sad, a city in Serbia * the former Catholic Diocese of Novi, with see at Herceg-Novi (Castelnuovo), in Montenegro; now a Latin titu ...

Varaždin County Varaždin County ( hr, Varaždinska županija) is a county in Northern Croatia. It is named after its county seat, the city of Varaždin. Geography The county contains the city of Varaždin, the towns of: Ivanec, Ludbreg, Lepoglava, Novi Marof ...

, Cvek first started playing at the local side NK Varteks before moving to

NK 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 1965. In the following five seasons between 1965 and 1970 Cvek appeared in 112

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, ...

matches for the Blues and helped them win the 1969

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп на Југославија), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Kup kralja Aleksandra, ...

and the

1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The ninth Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was played over the 1966–67 season. The competition was won by Dinamo Zagreb over two legs in the final against Leeds United. For the first time in the history of the cup, replays were scrapped, with sides going ...

, the greatest achievement in club's history (although he did not appear in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

). His career was cut short by a

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) The meniscus (plural: ''menisci'', from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface ...

injury he picked up in the

1969–70 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1969–70 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup football club tournament was won by Manchester City in a final victory against Górnik Zabrze. Preliminary round First round First leg Second leg ''Rangers won 2–0 o ...

quarter-final away match against

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

, from which he never fully recovered and which forced the talented defender to retire in 1970 at just 24 years of age.

International career

Cvek was also capped six times for

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. Called up by 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 ...

, he had his international debut in a 1970 World Cup qualifier against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

on 25 September 1968, a 9–1 win in which his Dinamo teammate

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 ...

scored a hat-trick. His last international match was a friendly against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

five months later on 26 February 1969 in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

Honours

: **Winner (1): 1969 **Runner-up (1): 1966 *

: **Runner-up (3): 1965–66, 1966–67, 1968–69 *

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 ...

: **Winner (1): 1966–67

References

External links

* *
Rudolf Cvek profile
at the

Serbia national football team The Serbia national football team ( sr, Фудбалска репрезентација Србије, Fudbalska reprezentacija Srbije) represents Serbia in men's international football competition. It is controlled by the Football Association of ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Cvek, Rudolf 1946 births 2005 deaths People from Novi Marof Association football defenders Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers NK Varaždin players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Yugoslav First League players