Silvester Sabolčki (; 12 November 1979 – 30 May 2003) 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 ...

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 ...

who played as a winger. Playing for NK Varteks, Sabolčki established himself as one of the most talented Croatian footballers of his generation and signed a contract with the country's top club

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less than a week prior to his death in a road accident in the early morning of 30 May 2003.

Club career

Sabolčki rose through the youth ranks of Varteks before penning his first professional contract at the club in 1998, at the age of 18. He quickly established himself as a first-team regular at the club, appearing in a total of 121 matches and scoring 11 goals in the Prva HNL over the following five seasons. In the 1998–99 season, he helped the club reaching the quarter-finals of the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

, and was also an important member of the squad that reached the 2001–02 Croatian Cup final. He also made some

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

appearances with the club. At the time of his death, he had already signed a contract with Croatian top club Dinamo Zagreb and was about to join the club at the beginning of the 2003–04 season.

International career

Between 1998 and 2001, Sabolčki was a regular with the Croatian national under-21 football team, winning a total of 18 international caps with the team. He was also part of the Croatian squad at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, where he scored his only international goal in a 5–1 victory over

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in the group stage. The following year, he also played for Croatia at the

2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 12th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Slovakia from 27 May to 4 June 2000. The tournament had 47 entrants. Northern Ireland competed for the f ...

. Sabolčki also won two full international caps for

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 ...

, making his debut on 25 April 2001 in a friendly match against

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in Varaždin, coming on as a substitute for

Robert Jarni Robert Jarni (born 26 October 1968) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a left winger or wingback and current manager. Jarni started his professional career with Hajduk Split in 1986, and went on to spend 10 years playin ...

in the second half. His second appearance came against Macedonia in another international friendly in February 2003.

Death

At the age of 23, Sabolčki was killed in a road accident that occurred in a Varaždin suburb in the early morning of 30 May 2003, when he lost control over his

Audi A3 The Audi A3 is a subcompact executive/small family car (C-segment) manufactured and marketed by the German automaker Audi AG since September 1996, currently in its fourth generation. The first two generations of the Audi A3 were based on the ...

at high speed. The vehicle hit a light pole and several traffic signs before being torn apart by the force of the impact upon hitting a second light pole. Sabolčki and two other passengers, 20-year-old Kristijan Kitner and 24-year-old Krunoslav Sabolić, were ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. Kitner and Sabolić were also professional footballers, both goalkeepers. Kitner was in his first professional season with Varteks, while Sabolić had left Varteks for Slaven Belupo a few years earlier.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sabolcki, Silvester 1979 births 2003 deaths People from Varaždin Association football wingers Croatian footballers Croatia youth international footballers Croatia under-21 international footballers Croatia international footballers NK Varaždin players Road incident deaths in Croatia