Dražan Jerković (; 6 August 1936 – 9 December 2008) was a Yugoslav and 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 ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

and

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. His professional playing career spanned from 1954 to 1966, during which he played for

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. Dinam ...

and AA La Gantoise. His first name is sometimes (incorrectly) spelled "Dražen". He was born in

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 ...

, at the time in the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 191 ...

Playing career

Club

Jerković played for

(1954–65). Severe injuries forced him to retire early, at the height of his career. With Dinamo he won the league title in 1958, and league cup in 1960 and 1965. In 315 games for Dinamo, he scored 300 goals.

International

He played internationally for

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

between 1960 and 1964, scoring 11 goals in 21 games. He participated in the 1960 European Championship and the

1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the seventh edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place ...

. He was also part of the Yugoslav squad for the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil ...

, but did not play. In UEFA Euro 1960, he scored two goals against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the semifinal, which Yugoslavia won (5–4). In the final, Yugoslavia lost against

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

(1–2; AET), finishing second. In the 1962 FIFA World Cup, Jerković scored four goals and was, with five other players, the top goalscorer, winning the

World Cup Golden Boot At the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are presented to the players and teams who have distinguished themselves in various aspects of the game. Awards *There are currently five post-tournament awards from the FIFA ...

. Yugoslavia finished in fourth place. In the quarter-final, Yugoslavia beat

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, while in the semifinal they lost to

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

(1–3) and lost to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

in the third place match (0–1). Jerković played in a single international match with Croatia, as the Croatia national team was assembled in communist Yugoslavia once for a friendly against

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

in 1956. His final international was a September 1964

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Managerial career

Dražan Jerković was also the first manager of the Croatia national team since independence, between 1990 and 1992. He died on 6 December 2008 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 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

References

* * ''Nogometni leksikon'' (2004, in Croatian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jerkovic, Drazan 1936 births 2008 deaths Sportspeople from Šibenik Association football forwards Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers Croatian footballers Croatia international footballers Dual internationalists (football) 1960 European Nations' Cup players 1958 FIFA World Cup players 1962 FIFA World Cup players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players K.A.A. Gent players Yugoslav First League players Belgian Pro League players Yugoslav expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Yugoslav football managers GNK Dinamo Zagreb managers FC Kärnten managers HNK Cibalia managers NK Zagreb managers Yugoslavia national football team managers Croatian football managers Croatia national football team managers Yugoslav expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Austria Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Austria