Ivan Gudelj (born 21 September 1960) is 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 ...

n former football midfielder who represented

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

Club career

Zmijavci-bred Gudelj started his player career in a club from the neighbouring village of

Runovići Runovići is a municipality in the Split-Dalmatia County. It has a population of 2,409 (2011 census), 99.71% which are Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, ...

— NK Mračaj. There, he was coached by Marinko Boban, the father of future football star

Zvonimir Boban Zvonimir "Zvone" Boban (; born 8 October 1968) is a Croatian former footballer who currently works at UEFA as the Chief of Football. Boban played as a midfielder and was usually deployed as an attacking midfielder. He played most of his professi ...

. A few years later, Gudelj went to play for Hajduk Split, for which he played in the 1976-1986 period. He quickly marked himself out as a dependable and elegant defensive midfielder, earning the moniker "

Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the fi ...

from Zmijavci" in the Yugoslav press. The rising career of a new European football star ended suddenly. Gudelj was forced to end his career cause of health problems, more specifically,

hepatitis B Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the '' Hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) that affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. It can cause both acute and chronic infection. Many people have no symptoms during an initial infection. ...

. The twenty-six-year-old played his last game against

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

in Split on 23 September 1986 at the start of the 1986-87 league season. His precontract with Girondins de Bordeaux has never been realized.

International career

Youth

In 1979, eighteen-year-old Gudelj had a busy summer. First, in June 1979, he played for Yugoslavia at the

UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and Englan ...

in Vienna, leading his country to the championship trophy, beating

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 Macedo ...

in the final. Gudelj got named the tournament's best player. Later that summer in August 1979, Gudelj made the Yugoslavia squad that participated at the

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 wh ...

held in Japan. Playing in a tough group featuring Argentina with 18-year-old

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the F ...

, Yugoslavia failed to progress to the next stage.

Full squad

Gudelj's excellent outings for the national youth team drew the attention national team head coach Miljan Miljanić who called Gudelj up for the full squad the following year. He made his senior debut for

in a September 1980

World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

match away against

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, coming on as a 85th-minute substitute for Zoran Vujović, and Gudelj quickly became Miljanić's favourite who soon made him the national team captain at the age of 21. In the end, Gudelj made 33 national team appearances, scoring three goals. He was a participant in the 1982 FIFA World Cup and Euro 1984. Because of his excellent games, French magazine '' L’Équipe'' put him on their list of ideal team of 1982 World Cup. His final international was a May 1986

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 ...

away against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He was also named the

Yugoslav Footballer of the Year The Croatian Footballer of the Year ( hr, Nogometaš godine) is the most prestigious annual association football award in Croatia. It is awarded by the newspaper ''Večernji list'' to the best Croatian football player in the preceding year, regardle ...

in 1982.

Managerial career

He began his coaching career in 1990. As a coach, he led Croatian priests' national team and Croatian cadets national team. With the latter, he won the bronze medal in the Eurochamps 2001 in England (generation of Niko Kranjčar). Later, he led various clubs. He made it with Primorac from Stobreč, bringing it to Croatian top league. He also led Uskok from Klis, Zadar, Dubrovnik, Austrian club Vorwärts from Steyr and Hajduk (in 2005). He is currently the manager of the Croatia U17 National Team and successfully led them to a 4th-place finish in the

2005 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship The 2005 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the fourth edition of UEFA's European Under-17 Football Championship. Italy hosted the championship, during 3–14 May. Turkey defeated Netherlands in the final to win the competition for the second ...

in Italy.

Personal life

Born in the town of Imotski, he grew up in the nearby village of Zmijavci. As a child, Ivan Gudelj thought about becoming a priest. Also during childhood, he was an

extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...

in the TV series '' Prosjaci i sinovi'', made after the novel of Ivan Raos and filmed in Gudelj's home village Zmijavci. He was distinguishing from other kids in the escape scene, because Ivan Gudelj was - the fastest.

Honours

Player

Hajduk Split *

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, ...

: 1983–84

References

External links

* *
Radio-Imotski
Ivane sretno!!!

Nogometni univerzalac
Imotski portal
Memorijal Ante Bruno Bušić u Vinjanima

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gudelj, Ivan 1960 births Living people Sportspeople from Imotski Association football midfielders Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers Yugoslavia under-21 international footballers Olympic footballers of Yugoslavia Footballers at the 1980 Summer Olympics 1982 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1984 players HNK Hajduk Split players Yugoslav First League players Croatian football managers NK Zadar managers NK GOŠK Dubrovnik managers SK Vorwärts Steyr managers HNK Hajduk Split managers Croatia national under-19 football team managers Croatian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Austria Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Austria