Josip "Mane" Bukal (15 November 1945 – 30 August 2016) was a Bosnian professional football player and later on

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 bega ...

. During his playing days, he played as a striker.

Early life

Bukal was born in the village of Okešinec near

Ivanić-Grad Ivanić-Grad or Ivanić Grad ( is a town in Zagreb County, Croatia. It is part of Moslavina. Geography Ivanić-Grad is located south-east from Zagreb, connected: * by highway A3 (Bregana-Zagreb-Ivanić-Grad-Slavonski Brod-Lipovac) * by train ...

where he started his primary education, before moving to

Veliki Crljeni Veliki Crljeni () is a village in the Lazarevac Lazarevac ( sr-cyr, Лазаревац, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. , the town has a total population of 25,526 inhabitants, while the municipal area has a total of 58,622 inhabita ...

in Serbia for the fifth, sixth, and seventh grade. He moved to

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

at the age of 15.

Club career

Bukal's involvement with football began with the youth team of local club Željezničar. He scored 10 goals in one game for the youth team before he made his debut for the first team in 1963. He played 290 official matches with Željezničar and scored 127 goals. Bukal is the joint highest goalscorer in the history of the club, alongside

Dželaludin Muharemović Dželaludin Muharemović (born 23 March 1970) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. Club career As a kid, Muharemović started playing football for his hometown club Željezničar. He was considered to be one of the bigg ...

. He was a member of the Željezničar team that won the Yugoslav championship in the 1971–72 season. In 1973, Bukal moved to Belgium to play for

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

. There he played there for three seasons, where he was the third highest goalscorer during the 1973–74 UEFA Cup season with 7 goals. He returned to Yugoslavia and, after one more season with Željezničar, retired in 1977. He was best known for his powerful shot. During a game in Belgium, the ball was "clocked" at after his shot.

International career

Bukal played for the junior and Under-21 team before he made his senior debut for

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

in an October 1966

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

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in which he immediately scored a brace. He had collected 24

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

and scored 10 goals in the blue national jersey. His final international was a May 1974 friendly match against

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

Managerial career

After retirement, Bukal was employed by Željezničar as a coach, later on becoming a manager. He first worked with the youth squads, but was also an assistant manager to Blagoje Bratić in the 1987–88 season. During the beginning of the

1988–89 Yugoslav First League The 1988–89 Yugoslav First League season was the 43rd season of the First Federal League ( sh, Prva savezna liga), the top level association football competition of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946. The season began on 6 August ...

season, Bukal was the manager of the first team after Bratić left the club with the end of the previous season. After Željezničar, he also worked as a manager of Sloga Kraljevo.

Death

Bukal died on 30 August 2016, at the age of 70 in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. He was survived by his wife and children.

Honours

Player

Željezničar *

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, ...

: 1971–72

References

External links

*
Serbian football federation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bukal, Josip 1945 births 2016 deaths Footballers from Sarajevo Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina Association football forwards Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers FK Željezničar Sarajevo players Standard Liège players Yugoslav First League players Belgian Pro League players Yugoslav expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Yugoslav football managers Bosnia and Herzegovina football managers FK Željezničar Sarajevo managers FK Sloga Kraljevo managers Yugoslav First League managers