Drago "Mišo" Smajlović (; born 28 October 1938) is a Bosnian retired professional

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 ...

and former

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Playing career

Club

Smajlović began his career in Sloga, a small amateur club from

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 ...

. In 1955 he moved to the youth team of Željezničar. Two years later, Smajlović signed a professional contract with Željezničar for whom he played more than 400 games and scored 241 goals. He was handed his debut by

Miroslav Brozović Miroslav "Meho" Brozović (26 August 1917 – 5 October 2006) was a Bosnian Croat professional footballer and football manager who played international football for the Yugoslavia national team, as well as the national team fielded by the Indepe ...

. If considering only official matches, he played 190 games and scored 97 goals (with 88 goals in 166 league matches). Smajlović was the top goalscorer of the

1962–63 Yugoslav First League The 1962–63 Yugoslav First League season was the 17th season of the First Federal League ( hbs, Prva savezna liga), the top level association football league of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946. Fourteen teams contested the compe ...

season with 18 goals. In 1967, he went abroad to Belgium to play at

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 ...

. After a season and a half in Belgium, Smajlović returned to Yugoslavia and continued playing for Olimpija Ljubljana and Čelik Zenica after which he ended his professional playing career.

International

Smajlović was a fine striker, one of the best in Yugoslavia at the time. He played for youth national teams and the "B team", before making his debut for the senior Yugoslav national team in 1963. He collected four

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for Yugoslavia, scoring one goal. His final international was an April 1964

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against

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. Smajlović is remembered as a great sportsman. Journalists often called him a ''gentleman in the football shoes''. Unfortunately, the fact that Smajlović did not play for one of the bigger Yugoslav clubs limited his chances of being a regular choice in the national team.

Managerial career

After his playing days were over, Smajlović dedicated himself to a managerial career. In 1988, he was invited to Canada and soon after was named

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in the National Soccer League. Smajlović was the manager of his former club Željezničar on several occasions. He also worked as a sporting director in the club. It is important to say that he was among the responsible ones for saving Željezničar going

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during the Bosnian War. In 1997, he was elected to be a head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 national team. After

Faruk Hadžibegić Faruk Hadžibegić (; born 7 October 1957) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Club career During his career, Hadžibegić played for hometown club Sarajev ...

stepped down as senior Bosnia and Herzegovina national team head coach in October 1999, Smajlović was first appointed as a caretaker head coach and several months later, in 2000, he was definitely elected as head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. After the end of his contract in 2002, Smajlović never renewed it. He ultimately decided to end his managerial career after leaving the national team.

Honours

Player

Željezničar *

Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to: * Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name: ** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918–1 ...

(West): 1961–62 Čelik ZenicaMitropa Cup
at rsssf.com *

Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called the La Coupe de l'Europe Centrale or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the successor states of the former Austria-Hunga ...

: 1971–72

Individual

Performance *

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, ...

Top Goalscorer: 1962–63 (18 goals)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smajlovic, Miso 1938 births Living people Footballers from Sarajevo Association football forwards Bosnia and Herzegovina footballers Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers FK Željezničar Sarajevo players Standard Liège players NK Olimpija Ljubljana (1945–2005) players NK Čelik Zenica players Yugoslav First League players Yugoslav Second League players Belgian First Division A players Yugoslav expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Yugoslav football managers Toronto Croatia managers Bosnia and Herzegovina football managers FK Željezničar Sarajevo managers Bosnia and Herzegovina national under-21 football team managers Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team managers Canadian National Soccer League coaches Yugoslav First League managers Yugoslav expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer managers in Canada Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Canada