Milutin Šoškić (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Милутин Шошкић; 31 December 1937 – 27 August 2022) was a Serbian professional

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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He is considered one of

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...

's greatest players.

Biography

He was born in Jablanica, a village near

Peć Peja (Definiteness, Indefinite Albanian language, Albanian Albanian morphology#Nouns (declension), form: ''Pejë'' ) or Peć ( sr-Cyrl, Пећ ) is the fourth largest List of cities and towns in Kosovo, city of Kosovo and seat of Peja Municipali ...

from father Jeremija, a royal officer and mother Radunka, as the fourth child in the family. The ancestor of the Šoškić family is from

Bratonožići The Bratonožići ( sr-Cyrl, Братоножићи, ) is a historical tribe (''pleme'') of Albanian origin in the Brda region of Montenegro. It appeared during the Ottoman period and was a captaincy of the Principality of Montenegro in the 19th ...

, at the beginning of the 18th century he moved to

Ulotina Ulotina ( sr-cyrl, Улотина) is a village in the municipality of Andrijevica, Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica ...

, and one branch of the family later went to live in Jablanica. He grew up in a patriarchal family.

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he spent in exile in

Serbian Patriarchate of Peć The Serbian Patriarchate of Peć ( sr, Српска патријаршија у Пећи, ''Srpska patrijaršija u Peći'') or just Patriarchate of Peć ( sr, Пећка патријаршија, ''Pećka patrijaršija''), was an autocephalous ...

Playing career

Šoškić started training football when he was 11 in Red Star, for which he played six months, but because of a small misunderstanding with the host of the stadium, he decided to continue his career at

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

where he spent most of his career. Soon after Šoškić was called to play for

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

youth team, captain and the best individual of Partizan youth setup which won two National Championship titles. He quickly became standard starter for the first team of the Black-Whites, for which he played totally 387 matches during his time at the club. After performing well at Partizan he was invited to play for the national team of Yugoslavia. Šoškić inherited the position of

Vladimir Beara Vladimir Beara (; 26 August 1928 – 11 August 2014) was a Yugoslav football goalkeeper and manager. He played the vast majority of his professional club career for Hajduk Split and Red Star Belgrade in the Yugoslav Federal League and for the Yu ...

as a new goalkeeper. For Yugoslavia he played 50 games. First big competition that Šoškić played with the national team was

1960 European Nations' Cup The 1960 European Nations' Cup was the first edition of the UEFA European Championship, held every four years and organised by UEFA. The first tournament was held in France. It was won by the Soviet Union, who beat Yugoslavia 2–1 in Paris afte ...

. Team won the silver medal after winning in semi-final match against competition host

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 ...

with the result of 5–4 which is still a record to this day of most goals scored in a single match in

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

. In the finals Yugoslavia was defeated by

Soviet Union 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 national ...

2–1 after extra time. That same year Šoškić won an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medal at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy with the Yugoslavia national team. They topped their pool consisting of

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 Macedon ...

United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

before beating

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in the semi-finals and crowning themselves champions after beating

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

3–1 in the final. At the tournament, Šoškić only conceded six goals. At 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 bet ...

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 east a ...

Yugoslavia won fourth place after being defeated by

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

3–1 in semi-finals and

1–0 in a third place match. Šoškić experienced great recognition when he was invited to play in the

1963 England v Rest of the World football match Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

and secured his place among best football players of that time.

European Cup with Partizan

In the sixties "Partizan's babies" were dominant to that extent in

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, ...

so much that in five league seasons they lifted the trophy four times, of that three times in a row 1960–61, 1961–62 and 1962–63. By winning the Yugoslav championship in the 1964–65 season, Partizan acquired the right to play in the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

1965–66. Partizan was led by coach Abdulah Gegić. In the preliminary round Partizan played against French champions

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, a ...

. With a 2:0 win in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

JNA Stadium The Partizan Stadium (Serbian language, Serbian: Стадион Партизанa / ''Stadion Partizana'') is a association football, football and track-and-field Multi-purpose stadium, stadium in Autokomanda, Belgrade, Serbia. The home ground of ...

and a draw 2:2 in a return match at

Stade Marcel-Saupin The Stade Marcel-Saupin is a sports complex in the city of Nantes (Loire-Atlantique), France. It was opened in 1937 under the name Stade Malakoff, and was used primarily by Stade nantais université club for rugby union, then became the stadium ...

, first obstacle was skipped with a total score of 4:2. The next opponent was the champion of

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

SV Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

. Werder was eliminated with a total score of 3:1, in Belgrade it was 3:0 and on

Weser-Stadion Weserstadion () is a multi-purpose stadium in Bremen, Germany. The Weserstadion is scenically situated on the north bank of the Weser River and is surrounded by lush green parks (the name 'Werder' is a regional German word for "river peninsula" ...

in Bremen 0:1. In the quarter-finals Partizan had to face champions of

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

AC Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...

. First game at Stadion Letná Partizan lost with 4:1, but won the second game in Belgrade with the result 5:0 and thus qualified for the semi-finals with a total score of 6:4. In the semi-finals, they were facing English giants

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

with David Herd,

Denis Law Denis Law (born 24 February 1940) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward. His career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, he was signed by Manchester City ...

Bobby Charlton Sir Robert Charlton (born 11 October 1937) is an English former footballer who played either as a midfielder or a forward. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World ...

and

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest p ...

. Partizan's babies won with a total score of 2:1 (2:0 in Belgrade and 0:1 in the return match at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

) and advanced to the finals. On 11 May 1966, European Cup Final was played at

Heysel Stadium The King Baudouin Stadium (french: Stade Roi Baudouin , nl, Koning Boudewijnstadion ) is a sports ground in north-west Brussels, Belgium. Located in the Heysel district of the City of Brussels, it was built to embellish the Heysel Plateau in v ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in front of 55,000 spectators. Partizan faced Spanish champions

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

and took the lead in the 55th minute with a goal by

Velibor Vasović Velibor Vasović (Serbian Cyrillic: Велибор Васовић; 3 October 1939 – 4 March 2002) was a Serbian footballer and manager, also one of the legendary players of Partizan Belgrade and Ajax and one of greatest defenders of his gener ...

. However, with two goals first by Amancio and second by

Fernando Serena Fernando Rodríguez Serena (28 January 1941 – 15 October 2018) was a Spanish footballer who played as a right winger. He appeared in 144 La Liga matches during nine seasons, scoring a combined 23 goals for Real Madrid, Osasuna and Elche. Wit ...

, Real managed to defeat Partizan and win the European title.

Going abroad

When the conditions for going abroad were met, Šoškić decided to accept the offer of the West German

FC Köln FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

. He had the status of the first goalkeeper in the new club and good financial conditions. With good games, he gained the respect of his teammates and fans. However, a severe leg fracture soon followed, which caused a long break and jeopardized the continuation of his career. Šoškić returned to active football, but a new leg fracture finally forced him to end his career.

Coaching career

After finishing his playing career, he finished high school coaching. He then became a coach at

OFK Beograd OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club'') is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, more precisely in Karaburm ...

which he remained for 5 years. Then he took over OFK Kikinda which he led in

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 ...

. Then he returned to Partizan to be one of the assistant coaches. He worked together with

Bora Milutinović Velibor "Bora" Milutinović ( sr-Cyrl, Велибор Бора Милутиновић; born 7 September 1944) is a Serbian former professional footballer and manager. He has managed at five editions of the FIFA World Cup, tied for the record a ...

and

Nenad Bjeković Nenad Bjeković (, ; born 5 November 1947) is a Serbian football administrator and former player and manager. Club career Born in Lazarevo, a village near Zrenjanin, Bjeković started out at his local club Zadrugar Lazarevo, before switching to P ...

. At that time, Partizan had several quality goalkeepers such as: Fahrudin Omerović, Ranko Stojić and

Rade Zalad Rade Zalad (; born 26 October 1956) was a professional Serbian football goalkeeper and is now a goalkeeping coach. Playing career He came to FK Partizan in 1970 when he was only 14 having played earlier for his local club FK Jedinstvo Kačarevo ...

. After Milutinović became the coach of United States national soccer team in 1993 Šoškić was appointed the goalkeeper's coach. He remained even after Milutinović left in 1995, continuing to work with the team under head coaches Steve Sampson and later

Bruce Arena Bruce Arena (born September 21, 1951) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach and sporting director of the New England Revolution. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and the NJCAA Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Arena has had ...

. He left the team along with Arena after the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. During that time, the Americans participated in four

World cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and had several quality goalkeepers such as: Brad Friedel,

Kasey Keller Kasey C. Keller (born November 29, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played in Europe and the United States, as well as being the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. national team. He is a four-time FIFA World Cup partici ...

, and Tim Howard.

Death

Šoškić died on 27 August 2022.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soskic, Milutin 1937 births 2022 deaths Sportspeople from Peja Kosovo Serbs Serbian footballers Yugoslav footballers Association football goalkeepers Yugoslavia international footballers 1960 European Nations' Cup players 1962 FIFA World Cup players Olympic medalists in football Footballers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Yugoslavia Olympic gold medalists for Yugoslavia FK Partizan players 1. FC Köln players FK Partizan managers OFK Beograd managers Yugoslav First League players Bundesliga players Serbian football managers Yugoslav football managers FK Partizan non-playing staff United States men's national soccer team non-playing staff Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Serbian expatriate footballers Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in West Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany