Miroslav "Meho" Brozović (26 August 1917 – 5 October 2006) was a

Bosnian Croat The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), often referred to as Bosnian Croats () or Herzegovinian Croats () are the third most populous ethnic group in the country after Bosniaks and Serbs, and are one of the constitutive nations of Bosnia and ...

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, rugb ...

and

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 ...

who played international football for the Yugoslavia national team, as well as the national team fielded by the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...

during

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He played as a defender.

Club career

Brozović began his career with local sides JŠK and Zrinjski Mostar before moving to Građanski Zagreb in 1935. With Građanski, he won the

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, ...

in seasons 1936–37 and 1939–40 and

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, ...

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the authoritarian regime. ** State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France ...

and

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * Januar ...

. The Communist authorities disbanded Građanski Zagreb, forcing Brozović to move to the newly formed

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

club Partizan, with whom he won the league title in the 1946–47 season. He also won the

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

. From 1948 to 1953, Brozović played for

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 the 1948–49 season, he as a

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

, won the

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 ...

with Sarajevo. He became a club legend at the club. He ended his playing career at Sarajevo in 1953.

International career

Brozović debuted for the Yugoslavia national team in 1940. However, with the establishment of the

in 1941, he began playing for the Croatian national team. He suited up for Croatia 17 times during the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

before communist

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

came into existence after the war. Brozović won a silver medal for Yugoslavia in football at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ...

. He played four matches and scored no goals. His final international for Yugoslavia was an August 1948

Balkan Cup The Balkan Cup was an international association football competition contested on and off from 1929 to 1980 by countries from the Balkans region. The most successful team was Romania with four titles. Overview The first edition featured Roman ...

match against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Managerial career

Brozović started managing

in 1948 as a player-manager. He won the

in the 1948–49 season. After ending his playing career in 1953, he became a full-time manager. Brozović left Sarajevo in 1956, after eight years, and was immediately named manager of Sarajevo's fierce city rival Željezničar. Brozović promoted the club to the

in 1957. He managed Željezničar until 1958. In 1959, he once again became the manager of his favorite, Sarajevo. He stayed at the club until 1961. In 1963, he was manager of

Borac Banja Luka Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Бopaц Бања Лука, ) is a Bosnian professional association football club, based in the city of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, ...

. Five years later, in 1966, for a third time in his career, Brozović became the manager of Sarajevo. As the manager, he won the club's historic, first ever Yugoslav Championship in the 1966–67 league season. After the end of the season, he left Sarajevo in summer of 1967. After Sarajevo, he also managed Sloga Doboj and Rudar Kakanj.

Death

Brozović died in

Mostar , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Mostar (collage image).jpg , image_caption = From top, left to right: A panoramic view of the heritage town site and the Neretva river from Lučki Bridge, Koski Mehmed Pasha ...

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 ...

in 2006, at the age of 89.

Honours

Player

Građanski Zagreb *

: 1936–37, 1939–40 *

: 1937–38,

Partizan *

: 1946–47 *

Sarajevo *

: 1948–49 Yugoslavia *

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

Runners-up:

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

Manager

Sarajevo *

: 1966–67 *

: 1948–49 Željezničar *

: 1956–57 (zone II A)

References

External links

Miroslav Brozović
at Reprezentacija.rs
Miroslav Brozović
at legends section at fksinfo.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Brozovic, Miroslav 1917 births 2006 deaths Sportspeople from Mostar People from the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina Association football defenders Bosnia and Herzegovina footballers Croatian footballers Croatia international footballers Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers Olympic footballers of Yugoslavia Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Footballers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Dual internationalists (football) HŠK Građanski Zagreb players FK Partizan players FK Sarajevo players Yugoslav First League players Yugoslav football managers Croatian football managers Bosnia and Herzegovina football managers FK Sarajevo managers FK Željezničar Sarajevo managers FK Borac Banja Luka managers FK Sloga Doboj managers FK Rudar Kakanj managers