Zvonimir "Rale" Rasic OAM (/Zvonimir Rale Rašić; born 26 December 1935) is an Australian former association football player, coach and media personality.

Playing career

Club

Born in

Dole Dole may refer to: Places * Dole, Ceredigion, Wales * Dole, Idrija, Slovenia * Dole, Jura, France ** Arrondissement of Dole * Dole (Kladanj), a village at the entity line of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina-Republika Srpska * Dole, Ljubuški, ...

, Littoral Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina) Rasic begin his career playing in Yugoslav clubs. Also known as Zvonko Rasic, Zvonko being a usual diminutive for Zvonimir, he played with FK Proleter Zrenjanin,Klubovi
at Football Association of Zrenjanin official website FK Vojvodina,

FK Spartak Subotica Fudbalski klub Spartak Ždrepčeva Krv () is a professional football club from Subotica, Serbia, that plays in the Serbian SuperLiga. The club was founded in 1945 and was named after Jovan Mikić Spartak, the leader of the Partisans in Subotic ...

and

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

. He migrated to Australia in 1962, but returned to Yugoslavia after 18 months to serve in the army. His obligations met, Rasic returned to Australia, and played football in the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

league.

Managerial career

He revolutionised the game in Australia, he was appointed coach in 1970 at just 34 years of age, and in 1974, he led the Australia national football team to the World Cup as coach. After the World Cup, the Australian Soccer Federation sacked Rasic, replacing him with Englishman Brian Green. Rasic and others believe that he was dumped because he was not seen as being a real "Aussie." He has stated, "They took from me something that I was doing better than anyone else. I was a true-blue Aussie and nobody can deny that. I taught the players how to sing the national anthem." He was a television presenter on SBS, during the Australian network's

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 ...

coverage. His biography, "The Rale Rasic Story," was published in 2006 by New Holland.

Honours

Rasic was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1989. In 2001, he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal and the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

for "services to soccer" and in 2004 the Medal of the Order of Australia for "service to soccer as a player, coach and administrator."

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20071009172011/http://www.theworldgame.com.au/aussiesabroad/index.php?pid=st&cid=69925 * http://www.insidesport.com.au/is/index?pg=adrenalin&spg=alliknow/alliknow_rale_rasic.htm * http://www.abc.net.au/rn/australiatalksback/stories/2006/1657496.htm
Interview with Ralé Rašić, 1974 Socceroos' coach
* http://www.mvrfc.com/rr.htm * http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Players/R/RB.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Rasic, Rale 1935 births Living people Sportspeople from Mostar Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Australian people of Serbian descent Yugoslav emigrants to Australia Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to Australia Association football defenders Yugoslav footballers FK Proleter Zrenjanin players FK Vojvodina players FK Spartak Subotica players FK Borac Banja Luka players Footscray JUST players Yugoslav First League players Australian soccer coaches Bosnia and Herzegovina football managers Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate football managers Serbian football managers Serbian expatriate football managers 1974 FIFA World Cup managers Australia national soccer team managers Marconi Stallions FC managers Sydney Olympic FC managers South Melbourne FC managers APIA Leichhardt FC managers Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Recipients of the Centenary Medal Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Australian television presenters