Vladimir "Vladica" Kovačević (, ; 7 January 1940 – 28 July 2016) was a Yugoslav and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

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 ...

who played as a forward.

Club career

Born in

Ivanjica ) , motto = , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Serbia##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , pushpin_map = Serbia#Europe , coo ...

, Kovačević moved to

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

in 1955 and joined the youth system of

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 ...

. He was promoted to the first team in 1958, making his official debut in a 2–1 home league win over Rijeka. During the next eight seasons, Kovačević helped Partizan win 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, ...

on four occasions ( 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, and 1964–65). He was also a member of the team that lost the

1966 European Cup Final The 1966 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels, on 11 May 1966 that saw Real Madrid of Spain defeat FK Partizan of Yugoslavia 2–1 to win the 1965–66 European Cup title. Route to the final Match Sum ...

to Real Madrid. Two years earlier, Kovačević was the competition's joint top scorer with seven goals, along with

Sandro Mazzola Alessandro "Sandro" Mazzola (; born 8 November 1942) is an Italian former professional footballer, who played as a forward or attacking midfielder for Internazionale and the Italy national team. He currently works as a football analyst and co ...

and Ferenc Puskás. In 1966, Kovačević moved abroad to France and signed with Nantes, spending there just one season. He subsequently returned to Yugoslavia to perform his compulsory

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...

and rejoined Partizan. In late 1969, Kovačević moved back to France and joined

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

International career

At international level, Kovačević earned 13 caps for

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

between 1960 and 1965, scoring two goals. He was a member of the team 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 be ...

, as Yugoslavia lost to

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 ...

in the third-place match.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Yugoslavia's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

;Partizan *

: 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1964–65

Individual

* European Cup Top Scorer: 1963–64

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacevic, Vladica 1962 FIFA World Cup players Angers SCO players Men's association football forwards Expatriate football managers in France Expatriate footballers in France FC Nantes players FK Partizan non-playing staff FK Partizan players Ligue 1 managers Ligue 1 players Olympique Lyonnais managers People from Ivanjica Serbian football managers Serbian footballers Yugoslav expatriate football managers Yugoslav expatriate footballers Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in France Yugoslav First League players Yugoslav football managers Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers UEFA Champions League top scorers 1940 births 2016 deaths