Željko Čajkovski (5 May 1925 – 11 November 2016) was a Croatian and Yugoslav

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach, who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. A prolific goalscorer, Čajkovski spent most of his career with his hometown club

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

in the 1940s and 1950s, helping them win two championships of Yugoslavia and one Yugoslav cup. During this period he also scored 12 goals in 19 appearances for the national team, with whom he won the silver medal at the 1948 Olympic tournament in London and played at the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the 4th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. It was the first Wo ...

in Brazil. After leaving Dinamo, he spent two more seasons at the German club

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. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

before retiring. His older brother Zlatko was also a successful footballer during the same period, most notably with Dinamo rivals Partizan, and a Yugoslavia international.

Playing career

Club

At club level he played from 1942 to 1945 for HAŠK Zagreb and, after the dissolution of the club, from 1945 onward for

. With Dinamo he won the championship titles of 1950 and 1954 as well as the 1951 cup tournament. In 1956 he joined the German first division club

for two seasons. According to some sources he was amongst the ranks of 1. FC Nürnberg in the 1958–59 season. In the 1959–60 season, he served as player-manager of the northern Bavarian third division side 1. FC Lichtenfels, which he led to the Bavarian amateur championship.

International

With the Yugoslavia national team he won the silver medal in the football tournament of the 1948 Olympics held in London, losing in the final 1–3 to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, then starring the young Gre-No-Li attacking trio of

Gunnar Nordahl Nils Gunnar Nordahl (; 19 October 1921 – 15 September 1995) was a Swedish professional footballer. A highly prolific, powerful, and physically strong striker, with an eye for goal, he is best known for his spell at AC Milan from 1949 to 1956, ...

Gunnar Gren Johan Gunnar Gren (; 31 October 1920 – 10 November 1991) was a Swedish professional association football, football player and coach. He is best remembered for playing for IFK Göteborg and AC Milan. A second striker, creative forward, known f ...

, and

Nils Liedholm Nils Erik Liedholm (; 8 October 1922 – 5 November 2007) was a Swedish association football, football midfielder and coach. ''Il Barone'' (the Baron), as he is affectionately known in Italy, was renowned for being part of the Swedish "Gre-No-Li ...

. He also played in two games for Yugoslavia in 1947 and 1948 for the regional

Balkan Cup The Balkan Cup (officially ''Coupe Balkanique de Football'') 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. ...

tournament. In the 1950 World Cup qualifiers Yugoslavia was tied with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and had to play a playoff on neutral grounds in December 1949. In that game, played in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, the score was 2–2 after regular time. Čajkovski dramatically scored the winning goal in the 24th minute of extra time for Yugoslavia's 3–2 win, booking Yugoslavia's spot at the tournament and knocking out France, captained by Jean Baratte and managed by

Gaston Barreau Gaston Barreau (7 December 1883 – 11 June 1958) was a French football player and coach. He played primarily for FEC Levallois, but was also honored with 12 selections in the France national team between 1911 and 1914. He played as a defende ...

. Together with his brother Zlatko he was in the side that won its

matches against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, to which he contributed a goal. A 0–2 defeat against hosts and eventual runners up

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, however, put an end to the Yugoslav campaign. He earned a total of 19 caps, scoring 12 goals and his final international was a June 1951

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Managerial career

Later he served as a coach for the German second division clubs SpVgg Fürth and

Borussia Neunkirchen Borussia VfB Neunkirchen is a German association football club based in Neunkirchen, Saarland. The club ''SC Borussia Neunkirchen'' was founded out of the 1907 merger of ''FC 1905 Borussia'' and ''SC Neunkirchen''. History From 1912 through ...

. He led Borussia into the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

, however he had to face relegation after one season. From 1971 he was at the helm of the third division club

SSV Ulm 1846 SSV Ulm 1846 FUSSBALL e.V., commonly known as SSV Ulm 1846 or SSV Ulm, is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg. SSV Ulm 1846 FUSSBALL was formed on 7 March 2009 as new independent club through the separat ...

, winning the division two times, albeit failing to achieve promotion. In the first half of the 1974–75 season, he managed

VfR Heilbronn FC Heilbronn () was a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg formed in 2003 out of a merger between VfR Heilbronn () and Heilbronner SpVgg. In 2012 the club merged with the football departmen ...

, and in the second half,

Wacker 04 Berlin Wacker 04 Berlin was a German football club based in Berlin. The club folded in 1994 after becoming insolvent. ''Wacker'' played at the highest level in Berlin for many years throughout its history, in the Oberliga Berlin-Brandenburg, the Gaul ...

, both in the second division.

Death

Čajkovski died in Munich, in November 2016, aged 91. He was reputed to be the oldest living Dinamo player at the time of his death, after Stojan Osojnak had died in October of the same year.U 93. GODINI ŽIVOTA UMRO STOJAN OSOJNAK
- GNK Dinamo

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cajkovski, Zeljko 1925 births 2016 deaths Footballers from Zagreb Men's association football forwards Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Yugoslavia Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia 1950 FIFA World Cup players Yugoslav First League players HAŠK players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players SV Werder Bremen players Oberliga (football) players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Yugoslav football managers SpVgg Greuther Fürth managers Borussia Neunkirchen managers SSV Ulm 1846 managers FC Bayern Munich II managers Yugoslav expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in West Germany