Branko Pleše (; 12 January 1915 – 28 March 1980), nicknamed Isusek, was a Croatian footballer who played international football for the Croatian and both the royal and communist Yugoslavian national teams.

Playing career

Club

He began his career with

HŠK Concordia HŠK Concordia was a Croatian football club formed in Zagreb. The club was founded as the Srednjoškolski športski klub in 1906. By the end of the First World War the club had played many matches with both domestic and foreign clubs. After the w ...

before moving to Građanski Zagreb in 1935. Pleše played with Građanski as a striker until its disbanding in 1945. In 1937 and 1940 he was Yugoslavian champion, while in 1941 and 1943 he was champion of Croatia. In 1945 he joined the newly formed

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 ...

with whom he played until 1950. He was Yugoslavian champion again in 1948.

International

During his international career with the Kingdom of Yugoslavia he was capped 5 times. During the existence of the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

, a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

-era

puppet state A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its ord ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, he was capped for the Croatia national team 13 times, scoring three goals. Finally, he played for Communist Yugoslavia once, in its first game.

Managerial career

He later moved to management, during which time he managed

FK Sloboda Tuzla Fudbalski klub Sloboda Tuzla English: Football Club Sloboda Tuzla) is a Bosnian professional football club based in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The English translation of the team's name is ''Football Club Freedom Tuzla''. The club is a mem ...

among others.

References

External links

* * * 1915 births 1980 deaths Sportspeople from Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Men's association football midfielders Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's international footballers Dual internationalists (men's football) HŠK Concordia players HŠK Građanski Zagreb players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Yugoslav First League players Yugoslav football managers FK Sloboda Tuzla managers Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery {{Croatia-footy-forward-stub