Dražan Jerković (; 6 August 1936 – 9 December 2008) was a Yugoslav and Croatian professional

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 ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

. A forward, his professional playing career spanned from 1954 to 1966, during which he played for

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 ...

and AA La Gantoise. His first name is sometimes (incorrectly) spelled "Dražen". He was born in

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

, at the time in the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

Club career

Jerković played for

(1954–65). Severe injuries forced him to retire early, at the height of his career. With Dinamo he won the league title in 1958, and league cup in 1960 and 1965. In 315 games for Dinamo, he scored 300 goals.

International career

Jerković played internationally for

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

between 1960 and 1964, scoring 11 goals in 21 games. He participated in the 1960 European Championship and the

1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the 7th 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 between ...

. He was also part of the Yugoslav squad for the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...

, but did not play. In UEFA Euro 1960, he scored two goals against

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 ...

in the semifinal, which Yugoslavia won (5–4). In the final, Yugoslavia lost against

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

(2–1; AET), finishing second. In the 1962 FIFA World Cup, Jerković scored four goals and was, with five other players, the top goalscorer, winning the

World Cup Golden Boot At the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are presented to the players and teams who have distinguished themselves in various aspects of the game. Awards *There are currently five post-tournament awards from the FIFA T ...

. Yugoslavia finished in fourth place. In the quarter-final, Yugoslavia beat

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, while in the semifinal they lost to

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

(3–1) and lost to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

in the third place match (1–0). Jerković played in a single international match with Croatia, as the Croatia national team was assembled in communist Yugoslavia once for a friendly against

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

in 1956. His final international was a September 1964

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

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Managerial career

Dražan Jerković was also the first manager of the Croatia national team since independence, between 1990 and 1992. He died on 6 December 2008 in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

Career statistics

Club

International

References

* * ''Nogometni leksikon'' (2004, in Croatian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jerkovic, Drazan 1936 births 2008 deaths Footballers from Šibenik Men's association football forwards Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's international footballers Dual internationalists (men's football) 1960 European Nations' Cup players 1958 FIFA World Cup players 1962 FIFA World Cup players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players K.A.A. Gent players Yugoslav First League players Belgian Pro League players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Yugoslav football managers GNK Dinamo Zagreb managers FC Kärnten managers HNK Cibalia managers NK Zagreb managers Yugoslavia national football team managers Croatian football managers Croatia national football team managers Yugoslav expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Austria Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Austria