Dževad Prekazi (, , ; born 18 August 1957) is a Yugoslav former professional

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, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Born in Titova Mitrovica, Prekazi made his first football steps at his local club Remont, being registered for their youth team in early 1974. He soon gained attention as one of the most promising young talents in Yugoslav football and signed with Partizan in December 1974. With the ''Crno-beli'', Prekazi won the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

three times ( 1975–76, 1977–78, and 1982–83). In the 1984 winter transfer window, Prekazi switched to fellow Yugoslav First League club

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

. He spent about a year at

Poljud Gradski stadion u Poljudu (), better known as Stadion Poljud () or simply Poljud, is a multi-use stadium in Split, Croatia, which has been the home ground of Hajduk Split football club since 1979. The stadium is located in the neighbourhood of P ...

and won the

1983–84 Yugoslav Cup The 1983–84 Yugoslav Cup was the 36th season of the top football knockout competition in SFR Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Cup (), also known as the "Marshal Tito Cup" (''Kup Maršala Tita''), since its establishment in 1946. Calendar First round ...

, before moving to the United States and joining the

Baltimore Blast The Baltimore Blast are an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). Including one championship victory as the original Baltimore Blast, the team has won 10 c ...

of the Major Indoor Soccer League. In the summer of 1985, Prekazi returned to Europe and signed with Turkish side

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

. He played for the club over the next six and a half years, collecting 185 league appearances and scoring 40 goals, while helping them win back-to-back championship titles in 1986–87 and 1987–88. In late 1991, Prekazi departed Galatasaray and joined

Altay Altai or Altay may refer to: Places *Altai Mountains, in Central and East Asia, a region shared by China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Russia In China *Altay Prefecture (阿勒泰地区), Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China *Altay City (阿勒� ...

until the end of the 1991–92 season. He also briefly played for

Bakırköyspor Bakırköyspor is a Turkish sports club from Bakırköy, Istanbul. The club was founded in 1949. The colours of Bakırköyspor are green-black. Bakırköyspor played in the Turkish Super League for 3 years, but after several unsuccessful seasons, ...

in the fall of

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

. After returning to Yugoslavia, Prekazi ended his playing career with Trudbenik in the

Serbian League North Serbian League North () was one of the sections of the Serbian League, serving as the third level football league in SFR Yugoslavia and FR Yugoslavia, firstly from 1962 to 1968, and secondly from 1992 to 1995. It was eventually split into two sepa ...

International career

Prekazi represented Yugoslavia at the 1976 UEFA European Under-18 Championship. He was also capped for Yugoslavia at under-21 level.

Post-playing career

After hanging up his boots, Prekazi served as manager of

Železnik Železnik ( sr-cyr, Железник, ) is an List of Belgrade neighborhoods, urban neighborhood of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Čukarica. Location Železnik is located in the central part of the Čukarica mun ...

on two occasions. He also worked in the youth setups at Sinđelić Beograd,

OFK Beograd OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English language, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club''), also known in English as OFK Belgrade and currently referred to as OFK ...

, and Partizan.

Personal life

Born to

Kosovo Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo (, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars (), constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-group of Ghegs, who inhabit the north of ...

parents, Prekazi identifies as Yugoslav. He also holds

Turkish citizenship Turkish nationality law is based primarily on the principle of ''jus sanguinis''. Children who are born to a Turkish mother or a Turkish father (in or out of marriage) are Turkish citizens from birth. The intention to renounce Turkish citizen ...

. His older brother, Ljuan, also played for Partizan.

Career statistics

Honours

Partizan *

: 1975–76, 1977–78, 1982–83 *

Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called Coupe de l'Europe Centrale, Mitteleuropäischer Pokal or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European association football, football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the suc ...

: 1977–78 Hajduk Split *

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...

: 1983–84 Galatasaray * 1.Lig: 1986–87, 1987–88

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prekazi, Dzevad 1957 births Living people Footballers from Mitrovica, Kosovo Kosovo Albanians Naturalized citizens of Turkey Men's association football midfielders Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's under-21 international footballers FK Partizan players HNK Hajduk Split players Baltimore Blast (1980–1992) players Galatasaray S.K. footballers Altay S.K. footballers Bakırköyspor footballers Yugoslav First League players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Süper Lig players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Serbia and Montenegro football managers FK Železnik managers First League of Serbia and Montenegro managers FK Partizan non-playing staff