Ivan "Ivica" Brzić (; 28 May 1941 – 1 June 2014) was a Yugoslav and Serbian

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 and player.

Early life

Brzić was born during

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 ...

in the city of

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

(then called Újvidék) that had been annexed just months before his birth by the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

Club career

Brzić made his debut for

in the

1960–61 Yugoslav Second League The 1960–61 Yugoslav Second League season was the 15th season of the Second Federal League (), the second level association football competition of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946. The league was contested in two regional groups ...

, helping them win promotion to 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) ...

. He played regularly for the side in the top tier of Yugoslav football over the next three seasons. Following the club's relegation to the Second League in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

, Brzić moved to Željezničar Sarajevo, along with Lazar Lemić and Ilija Tojagić. In the 1965 winter transfer window, Brzić joined his parent club

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

. He helped them win the Yugoslav First League in the 1965–66 season, missing just one game in the process. Over the course of years at Vojvodina, Brzić amassed 200 league appearances and scored five goals. In the summer of 1972, Brzić moved abroad to Austria, spending two seasons with DSV Alpine and seasons with

VÖEST Linz FC Stahl Linz is an Austrian football club, based in Linz, Upper Austria. They currently play in 2. Klasse Mitte, the eighth tier of Austrian football. History SV Eisen und Stahl, SK VÖEST Linz and SK VOEST Linz It was founded on 30 June 194 ...

, before retiring during the 1976–77 winter break.

International career

At international level, Brzić was capped once 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 ...

against the

Soviet Union 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 ...

in 1966. He was also selected to represent the nation at

UEFA Euro 1968 The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the third UEFA European Championship, an event held every four years and organised by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 5 and 10 June 1968. It ...

, but remained unused in the tournament. Yugoslavia finished as runners-up after losing to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Managerial career

After hanging up his boots, Brzić briefly worked as a coordinator in the youth system of

before becoming an assistant to

Branko Stanković Branko "Stane" Stanković ( sr-Cyrl, Бранко "Стане" Станковић, ; 31 October 1921 – 20 February 2002) was a Bosnian Serb footballer and manager, from Sarajevo. Playing career Club He started his career in SK Slavija Sarajev ...

with the seniors in 1977. He replaced him as the club's manager the following year, aged 37. Between 1983 and 1986, Brzić was manager of

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...

, qualifying for

European football UEFA competitions (), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur association football and futsal. T ...

for the first time in club history. During the 1990s and early 2000s, Brzić spent several years in Peru, having stints with Universitario and

Alianza Lima Club Alianza Lima, more commonly known as simply Alianza Lima, is a Peru, Peruvian professional sports club based in La Victoria District, Lima, La Victoria District of Lima, Peru. The club was founded under the name of Sport Alianza on February ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Player

Novi Sad *

Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav Second League ( Bosnian: ''Druga savezna liga,'' Croatian: ''Druga savezna liga'', Serbian: ''Друга савезна лига'', Slovenian: ''Druga zvezna liga'', Macedonian: ''Втора сојузна лига'', ''Vtora sojuzna l ...

: 1960–61 Vojvodina *

: 1965–66 Yugoslavia *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

runner-up:

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

Manager

Universitario * Torneo Descentralizado:

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 ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brzic, Ivica 1941 births 2014 deaths Footballers from Novi Sad Men's association football defenders Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1968 players RFK Novi Sad 1921 players FK Željezničar Sarajevo players FK Vojvodina players DSV Leoben players FC Stahl Linz (2013) players Yugoslav Second League players Yugoslav First League players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Austria Yugoslav football managers Serbia and Montenegro football managers Serbian football managers FK Vojvodina managers DSV Leoben managers FK Spartak Subotica managers CA Osasuna managers RCD Mallorca managers FK Rad managers Club Universitario de Deportes managers Club Blooming managers Club Alianza Lima managers Real Oviedo managers Hércules CF managers Sport Boys managers Yugoslav First League managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Serbian SuperLiga managers Yugoslav expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Austria Expatriate football managers in Spain Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate football managers in Peru Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Peru Serbia and Montenegro expatriate football managers Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Peru Expatriate football managers in Bolivia Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Bolivia