Milan Ružić (25 July 1955 in

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

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 ...

– 25 January 2014 in Rijeka,

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

) was a Croatian

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. He was capped twice for

.LZMK
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Club career

He scored 31 goals in 430 appearances for hometown club

and also played in Belgium.

International career

Ružić made his debut for

in a March 1983

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 ...

away against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and earned a total of 2 caps, scoring no goals. His second and final international was a June 1983 friendly against

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

Death and legacy

He died in January 2014 after a long and serious illness.PREMINUO MILAN MINTA RUŽIĆ
- Croatian Football Federation NK Kraljevica changed the name of their stadium ''Oštro'' to Stadium ''Milan Ružić - Minta'' in his honour in August 2015.SportCom.hr
Stjepan Lončarić: ''NK Kraljevica u kolovozu organizira turnir u spomen na Milana Mintu Ružića'', 15. srpnja 2015. (pristupljeno 1. svibnja 2016.)

Career statistics

Club

Honours

;NK Rijeka *

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 ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Balkans Cup The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42,000 spectators), being ...

: 1978 ;Individual *Best

NK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka (), commonly referred to as HNK Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka competes in Croatia's top division, Supersport HNL, of which they have been members ...

player 1978-79, 1980-81, 1982-83 *

best left midfielder of all time *Scorer of the 2500 goal of 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) ...

Novi list
Orlando Rivetti: ''In memoriam. Minta, otrgnuti cvijet dobrote'', 26. siječnja 2014. (pristupljeno 1. svibnja 2016.) *

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka (), commonly referred to as HNK Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka competes in Croatia's top division, Croatian First Football League, Supersport HNL, o ...

all time XI by

Novi list ''Novi list'' () is the oldest Croatian daily newspaper published in Rijeka. It is read mostly in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County of Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeas ...

References

External links

* * 1955 births 2014 deaths Footballers from Rijeka Men's association football midfielders Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers HNK Rijeka players K. Beringen F.C. players K.A.A. Gent players K.R.C. Zuid-West-Vlaanderen players HSV Hoek players Yugoslav First League players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands {{Croatia-footy-midfielder-stub