Milutin Šoškić (
Serbian Cyrillic
The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...
: Милутин Шошкић; 31 December 1937 – 27 August 2022) was a Serbian professional
footballer who played as a
goalkeeper. He is considered one of
FK Partizan's greatest players.
Biography
He was born in Jablanica, a village near
Peć
Peja or Peć, ), is the fifth most populous city in Kosovo and serves as the seat of the Peja Municipality and the District of Peja. It is located in the Rugova (region), Rugova region on the eastern section of the Accursed Mountains along the ...
from father Jeremija, a royal officer and mother Radunka.
He spent
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 exile in the
Serbian Patriarchate of Peć.
Playing career
Šoškić started training football when he was 11 in
Red Star
A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. ...
, for which he played six months, but because of a small misunderstanding with the host of the stadium, he decided to continue his career at
Partizan where he spent most of his career.
Soon after, Šoškić was called to play 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 ...
youth team.
After performing well at Partizan he was invited to play for the Yugoslavia national team. Šoškić inherited the position of
Vladimir Beara as a new goalkeeper.
For Yugoslavia he played 50 games.
The first major competition that Šoškić played in with the national team was the
1960 European Nations' Cup.
The team won the silver medal after winning the semi-final match against competition host
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 ...
with the result of 5–4 which is still a record to this day of most goals scored in a single match in
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 ...
. In the finals, Yugoslavia was defeated by
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 ...
2–1 after extra time.
That same year Šoškić won an
Olympic gold medal at the
1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...
in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, Italy with the
Yugoslavia national team. They topped their pool consisting of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
,
United Arab Republic
The United Arab Republic (UAR; ) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 to 1971. It was initially a short-lived political union between Republic of Egypt (1953–1958), Egypt (including Occupation of the Gaza Strip by the United Ara ...
and
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
before beating
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 semi-finals and crowning themselves champions after beating
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
3–1 in the final. At the tournament, Šoškić only conceded six goals.
At the
1962 FIFA World Cup in
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 ...
Yugoslavia won fourth place after being defeated by
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 in semi-finals and
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 ...
1–0 in a third place match.
Šoškić experienced great recognition when he was invited to play in the
1963 England v Rest of the World football match at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
and secured his place among best football players of that time.
European Cup final with Partizan
In the sixties, Šoškić and others became known as the "Partizan babies", a group of youngsters who turned Partizan into one of the better teams in Europe with four national championships.
Of the four trophies they won in the
Yugoslav First League in five seasons, three of them were won in a row;
1960–61,
1961–62 and
1962–63.
By winning the Yugoslav championship in the
1964–65 season, Partizan acquired the right to play in the
European Cup 1965–66. Partizan was led by coach
Abdulah Gegić.
In the preliminary round Partizan played against French champions
FC Nantes. With a 2:0 win in
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
at
JNA Stadium and a draw 2:2 in a return match at
Stade Marcel-Saupin, first obstacle was skipped with a total score of 4:2. The next opponent was the champion of
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 ...
,
SV Werder Bremen
Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...
. Werder was eliminated with a total score of 3:1, in Belgrade it was 3:0 and on
Weser-Stadion in Bremen 0:1.
In the quarter-finals Partizan had to face champions of
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 ...
,
AC Sparta Prague
Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional association football, football club based in Prague.
It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in cen ...
. First game at
Stadion Letná Partizan lost 4:1, but won the second game in Belgrade with the result 5:0 and thus qualified for the semi-finals with a total score of 6:4.
In the semi-finals, they were facing English giants
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
with
David Herd,
Denis Law,
Bobby Charlton and
George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...
. Partizan's babies won with a total score of 2:1 (2:0 in Belgrade and 0:1 in the return match at
Old Trafford) and advanced to the finals.
On 11 May 1966,
the final was played at
Heysel Stadium in
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
in front of 55,000 spectators. Partizan faced Spanish champions
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
and took the lead in the 55th minute with a goal by
Velibor Vasović. However, with two goals first by
Amancio and second by
Fernando Serena, Real managed to defeat Partizan and win the European title.
Going abroad
When the conditions for going abroad were met, Šoškić decided to accept the offer of the West German
1. FC Köln. He played in 65 games. However, a severe leg fracture soon followed, which caused him to take a long break.
Šoškić returned to active football, but a new leg fracture finally forced him to end his career.
Coaching career
After finishing his playing career, he finished high school coaching. He then became a coach at
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 ...
which he remained for 5 years. Then he took over
OFK Kikinda which he led in
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 ...
. Then he returned to Partizan to be one of the assistant coaches. He worked together with
Bora Milutinović and
Nenad Bjeković.
At that time, Partizan had several quality goalkeepers such as:
Fahrudin Omerović,
Ranko Stojić and
Rade Zalad.
After Milutinović became the coach of
United States national soccer team in 1993 Šoškić was appointed the goalkeeper's coach. He remained even after Milutinović left in 1995, continuing to work with the team under head coaches
Steve Sampson and later
Bruce Arena.
He left the team along with Arena after the
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...
. During that time, the Americans participated in four
World cups and had several quality goalkeepers such as:
Brad Friedel,
Kasey Keller, and
Tim Howard.
Death
Šoškić died on 27 August 2022.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soskic, Milutin
1937 births
2022 deaths
Footballers from Peja
Kosovo Serbs
Serbian men's footballers
Yugoslav men's footballers
Men's association football goalkeepers
Yugoslavia men's international footballers
1960 European Nations' Cup players
1962 FIFA World Cup players
Olympic medalists in football
Footballers at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Olympic footballers for Yugoslavia
Olympic gold medalists for Yugoslavia
FK Partizan players
1. FC Köln players
FK Partizan managers
OFK Beograd managers
Yugoslav First League players
Bundesliga players
Serbian football managers
Yugoslav football managers
FK Partizan non-playing staff
United States men's national soccer team non-playing staff
Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Serbian expatriate men's footballers
Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in West Germany
Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany
Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers