Rizah Mešković (born 10 August 1947) is a Bosnian former 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 ...

player and

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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. At international level, he played for the Yugoslavia national team once, in 1972, and was part of the squad at the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...

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 ...

. Throughout his football career, both as a player and coach, Mešković had many success and received a number of awards from

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

and the Football Association of Yugoslavia (FJS).

Club career

Sloboda Tuzla

According to Mešković, he started his professional football career at boyhood age, and the first club that he ever played in was

FK Sloboda Tuzla Fudbalski klub Sloboda Tuzla English: Football Club Sloboda Tuzla) is a Bosnian professional football club based in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The English translation of the team's name is ''Football Club Freedom Tuzla''. The club is a mem ...

from 1964, where he remained until 1973, that is, until his departure to

HNK Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Split, Croatia, Split, that competes in the Croatian First Football League, Cro ...

. According to Gojko Škrbić, Sloboda sold him to Hajduk for two years with the compensation of the then 14 million old dinar. In the

1968–69 Yugoslav Second League The 1968–69 Yugoslav Second League season was the 23rd season of the Second Federal League (), the second level association football competition of SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or S ...

season, Sloboda won 36 points and scored 50 goals, while Mešković capitulated only nine times, the least of all other Second league and First league goalkeepers.

Hajduk Split

For the "Bili (The Whites)", Mešković played 107 games, 53 games in the championship, 9 games in the cup, 6 in European competitions, and 39 games in friendly matches. He stood on the goal for the first time in a farewell game of the legendary Radomir Vukčević (Vučka), Ivica Hlevnjak and Pero Nadoveza. The first official appearance for Hajduk, was in the

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 ...

on 12 August 1973, in the starting lineup against

FK Vardar FK Vardar () is a professional Association football, football club based in Skopje, North Macedonia, which competes in the Macedonian First Football League, Macedonian First League. They are the most successful football club in Football in Maced ...

, which Hajduk won with 5:1. While at Hajduk, The fans gave him the nickname "Mate" and sang the song "From Marjan's blowing the breeze Mešković keeps the door guarding us." A strong and powerful goalkeeper, safe in running ins, with Hajduk he won two Yugoslavian Championships in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

(with 33 appearances) and

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

(with 16 appearances). He also won 3 cups in a row in

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

and in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

789 minutes without a goal

Rizah holds in the territory of the former

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 ...

a record of 789 minutes of not conceding a goal. That series of not conceding a goal was broken by

Vladimir Petković Vladimir Petković (; born 15 August 1963) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He is currently the coach of the Algeria national team. He was previously the head coach of French side Bordeaux, the Switzerland nation ...

. The last goal he received was in a match against

FK Željezničar Sarajevo Fudbalski klub Željezničar Sarajevo ( sh-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Жељезничap Сарајево; English language, English: Football Club Željezničar Sarajevo), commonly referred to as Željo, is a professional Association fo ...

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

on 25 November 1973 (1: 1). From that game, goals weren't conceded in matches played against:

FK Borac Banja Luka Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Бopaц Бања Лука, ) is a Bosnian Serb professional association football, football club, based in the city of Banja Luka, Republika ...

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city in Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is the tr ...

(0: 0), then

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 ...

(2: 0),

FK Vojvodina Fudbalski klub Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Војводина), commonly known as Vojvodina and colloquially as Voša ( sr-Cyrl, Воша), is a Serbian professional football club based in Novi Sad, Serbia, the second large ...

in Split (3: 0),

NK 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 ...

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 ...

(0: 1),

OFK Bor FK Bor (Serbian Cyrillic: ФК Бор) is a football club based in Bor, Serbia. History Early Years (1920s to 1960s) The club was founded in 1919 as a Serbian-French sports society under the name Association Sportive Bor (ASB). The club was ...

in Split (3: 0),

FK Radnički Niš FK Radnički Niš () is a professional football club based in Niš, Serbia. The club competes in the Serbian SuperLiga, the top tier of Serbian football. One of the most successful clubs in the former Yugoslavia, the club spent a total of 29 ...

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...

(0: 1) and

NK Čelik Zenica Nogometni klub Čelik Zenica () is a professional football club based in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The name ''Čelik'' means ''Steel'' in Bosnian, and it symbolizes the strength and power of the club in an industrial city well known for s ...

in Split (1: 0). Only in the 22nd round Hajduk lost from

FK Sarajevo Fudbalski klub Sarajevo ( sh-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Сарајево; , English language, English: Sarajevo Football Club), is a professional Association football, football Sports club, club based in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosn ...

1: 0.However, in that game, Brane Oblak, Ivan Buljan, Slaviša Žungul and Mićun Jovanić did not play. The players that did play were: Mešković,

Vilson Džoni Vilson Džoni (; born 24 September 1950) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a defender. He was named Yugoslav Footballer of the Year in 1978. Club career Džoni was born in Split to a family from Prizren, and is of Ko ...

Vedran Rožić Vedran Rožić (born 2 November 1954 in Trogir, PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia) is a retired Croatian football player and Hajduk chairman. He played 12 years at Hajduk Split and has 390 official caps. He played 10 times for Yugoslavia. He played w ...

Luka Peruzović Luka Peruzović (born 26 February 1952) is a Croatian football coach and former player, who managed Belgium's Standard Liège, Charleroi and Anderlecht and Qatar's Al Sadd. He also holds a Belgian citizenship. Club career As a player, Peruzovi ...

Dragan Holcer Dragan Holcer (19 January 1945 – 23 September 2015) was a Yugoslav footballer who played as a defender. Early life Holcer was born in captivity in a Nazi prison camp to Slovenian father Franc Holcer and to Austrian-Italian mother Ida Orell ...

Mario Boljat Mario Boljat (31 August 1951 – 1 January 2024) was a Croatian professional footballer who played as a defender or midfielder for Hajduk Split and Schalke 04. Boljat died in Split on 1 January 2024, at the age of 72. International career ...

, Željko Mijač,

Dražen Mužinić Dražen Mužinić (born 25 January 1953) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Mužinić spent most of his career in his native Yugoslavia. With Hajduk Split he won four league titles, five cups and he was cap ...

, Joško Gluić, Jurica and Ivica Šurjak.

From AZ '67 to Orebić

With 107 games to his name, he left Hajduk in 1976 and joined Dutch club AZ '67 where he stayed until 1979 and had to fight for his place between the posts with Gerrit Vooys. After Alkmaar, he returned to

Tuzla Tuzla (, , ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inha ...

and once again joined

Sloboda A sloboda was a type of settlement in the history of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The name is derived from the early Slavic word for 'freedom' and may be loosely translated as 'free settlement'.

in 1979 where he stayed until 1983, after which he went to several domestic clubs. They were:

FK Budućnost Banovići Fudbalski klub Budućnost Banovići is a professional football club from the town of Banovići that is situated in the eastern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Bosnian ''Budućnost'' means "Future", which symbolizes the hope people had for the ...

, where he stayed from 1983 to 1984, then

FK Radnik Bijeljina Fudbalski klub Radnik Bijeljina ( sr-cyr, Фудбалски клуб Радник Бијељина) is a professional association football club based in the city of Bijeljina that is situated in northeast Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club plays ...

from 1984 to 1985,

NK Bratstvo Gračanica Nogometni klub Bratstvo Gračanica or simply NK Bratstvo Gračanica is a professional association football club from the city of Gračanica that is situated in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bratstvo currently plays in the First League of the Federatio ...

, from 1985 to 1987. He ended his career in NK Orebić where he played from 1987 to 1988.

International career

For the national team of Yugoslavia, he played one game, on 29 June 1972, against Scotland, a game that was played in the Brazil Independence Cup in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

which ended with a score of 2: 2. He was also a part of the squad that played at the

. However, Mešković didn't play a single game at the Cup.Yugoslavia squad
- Planet World Cup

Coaching career

He started his coaching career with the completion of the coaching school in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, and already in 1988 he trained the Yugoslav B team and

in late 1990. In the same year, he assisted

Ivica Osim Ivan Osim (6 May 1941 – 1 May 2022), best known as Ivica Osim, was a Bosnian professional Football player, footballer and Manager (association football), football manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Bosnian football managers of all ...

with the

Yugoslavia national football team The Yugoslavia national football team; ; ; represented Yugoslavia in international association football. Although the team mainly represented the pre-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the post-war SFR Yugoslavia, various iterations of the state ...

at the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

. In 1991 as a member of the Yugoslavia staff, he went to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

where he coached several clubs and A and B national teams. He also spent some time in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

as a coach ( Al Ahli SC in

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

, 2001–2002). After Saudi Arabia he also coached in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

(

Al Sadd Al Sadd Sports Club () is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the capital city Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in the top level of Qatari football, the Qatar Stars League. Locally, it i ...

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, 2002–2005 as an assistant). However, he spent most of his time in the Emirates where he trained clubs

Al Wahda FC Al Wahda Football Club () is an Emirati professional football club based in Abu Dhabi, that competes in the UAE Pro League. The club was founded in 1974 and plays its home games at the Al Nahyan Stadium. The club's colours are maroon, navy blu ...

(1991–1992) in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

, Al Shabab (1992–1993, 1999–2001 and 2005–2007),

Al Wasl F.C. Al Wasl Football Club () is an Emirati professional Association football, football club based in Zabeel, Dubai that competes in the UAE Pro League. The club plays its home games at Zabeel Stadium. Al-Wasl is amongst the most successful teams i ...

(1997–1998) from

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

and Al Nasr SC (1998–1999) also in Dubai. He ended his professional coaching career in 2007.

Honours

Player

Hajduk Split *

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) ...

, 1975–76 AZ '67 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

: 1977–78

Manager

Al Ahli *

Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup () was the oldest Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. History The cup was the oldest and first domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia; the first edition was held in 1956–57; five editions were played betwe ...

: 2001–02 *

Saudi Federation Cup The Prince Faisal bin Fahd Cup, formerly known as the Saudi Federation Cup, was an association football competition organized by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. History The competition was founded in the 1975–76 season, with Al-Nassr a ...

: 2001–02 *

GCC Champions League The AGCFF Gulf Club Champions League (), formerly known as the GCC Champions League, is a regional association football, football competition governed by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF) for clubs from its Arab Gulf Cup Football Feder ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

References

External links

* *
Serbia national football team website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meskovic, Rizah 1947 births Living people Footballers from Tuzla Men's association football goalkeepers Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers 1974 FIFA World Cup players FK Sloboda Tuzla players HNK Hajduk Split players AZ Alkmaar players FK Budućnost Banovići players FK Radnik Bijeljina players NK Bratstvo Gračanica players Yugoslav Second League players Yugoslav First League players Eredivisie players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Yugoslav football managers Bosnia and Herzegovina football managers FK Sloboda Tuzla managers Al Wahda FC managers Al Shabab Al Arabi Club (Dubai) managers Al-Nassr FC managers Sharjah FC managers Al Hilal SFC managers Al Wasl F.C. managers Al-Nasr SC (Dubai) managers Al-Ahli Saudi FC managers UAE Pro League managers Saudi Pro League managers Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in the United Arab Emirates Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Qatar Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Qatar