Veselin Đurasović (born 7 January 1957) is a Bosnian-Herzegovinian former

football player 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 ...

, from the late 1970s and the 1980s and currently, football coach.Veselin Đurasović
at world-football-net

Playing career

Born in

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

, Đurasović played for Velež Mostar from 1974 to 1990. He played 17 seasons for Velež. Over 400 official games, out of that, 304 games in 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 is only one of four players that played over 300 games in the league, those being:

Enver Marić Enver Marić (born 16 April 1948) is a Bosnian former professional football goalkeeper and retired football manager. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest goalkeepers from the former Yugoslavia of all time. Club career Marić starte ...

, Franjo Vladić and

Dušan Bajević Dušan "Duško" Bajević ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Бајевић, ; , ''Doúsan Báyevits''; born 10 December 1948) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Bosnian football manager ...

. He was also the club

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in 26 games. He scored 2 goals for Velež in the league. He debuted for the club on 8 October 1975 against

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 ...

in Mostar. He is one of the few who won both

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 ...

s, although he did not appear in the final in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

against Dinamo Zagreb because of an injury. According to the estimates of the then famous Yugoslav magazine "Sport", he was named the best "number five". At that time, he played as a libero, and he was among the best on that position at that time. Žarko Barbarić, former coach of Velež, had only words of praise for Đurasović: "A very grateful player. His rich experience and responsibility in the game are precious. Each coach and a team would want such a player and a man. A fighter without any flaw and fear. Where others wouldn't set a foot, he would a head", while former teammate,

Predrag Jurić Predrag Jurić (born 4 November 1961) is a Bosnia and Herzegovina-born retired association footballer. International career He made his debut for Yugoslavia in a November 1986 European Championship qualification match away against England and h ...

said: "Đurasović is a real man and a footballer. A big friend! Always ready to joke, but on the ground an example of how to fight for club and how to perform professional duties." He played his last match for Velež on 16 May 1990 against Dinamo in Mostar, thus closing the circle of fate to debut against Dinamo and to finish his playing career against the

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 ...

team. Officially, the farewell was on the 1991 February tournament, in which

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

, Željezničar Sarajevo, and Dinamo Zagreb took part.

Coaching career

One time, he was sitting on the Velež bench as an assistant to the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

. In 2010 he was the caretaker manager of Velež. Most recently, he trained the youth team of Velež from 2015 to 2017. He is currently serving as a representative of the club in the matches of the First League of the FBiH, as well as in the games of the youth selections.

Honours

Player

Velež Mostar *

: 1980–81, 1985–86 *

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 ...

: 1980–81

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durasovic, Veselin 1957 births Living people Yugoslav men's footballers Footballers from Mostar Men's association football defenders Yugoslav First League players FK Velež Mostar players Bosnia and Herzegovina football managers Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina managers FK Velež Mostar managers