Zlatko Mesić (13 April 1946 – 21 January 2020) was a Croatian

footballer 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 lea ...

who had a notable tenure with

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 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) ...

Career

Mesić played at the youth level with

, and began his professional career in 1963 in the

. He made his debut in 1964 against

NK Metalac Osijek NK Metalac is a Croatian football club based in the town of Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian regio ...

. Throughout his time with Dinamo he won the

1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The ninth Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was played over the 1966–67 season. The competition was won by Dinamo Zagreb over two legs in the final against Leeds United. For the first time in the history of the cup, replays were scrapped, with sides going ...

1964–65 Yugoslav Cup The 1964–65 Yugoslav Cup was the 18th season of the top football knockout competition in SFR Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Cup (), also known as the "Marshal Tito Cup" (''Kup Maršala Tita''), since its establishment in 1946. First round proper In t ...

, and

1968–69 Yugoslav Cup The 1968–69 Yugoslav Cup was the 22nd season of the top football knockout competition in SFR Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Cup (), also known as the "Marshal Tito Cup" (''Kup Maršala Tita''), since its establishment in 1946. Round of 16 In the foll ...

. In 1971, he went abroad to play in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

with

Toronto Croatia C.N.S.C. Toronto Croatia (Croatian National Sports Club Toronto Croatia) is a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that plays in the Supergroup Open Division in the Canadian Academy of Football. The team's colours are red, white and b ...

. In his debut season he won the NSL Championship.

Personal life

Death

He died on January 21, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mesic, Zlatko 1946 births 2020 deaths Footballers from Zagreb Men's association football defenders Yugoslav men's footballers GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Toronto Croatia players Yugoslav First League players Canadian National Soccer League players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Canada