 Sušić as manager ofBosnia and Herzegovina in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1955-04-13)13 April 1955 (age 70) | ||
| Place of birth | Zavidovići,PR Bosnia and Herzegovina,FPR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Positions | |||
| Youth career | |||
| 1971–1972 | Krivaja | ||
| 1972–1973 | Sarajevo | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1973–1982 | Sarajevo | 221 | (86) |
| 1982–1991 | Paris Saint-Germain | 287 | (67) |
| 1991–1992 | Red Star | 17 | (3) |
| Total | 525 | (155) | |
| International career | |||
| 1977–1990 | Yugoslavia | 54 | (21) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1994–1995 | Cannes | ||
| 1996–1999 | İstanbulspor | ||
| 2001 | Al Hilal | ||
| 2004–2005 | Konyaspor | ||
| 2005–2006 | Ankaragücü | ||
| 2006–2007 | Çaykur Rizespor | ||
| 2007–2008 | Çaykur Rizespor | ||
| 2008 | Ankaraspor | ||
| 2009–2014 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | ||
| 2015–2016 | Évian | ||
| 2017 | Alanyaspor | ||
| 2018 | Akhisarspor | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Safet "Pape"Sušić (pronounced[sǎfetsûʃitɕ]; born 13 April 1955) is a Bosnian former professionalfootball manager and formerplayer. He was a giftedmidfielder known for his dribbling skills and technical ability, and is strongly reputed to have been one of the finest European players of his generation. Sušić played forYugoslavia in twoFIFA World Cups,1982 and1990, and atUEFA Euro 1984. As a manager, he qualified theBosnia and Herzegovina national team to the2014 FIFA World Cup.
Sušić played as anattacking midfielder, often in a role oftrequartista orfantasista (i.e. a creativeplaymaker) and rarely as asecond striker forSarajevo,Paris Saint-Germain andRed Star,[1] and internationally for Yugoslavia. Even more later during his career, he was utilized more in a role of adeep-lying playmaker, both for club and national team. In 2010,France Football voted Sušić as Paris Saint-Germain's best player of all time and the best foreign player ofLigue 1 of all time, with his compatriot and friend who also had a spell with PSG,Vahid Halilhodžić, being voted seventh.[2][3][4] As part of theUEFA Jubilee Awards in 2004, theFootball Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina chose Sušić as the nation's greatest ever player.[5]
Following his retirement from playing, Sušić started working as a manager. He worked for a number of club sides:Cannes,İstanbulspor,Al Hilal,Konyaspor,Ankaragücü,Çaykur Rizespor,Ankaraspor,Évian,Alanyaspor,Akhisarspor and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Sušić won his only trophy as manager with Akhisarspor, the2018 Turkish Super Cup.
Born inZavidovići,FPR Yugoslavia, present-dayBosnia and Herzegovina, Sušić started playing football in the youth team of his hometown clubKrivaja. In 1972, he joined the youth team ofSarajevo.
Sušić made his senior debut for Sarajevo in 1973, one year after joining the youth team. During the1979–80 season, he was the top scorer in theYugoslav First League with 17 goals. In 1979, he was honoured as theYugoslav Footballer of the Year, also being selected as the best athlete hailing fromSR Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1981, Sušić was awarded theSixth April Award of Sarajevo.
In December 1982, Sušić joinedParis Saint-Germain, where he became a star on the European stage. During his first season with the club, Sušić helped PSG to win the1982–83 Coupe de France, scoring three goals over two legs in the semi-final againstTours, and once in 3–2 victory overNantes in thefinal. During the1985–86 season, Sušić scored ten goals as the Parisiens won their first evernational league title.[5]
Overall, Sušić scored 85 goals and made a record 95 assists for PSG between 1982 and 1991. He is fifth in the club'sall-time appearance list with 344 appearances, tied withPaul Le Guen. On 22 September 1984, in a 7–1 home drubbing ofBastia, heassisted on five of the side's goals. At 36, Sušić went to the secondParis-based club for a final year withRed Star.
On 5 February 2010,France Footballchose Sušić as the best player in the history ofParis Saint-Germain, ahead of players such asCarlos Bianchi,Mustapha Dahleb,Ronaldinho,George Weah,Joël Bats,Raí andLuis Fernández.[6][7]
In his only season with Red Star, he played inLigue 2, thesecond division of French Football. He played in 17 league games for the club in that season campaign, scoring 3 goals in the process. Shortly after leaving Red Star, Sušić announced his retirement from football in 1992.
During Sušić's playing career, Bosnia and Herzegovina was part ofSFR Yugoslavia and thus he represented theYugoslavia national team at international level.
Between 1977 and 1990, Sušić appeared 54 times for Yugoslavia, scoring 21 times.[8] He debuted for his country in 1977 and scored his first goals for the team againstHungary in October of that year. A month later, he scored a hat-trick in a 6–4 victory againstRomania during the1978 FIFA World Cup qualification. However, this was Yugoslavia's only victory of their group and they failed to qualify for thetournament finals.
In June 1979, Sušić scored his second international hat-trick as Yugoslavia beatItaly 4–1 in a friendly match held inZagreb. In September, he again scored three times in a 4–2 win over world championsArgentina.[5]
Sušić was a member of the Yugoslav team that qualified for the1982 FIFA World Cup, scoring once in a 5–0 win againstLuxembourg.
Sušić was top scorer of Yugoslavia inqualification forUEFA Euro 1984. His two goals in a 3–2 win overBulgaria in the final qualification fixture helped Yugoslavia to finish three points ahead of the Bulgarians and one point ahead ofWales and advance to the tournament finals. Yugoslavia ultimately finished bottom oftheir group in France, losing all three matches.
At the age of 35, Sušić made his second appearance at a World Cup finals as a member of Yugoslavia's squad for the1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. He scored his only World Cup goal in the team's 4–1 win against theUnited Arab Emirates during the group stage. He played 61 minutes before being substituted forDejan Savićević in the penalty shootout loss to eventual runners-up Argentina at the quarter-final stage.[9] His final international was a November 1990European Championship qualification match away againstDenmark.[10]
In 2004, to celebrateUEFA's Jubilee, Sušić was selected as theGolden Player of Bosnia and Herzegovina by theFootball Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.[11][12]
His former international teammate,Darko Pančev declared:
"It's well known how much I valued and still do value Safet Sušić. For me he's unsurpassable, the best Yugoslavia had. Probably one of the best in the world. I was often known to say that us other players should have to pay to play in the same team asPape. At least I always talked and thought like that.Pape was a treasure for every forward. His crosses were unbelievable. Sometimes his ball would hit me without me even being aware of it. A wonderful player."[13]
Sušić first managed French clubCannes during the1994–95 season and the beginning of the1995–96. From 1996 until 1999, he managedİstanbulspor, thenAl Hilal in 2001,Konyaspor from 2004 to 2005,Ankaragücü from 2005 until 2006,Çaykur Rizespor on two occasions, first in 2006 and the second time from 2007 to 2008.[14] Sušić was then hired byAnkaraspor in March 2008.[15] He left Ankaraspor in June 2008.
On 28 December 2009, Sušić was named head coach of theBosnia and Herzegovina national team.[16] His debut was a friendly match againstGhana inSarajevo. Bosnia and Herzegovina won the game 2–1 after goals fromVedad Ibišević andMiralem Pjanić. After only 2 wins in Sušić's 6 first matches in charge of the national team, including an important 2–0 loss againstFrance in theUEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, Sušić came under a lot of criticism from several journalists and columnists who called for his head.[17][18] Sušić recorded a 1–1 draw against France during a second game inParis and ensured Bosnia and Herzegovina qualified for their second consecutive qualification play-off berth for UEFA Euro 2012 which was played againstPortugal in November of that year.[19][20]
From August 2012 to August 2013, Sušić's Bosnia and Herzegovina side was on a nine-game unbeaten streak run. On 8 August 2013, the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team achieved their highest everFIFA ranking, 13th place.[21] On 15 October 2013, the country qualified for the2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, their first major tournament in the country's history as an independent nation.[22] Sušić's side fared well in their first World Cup match againstArgentina despite losing 2–1. An unlucky own goal and some brilliance from football legendLionel Messi saw them to a defeat. However, highs taken from the match were the good play the team demonstrated and the materialisation of their first World Cup goal scored byVedad Ibišević. The team however controversially exited the competition at the group stage of the tournament after their second game againstNigeria having an equaliser scored byEdin Džeko wrongly disallowed for offside. This revitalised the calls for reformation of the FIFA governing body and the replacement of linesmen with technology so as to remove human error from lines decisions. Bosnia and Herzegovina won their last game in the competition againstIran with a healthy 3–1 victory which would've seen them through instead of Nigeria, who incidentally failed to defeat Iran, to a round of 16 match with France.
In July 2014, Sušić signed a two-year contract to continue as head coach, after he withdrew his resignation.[23] On 17 November 2014, theFootball Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sušić parted ways after poor showing of the national team in the first four games of theUEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.[24][25]
On 13 July 2015, Sušić was named manager of FrenchLigue 2 clubÉvian. On his debut he registered a draw. After the first four rounds, his new side registered four drawn games.[26]
On 11 January 2016, Sušić was sacked by Évian due to a run of poor results at the club. After 20 rounds, the club was placed 13th on the table and were eliminated from theCoupe de la Ligue at thethird round.[27] He was replaced by Romain Revelli.
On 27 January 2017, Sušić signed a contract withAlanyaspor until June 2018.[28] He was sacked on 25 December 2017 because of a string of poor results.[29]
On 30 June 2018, Sušić was named new manager ofTurkish Cup winnerAkhisarspor.[30]
After about a month and a half, Akhisarspor as cup winners, participated in theTurkish Super Cup match against league championsGalatasaray. The result after full-time was 1–1, but Akhisar won 5–4 on penalties. That was Akhisar's second mayor trophy in the club's history and the first in Sušić's managerial career.[31]
On 17 September 2018, after only collecting two points in five games in the league, Sušić was sacked.[32]
Safet Sušić Pape is a bestseller novel written by Bosnian novelistZlatko Topčić, and published in 2007. Popular Sarajevo sketch comedy and variety TV series,Top Lista Nadrealista, also on occasion treated a subject of football and popular sportsmen-women in their program, with songs dedicated to Sušić andYugoslav national football team under management of another Sarajevan,Ivica Osim, being prominent feature of couple episodes.
Sušić comes from a sporting family.Sead Sušić, a former footballer, is Safet's older brother. Safet's nephew,Tino-Sven Sušić, is also a footballer, formerly even a player ofSarajevo who also alongside Safet appeared at the2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Safet's mother Paša died on 28 April 2018 at the age of 96.[33]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sarajevo | 1973–74 | Yugoslav First League | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 2 |
| 1974–75 | 33 | 11 | 1 | 0 | – | 34 | 11 | |||
| 1975–76 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | 16 | 2 | |||
| 1976–77 | 28 | 9 | 3 | 3 | – | 31 | 12 | |||
| 1977–78 | 33 | 8 | 2 | 0 | – | 35 | 8 | |||
| 1978–79 | 30 | 15 | 1 | 0 | – | 31 | 15 | |||
| 1979–80 | 34 | 17 | 4 | 1 | – | 38 | 18 | |||
| 1980–81 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 4 | ||
| 1981–82 | 17 | 11 | 0 | 0 | – | 17 | 11 | |||
| 1982–83 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 21 | 13 | ||
| Total | 221 | 86 | 13 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 244 | 96 | ||
| Paris Saint-Germain | 1982–83 | French Division 1 | 18 | 8 | 18 | 8 | ||||
| 1983–84 | 38 | 8 | 1 | 38 | 9 | |||||
| 1984–85 | 34 | 10 | 2 | 34 | 12 | |||||
| 1985–86 | 37 | 10 | – | 37 | 10 | |||||
| 1986–87 | 29 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 3 | ||||
| 1987–88 | 24 | 3 | – | 24 | 3 | |||||
| 1988–89 | 34 | 7 | – | 34 | 7 | |||||
| 1989–90 | 36 | 7 | 1 | 36 | 8 | |||||
| 1990–91 | 37 | 10 | – | 37 | 10 | |||||
| Total | 287 | 67 | 14 | 4 | 344 | 85 | ||||
| Red Star | 1991–92 | Division 2 | 17 | 3 | – | 17 | 3 | |||
| Career total | 525 | 155 | 20 | 8 | 605 | 184 | ||||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yugoslavia | 1977 | 4 | 5 |
| 1978 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1979 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1980 | 6 | 3 | |
| 1981 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1982 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1983 | 5 | 3 | |
| 1984 | 5 | 2 | |
| 1985 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1986 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1987 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1988 | 2 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1990 | 10 | 1 | |
| Total | 54 | 21 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 October 1977 | Budapest, Hungary |  Hungary | 1–2 | 3–4 | Friendly |
| 2 | 3–4 | |||||
| 3 | 13 November 1977 | Bucharest,Romania |  Romania | 1–1 | 6–4 | 1978 World Cup qualifier |
| 4 | 3–3 | |||||
| 5 | 4–3 | |||||
| 6 | 13 June 1979 | Maksimir,Zagreb,Yugoslavia |  Italy | 1–1 | 4–1 | Friendly |
| 7 | 2–1 | |||||
| 8 | 3–1 | |||||
| 9 | 16 September 1979 | Marakana,Belgrade,Yugoslavia |  Argentina | 1–0 | 4–2 | Friendly |
| 10 | 2–0 | |||||
| 11 | 3–0 | |||||
| 12 | 30 March 1980 | Belgrade, Yugoslavia | Romania | 2–0 | 2–0 | Balkan Cup |
| 13 | 27 August 1980 | Bucharest, Romania | Romania | 1–3 | 1–4 | Balkan Cup |
| 14 | 10 September 1980 | Luxembourg, Luxembourg |  Luxembourg | 1–0 | 5–0 | 1982 World Cup qualifier |
| 15 | 12 October 1983 | JNA, Belgrade, Yugoslavia |  Norway | 2–0 | 2–1 | Euro 1984 qualifier |
| 16 | 21 December 1983 | Poljud,Split,Yugoslavia |  Bulgaria | 1–1 | 3–2 | Euro 1984 qualifier |
| 17 | 2–1 | |||||
| 18 | 2 June 1984 | Lisbon, Portugal |  Portugal | 1–1 | 3–2 | Friendly |
| 19 | 7 June 1984 | La Línea, Spain |  Spain | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 20 | 19 November 1988 | JNA, Belgrade, Yugoslavia |  France | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1990 World Cup qualifier |
| 21 | 19 June 1990 | Dall'Ara,Bologna, Italy |  United Arab Emirates | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1990 World Cup |
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||
| Cannes | 1 July 1994 | 11 September 1995 | 52 | 20 | 9 | 23 | 83 | 75 | +8 | 038.46 |
| İstanbulspor | 25 September 1996 | 30 June 1999 | 102 | 45 | 25 | 32 | 178 | 148 | +30 | 044.12 |
| Al Hilal | 1 February 2001 | 30 June 2001 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 033.33 |
| Konyaspor | 1 October 2004 | 30 June 2005 | 28 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 58 | 53 | +5 | 035.71 |
| Ankaragücü | 23 September 2005 | 9 February 2006 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 18 | +1 | 038.46 |
| Çaykur Rizespor | 15 September 2006 | 19 January 2007 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | +0 | 040.00 |
| Çaykur Rizespor | 31 August 2007 | 1 February 2008 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 18 | 24 | −6 | 042.86 |
| Ankaraspor | 6 March 2008 | 30 June 2008 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 050.00 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 29 December 2009 | 17 November 2014 | 49 | 23 | 9 | 17 | 83 | 49 | +34 | 046.94 |
| Évian | 12 July 2015 | 11 January 2016 | 23 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 37 | 33 | +4 | 030.43 |
| Alanyaspor | 27 January 2017 | 25 December 2017 | 35 | 13 | 5 | 17 | 62 | 64 | −2 | 037.14 |
| Akhisarspor | 30 June 2018 | 17 September 2018 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 13 | −3 | 016.67 |
| Total | 343 | 139 | 75 | 129 | 573 | 498 | +75 | 040.52 | ||
Paris Saint-Germain
Individual
Akhisarspor
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