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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Bernard Vukas | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1927-05-01)1 May 1927 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Zagreb,Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 4 April 1983(1983-04-04) (aged 55) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Zagreb,SR Croatia,SFR Yugoslavia | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft7+1⁄2 in) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1938–1945 | Concordia Zagreb | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1945–1946 | Amater Zagreb | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1946–1947 | NK Zagreb | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1947–1957 | Hajduk Split | 202 | (89) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1957–1959 | Bologna | 45 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1959–1963 | Hajduk Split | 65 | (5) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1962–1963 | Austria Klagenfurt | 21 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1963–1965 | Grazer AK | 23 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1965–1967 | Kapfenberger SV | 32 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | 388 | (101) | ||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1948–1957 | Yugoslavia | 59 | (22) | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||
Bernard Vukas (1 May 1927 – 4 April 1983) was aCroatianfootballer who played forYugoslavia.[1]
Vukas played as aleft winger/forward and is mostly remembered for his extraordinarydribbling ability. In 2000, he was voted by theCroatian Football Federation as the best Croatian player of all time, and in another poll byVečernji List he was voted Best Croatian Athlete of the 20th Century.
Vukas started his career in the youth ranks ofConcordia Zagreb. After WW2, he spent some time in NK Amater Zagreb[2] before moving toHajduk Split in 1947. He stayed in Hajduk until 1957, playing 202 games and scoring 89 goals. With Hajduk, Vukas won theYugoslav First League title on three occasions, in 1950, 1952 and 1955, and he was the league's top scorer in the 1954–55 season with 20 goals. In 1950, Vukas helped Hajduk win theYugoslav First League undefeated, a record which has never been broken.
In 1957, he moved toBologna FC 1909, where he stayed for two years playing 48 games and scoring two goals, but his time there was overshadowed by serious illness. He returned to Hajduk in 1959 and remained until 1963, playing 65 games and scoring 5 goals. He spent his last days as a football player in Austria, playing forAustria Klagenfurt,Grazer AK andKapfenberger SV.
Counting friendlies, Vukas played a total of 615 games forHajduk Split and scored 300 goals.[3]
On 23 October 1953, Vukas, along withBranko Zebec,Vladimir Beara andZlatko Čajkovski, played for FIFA's 'Rest of the World' team againstEngland atWembley – in a match to celebrate 90 years ofEnglish Football Association. The match ended 4–4, with Vukas assisting in two goals and being awarded a penalty. Two years later, on 13 August 1955, Vukas was invited to play for the UEFA Team in a friendly match againstGreat Britain played inBelfast, where Vukas scored a hat trick.
He died of a heart attack[4] on 4 April 1983, aged 55. There are streets inSplit andZagreb named after him.
He made his debut forYugoslavia in a June 1948Balkan Cup match againstAlbania and earned a total of 59 caps, scoring 22 goals.[5] He was also a part of the Yugoslavian team in the 1950 and 1954 FIFA World Cups. WithYugoslavia he won 2 silver medals in the Olympic games.[6] His final international was a May 1957 Central European International Cup match againstCzechoslovakia.[7]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 28 May 1950 | Belgrade, Yugoslavia |  Denmark | 1–0 | 5–1 | Friendly |
| 2. | 7 September 1950 | Helsinki, Finland |  Finland | 2–0 | 2–3 | |
| 3. | 23 August 1951 | Oslo, Norway |  Norway | 1–0 | 4–2 | |
| 4. | 25 June 1952 | Zagreb, Yugoslavia | Norway | 1–0 | 4–1 | |
| 5. | 2–0 | |||||
| 6. | 15 July 1952 | Helsinki, Finland |  India | 1–0 | 10–1 | 1952 Summer Olympics |
| 7. | 8–0 | |||||
| 8. | 25 July 1952 | Denmark | 3–0 | 5–3 | ||
| 9. | 21 September 1952 | Belgrade, Yugoslavia |  Austria | 3–0 | 4–2 | Friendly |
| 10. | 2 November 1952 |  Egypt | 3–0 | 5–0 | ||
| 11. | 6 January 1953 | Cairo, Egypt | Egypt | 1–0 | 3–1 | |
| 12. | 3–1 | |||||
| 13. | 14 May 1953 | Brussels, Belgium |  Belgium | 1–0 | 3–1 | |
| 14. | 3–0 | |||||
| 15. | 21 May 1953 | Belgrade, Yugoslavia |  Wales | 3–0 | 5–2 | |
| 16. | 26 September 1954 | Saarbrücken, West Germany |  Saar | 1–0 | 5–1 | |
| 17. | 4–1 | |||||
| 18. | 5–1 | |||||
| 19. | 5 May 1955 | Belgrade, Yugoslavia |  Scotland | 2–1 | 2–2 | |
| 20. | 29 May 1955 | Turin, Italy |  Italy | 4–0 | 4–0 | 1955–60 Central European International Cup |
| 21. | 29 April 1956 | Budapest, Hungary |  Hungary | 1–0 | 2–2 | |
| 22. | 12 May 1957 | Zagreb, Yugoslavia | Italy | 6–1 | 6–1 |
| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by | Yugoslav Sportsman of the Year 1955 | Succeeded by |
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