 Šekularac in November 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dragoslav Šekularac | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1937-11-08)8 November 1937 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Štip,Kingdom of Yugoslavia (present-dayNorth Macedonia) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 5 January 2019(2019-01-05) (aged 81) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Belgrade, Serbia | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Attacking midfielder | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1951–1955 | Red Star Belgrade | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1955–1966 | Red Star Belgrade | 153 | (31) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1966–1967 | Karlsruher SC | 17 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1967 | St. Louis Stars | 8 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1968–1969 | OFK Belgrade | 38 | (5) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1969–1971 | Santa Fe | 42 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1972 | Atlético Bucaramanga | 4 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1973 | Millonarios | 23 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1974 | América de Cali | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | Paris | 9 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | Serbian White Eagles | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1954–1956 | Yugoslavia U20 | 8 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1955–1956 | Yugoslavia U21 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1956–1966 | Yugoslavia | 41 | (6) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | Serbian White Eagles (player-coach) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1978 | New York Eagles | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984–1985 | Guatemala | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1986–1987 | Footscray JUST | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1989–1990 | Red Star Belgrade | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990–1991 | América | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992 | Al-Nassr | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993 | Heidelberg United | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1995 | Marbella | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Daewoo Royals | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | Napredak Kruševac | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999 | Obilić | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Serbian White Eagles | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Dragoslav Šekularac (Serbian Cyrillic:Драгослав Шекуларац,pronounced[drǎgoslaʋʃekulârats]; 8 November 1937 – 5 January 2019) was a Yugoslav and Serbian professionalfootballer and coach.
NicknamedŠeki, he was quick and crafty with the ball, displaying creative skills which turned many heads. Possessing supreme self-confidence along with impeccable technical ability, he was one of the biggest showmen and crowd draws in the history of Yugoslav football. His enormous popularity throughoutFPR Yugoslavia during the early 1960s transcended sports as he easily became one of the most recognizable individuals in the country.[1] As a coach, he led several clubs inCanada,Colombia,Australia,Serbia,Mexico, andSpain, as well as theGuatemala national team in the1986 FIFA World Cup qualification.
Šekularac is considered one of the most important players in the history of Red Star Belgrade: he is the second (and one of only five players) to have been awarded theZvezdina zvezda status.[2]
Šekularac was born on 8 November 1937 inŠtip,Vardar Banovina,Kingdom of Yugoslavia present dayNorth Macedonia to mixed familyMontenegrin Serb father Bogosav from the village of Kurikuće,Berane Municipality (theVasojevići region in northernMontenegro)[3] andMacedonian mother Donka (née Markovska).[4][5] His father was a lawyer whose job took him to Štip where he got married and started a family. Dragoslav was a six-month-old infant when the family moved to the Yugoslav capital Belgrade as a result of his father landing a job at the Ministry of Agriculture.[6][7] The family resided in central Belgrade, on Hilandarska Street near thePolitika office building,[8] and their second son, Dragoslav's younger brother Mirko, was born in 1941.[9]
Šekularac was bornbowlegged, much likeGarrincha, a footballer whom he was later often compared to.[10] The youngster took upstreet football very early, right afterWorld War II ended, playing on concrete in his school yard and displaying exceptionaldribbling skills.[9]
Young Šekularac simultaneously became a fan of the recently establishedRed Star Belgrade football club, sneaking into their matches at the oldSK Jugoslavija ground.[11] Though lacking in height and having a stocky build, he nevertheless also enjoyed basketball—frequently going to theMali Kalemegdan outdoor concrete court to watchRed Star Belgrade basketball club games featuring their starsAleksandar Gec,Tullio Rochlitzer, andSrđan Kalember.[12]
Well versed instreet football, the youngster's first attempt at structuredassociation football took place via a tryout at the Red Star Belgrade under-14 youth squad.[12] Adjudged to be short and physically underdeveloped, young Šekularac was rejected.[12] Months later, he would experience another rejection before eventually being accepted on his third try, under the youth team coach Dimitrije Milojević whom Šekularac and the rest of the youth squad referred to asČika Mitke (Uncle Mitke).[12]
Šekularac made his senior debut at only 17 years of age on 6 March 1955 during the latter part of Red Star's1954–55 league campaign under head coachMilovan Ćirić. The youngster would record only one more league appearance by the end of that season.
However, the next season,1955–56, signaled immediate breakthrough. In addition to securing a spot in the first team, he also became an integral part of the squad that won the Yugoslav league title in convincing fashion. He contributed to the cause with 7 goals in addition to many eye-catching midfield displays that would soon become a staple of his game.
By the start of the1956–57 season, eighteen-year-old Šekularac had already made his senior national team debut. And, in November and December 1956 during the league's winter break, he representedFPR Yugoslavia at the1956 Melbourne Olympics.[13] Despite added pressures and responsibilities, he turned in another stellar league season helping Red Star to another title. He also played an important part in Red Star's European Champions' Cupcampaign that ended at semi-final stage versusAC Fiorentina.
All the success led to coach Ćirić receiving and taking theS.S. Lazio head coaching offer position. In his place cameMiša Pavić who previously mentored Šekularac in the club's youth setup. Theseason was not much of a success, however, either team-wise or for Šekularac individually. Increased opponents' defensive focus multiplied the number of hits and knocks he was forced to endure during games. He battled injury problems that caused him to miss almost half of the season as Red Star quickly fell out of title contention.
Though the next1958–59 season brought continued injury issues, Šekularac, by now a bona fide star across the league, managed to lead his team to league-cup double, both at the expense of arch-rivalFK Partizan. In 1959 after winning the league and cup double with Red Star, Italian industrialistGianni Agnelli spared no expense in order to bring 21-year-old Šekularac toJuventus. The transfer was reportedly stopped by the highest echelons of communist nomenclature in FPR Yugoslavia, with even the interior ministerAleksandar Ranković commenting that Šeki is needed in the country to "entertain the working class".[14]
Šekularac is also remembered as the perpetrator of an infamous on-pitch incident in fall 1962 when he assaulted referee Pavle Tumbas in the middle of aleague match. He ended up serving a year and a half long suspension.
He ended up playing 375 official competitive matches (156 of those in the league) for Red Star and scoring over 119 goals (32 league goals).
He later played forIndependiente Santa Fe inColombia for five seasons, before transferring toMillonarios fromBogotá. He eventually ended his playing career in France withParis FC and later on as aplayer-coach in Canada with theSerbian White Eagles in 1975.[15] While in Toronto, Šekularac posed for a photograph beside the royal insignia of pre-war Serbia for which he had hispassport temporarily revoked by theYugoslav government.[16] While playing in Colombia, he was referred to asel Pelé blanco (thewhitePelé).[17]
At only 18, he made his national team debut on 30 September 1956. He was on the national side that won the silver medal at the1956 Summer Olympics inMelbourne,Australia, and also participated in theWorld Cups of1958 and1962. He went on to make 41 senior international appearances, scoring 6 goals.[18]
A highlight of his international career was the1960 European Nations' Cup, where Šekularac earned the spot in the Team of the Tournament.[19] Forty years later, he reminisced on the matches:
"Do I rememberthat match? To this day, I dream about it. We had a great team that won over the French fans. Against thehome side, I took part in one of the best games in the history of football. I was convinced that the trophy would be in our hands. Against theRussians, we've never had luck. It was like that in the final match as well. I remember that we missed a few goal chances and that the Russians at times during the match were totally inferior. ThatPonedelnik however was without mercy. He scored on us and prevented us from celebrating our (potentially) biggest triumph."[20]
He played his final international in June 1966 againstBulgaria.[21]
He was quick and crafty with the ball, displaying creative skills which turned many heads. Possessing supreme self-confidence along with impeccable technical ability, he was one of the biggest showmen and crowd draws in the history of Yugoslav football. His enormous popularity throughoutFPR Yugoslavia during the early 1960s transcended sports as he easily became one of the most recognizable individuals in the country.
In addition to the swelling of praise and accolades for his skills, he also attracted criticism over lack of team play and overall attitude on the pitch that some found to be disrespectful to the game.[22] Others point to his lack of effectiveness and a seeming disproportion between his talent and his overall career statistics.[23]
Šekularac was head coach of theGuatemala national team for eighteen months from 1984 to 1985.[24] Under Šekularac, Guatemala was undefeated in 36 home matches but narrowly missed out on the1986 World Cup after losing away toCanada in a decisive1985 CONCACAF Championship match.[24]
In February 2006, prior to the start of the2006 Canadian Soccer League season, it was announced that Šekularac would once again become head coach of the expansionSerbian White Eagles, re-founded in February of the same year, with first assistant beingStevan Mojsilović.[25] With seasoned internationals being brought over from Serbia and the rest of Europe, the team was set.[25]
The stint, though short-lived, was not without success. The club was a hit in its first season, finishing first in the International Conference with 55 points and first overall (tallying both conferences). In the regular season, Šeki guided the club to 17 wins, 4 ties and 1 loss with a whoppinggoal differential of 66:13.[26]
The Eagles advanced to the knockout-stage, easily beatingToronto Supra Portuguese in the quarterfinals with a score of 3-0 and also easily beating theWindsor Border Stars in the semifinal 6–1. The season was almost brought to ahappy end but the Serbian White Eagles lost to theItalia Shooters in the final by a score of 1–0.[26]
Šekularac had a son named Marko and three daughters named Aleksandra (nicknamed Sanja), Ivana and Katja.[25] He had a younger brother named Mirko (born 1941) who was also a footballer.[27] Mirko’s grandsonKristian is also a professional footballer.[28]
Along withSerbian,English andSpanish, Šekularac also spoke conversationalPortuguese.[29]
Šekularac was a keen chess player. At the age of 81, only weeks before his death, he drew his game in asimultaneous exhibition againstAnatoly Karpov in Valjevo.[30]
Šekularac died on 5 January 2019 inBelgrade, Serbia.[31] He is interred in theAlley of Distinguished Citizens in theBelgrade New Cemetery in a joint grave withMilunka Lazarević, next to the grave of actor Božidar Stošić and across the graves ofRanko Žeravica andBranislav Pokrajac.[32]
The Serbian White Eagles Academy was posthumously named in his honour.[33]
Independiente Santa Fe
Awards | |
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Yugoslavia squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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