Skoblar in 1970 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Josip Skoblar[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1941-03-12)12 March 1941 (age 84)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Privlaka, Yugoslavia (now Croatia) | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[3] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Marseille (scout) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1956–1958[4] | Zadar | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1958–1959 | Zadar | ||
| 1959–1966 | OFK Belgrade | 162 | (63) |
| 1966–1970 | Hannover 96 | 57 | (30) |
| 1966–1967 | →Marseille (loan) | 15 | (13) |
| 1969–1974 | Marseille | 159 | (138) |
| 1974–1977 | Rijeka | 36 | (11) |
| Total | 429 | (254) | |
| International career | |||
| 1961–1967 | Yugoslavia | 32 | (11) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1977–1978 | Marseille (technical manager) | ||
| 1979–1981 | Orijent | ||
| 1983–1986 | Rijeka | ||
| 1986–1987 | Hajduk Split | ||
| 1987 | Hamburger SV | ||
| 1988 | Čelik Zenica | ||
| 1988–1989 | Dinamo Zagreb | ||
| 1989 | Real Valladolid | ||
| 1990–1991 | Hajduk Split | ||
| 1991–1992 | Famalicão | ||
| 1994 | NK Zagreb | ||
| 1994 | Nîmes | ||
| 1995–1996 | Rijeka | ||
| 1998 | Zadarkomerc | ||
| 2000 | Lebanon | ||
| 2001 | Marseille | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Josip Skoblar (born 12 March 1941) is a Croatian former professionalfootballplayer andmanager. He was primarily aforward, and also capable of playing on both wings. In 1971, he won theEuropean Golden Shoe with 44 goals.
He played forZadar,OFK Belgrade,Hannover 96,Marseille andNK Rijeka. While playing at Marseille, Skoblar won theFrench First Division twice (1970–71,1971–72), 1971Challenge des Champions and1972 Coupe de France. He was also the league top goalscorer three consecutive seasons (1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73). In 2009, he was inaugurated into the Olympique de Marseille Hall of Fame and in 2010 he was put into "The Dream Team 110 years of Olympique de Marseille". Skoblar is also part of the all time XI of OFK Belgrade and NK Rijeka.
At the international level, Skoblar played forYugoslavia appearing in 32 matches and scoring 11 goals. He was in the national team at the1962 FIFA World Cup where they finished in fourth place losing toCzechoslovakia in thesemi-final.
As a manager, he managedNK Orijent,HNK Rijeka,Hamburger SV,Čelik Zenica,Dinamo Zagreb,Real Valladolid,Famalicão,NK Zagreb,Nîmes,Zadarkomerc,Marseille,Lebanon national team andHajduk Split, with whom he won twoYugoslav Cups (1987,1991).[5]

Skoblar was born inPrivlaka nearZadar (at the time inBanovina of Croatia). He started his career withNK Zadar (1957–58). He got spotted there byOFK Beograd goaliePerica Radenković who was serving his mandatoryarmy stint in Zadar. Radenković recommended Skoblar to club management and the 19-year-old was soon on his way to Belgrade. With OFK Beograd Skoblar won theYugoslav Cup in 1962 and 1966. In Germany he played forHannover 96 (1967–70). In 57 games inBundesliga, he scored 30 goals.[3]
He was willing to play inMarseille, but the chairman of Hannover didn't want to lose such a player. Marcel Leclerc, chairman of Marseille, went to Hannover on a quick journey and came back with the player, it was the beginning of a great adventure with Marseille. The player was applauded at the airport by many fans.
In France, Skoblar played for Marseille and was three time top goalscorer inLigue 1 (1971–73). Skoblar won theEuropean Golden Boot in 1971 for 44 goals in Ligue 1, he still remains as the best scorer in a season in Ligue 1. With Marseille, he won the French league title in 1971, and French league and cup title in 1972. OM fans refer to him as "l'Aigle Dalmate", "l'Aigle Dalmate"/"l'aigle des Dalmates" (The Dalmatian Eagle),[6][7] or "Monsieur Goal" (Mister Goal).
He left OM after the arrival of the two BraziliansJairzinho andPaulo César, winners of theFIFA World Cup in1970.[7]
Skoblar joinedNK Rijeka in the summer of 1974. He played for the club until 1977 accumulating 37 appearances and scoring 11 goals inleague andCup.[8]
ForYugoslavia Skoblar played between 1961 and 1967. In 32 games for Yugoslavia, he scored 11 goals.[9] Skoblar participated inWorld Cup 1962. Skoblar scored one goal, and Yugoslavia finished in the fourth place.He first played for the national team on 7 May 1961, in afriendly match againstHungary. He ended his international career on 7 October 1967 againstWest Germany,[10] before the end of theEuro 68 qualification competition. TheYugoslavia national football team ended 2nd of theEuro 1968 without him.
When he came to OFK Belgrade he was assigned left winger (outside left) position, because of his versatility, technique and speed. While being a winger he continued to score goals although as winger he couldn't completely fulfill his goalscoring potential. While at Marseille he was moved tocentre forward while being able to play allforward positions. Skoblar was very well known scoring withheaders. He was also a soliddribbler with tremendous speed.[11]
Just Fontaine speaking about Josip:"When I watched him front of the goal, each time, I was thinking, kick from the inside of the left foot, ... from the outside of the right foot ... a header, now! ... he had already done it ... scoring each time, exactly by the only possible way, and in just a split second. In the last 30 years, he has been the only striker that I've seen like that in France."[12]
| Club performance | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Yugoslavia | League | Yugoslav Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
| 1959–60 | OFK Beograd | Yugoslav First League | 18 | 5 | 2 | 0 | – | 20 | 5 | |
| 1960–61 | 22 | 5 | 2 | 1 | – | 24 | 6 | |||
| 1961–62 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 2 | – | 26 | 10 | |||
| 1962–63 | 22 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 33 | 16 | ||
| 1963–64 | 26 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 39 | 16 | ||
| 1964–65 | 26 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 13 | ||
| 1965–66 | 27 | 8 | 5 | 5 | – | 32 | 13 | |||
| 1966–67 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | |||
| France | League | Coupe de France | Europe | Total | ||||||
| 1966–67 | Marseille | Division 1 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 4 | – | 19 | 17 | |
| Bundesliga | League | DFB-Pokal | Europe | Total | ||||||
| 1967–68 | Hannover 96 | Bundesliga | 21 | 9 | 1 | 0 | – | 22 | 9 | |
| 1968–69 | 26 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 33 | 23 | ||
| 1969–70 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | ||
| France | League | Coupe de France | Europe | Total | ||||||
| 1969–70 | Marseille | Division 1 | 15 | 13 | 3 | 4 | – | 18 | 17 | |
| 1970–71 | 36 | 44 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 46 | 49 | ||
| 1971–72 | 31 | 30 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 44 | 40 | ||
| 1972–73 | 31 | 26 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 28 | ||
| 1973–74 | 33 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 37 | 23 | ||
| 1974–75 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 5 | ||
| Yugoslavia | League | Yugoslav Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
| 1974–75 | NK Rijeka | Yugoslav First League | 14 | 6 | 0 | 0 | – | 14 | 6 | |
| 1975–76 | 21 | 5 | 1 | 0 | – | 22 | 5 | |||
| 1976–77 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | |||
| Country | Yugoslavia | 198 | 73 | 21 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 233 | 100 | |
| Germany | 57 | 30 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 66 | 37 | ||
| France | 174 | 151 | 27 | 23 | 11 | 5 | 212 | 179 | ||
| Total | 430 | 254 | 52 | 36 | 29 | 15 | 511 | 305 | ||
| Yugoslavia national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1961 | 1 | 0 |
| 1962 | 9 | 3 |
| 1963 | 5 | 2 |
| 1964 | 6 | 3 |
| 1965 | 4 | 0 |
| 1966 | 4 | 1 |
| 1967 | 3 | 2 |
| Total | 32 | 11 |
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 May 1962 | Stadion JNA,Belgrade,Yugoslavia | 2 – 0 | 3–1 | Friendly match | |
| 2 | 2 June 1962 | Estadio Carlos Dittborn,Arica,Chile | 1 – 1 | 3–1 | 1962 FIFA World Cup | |
| 3 | 4 November 1962 | JNA Stadium,Belgrade,Yugoslavia | 1 – 0 | 3–2 | 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifying | |
| 4 | 2–1 | |||||
| 5 | 6 October 1963 | Stadion JNA,Belgrade,Yugoslavia | 1 – 0 | 2–0 | Friendly match | |
| 6 | 3 November 1963 | Stadion Maksimir,Zagreb,Yugoslavia | 2 – 0 | 2–0 | Friendly match | |
| 7 | 17 May 1964 | Stadion Československé Armády,Prague,Czechoslovakia | 0 –1 | 2–3 | Friendly match | |
| 8 | 25 October 1964 | Praterstadion,Vienna,Austria | 2 –2 | 3–2 | Friendly match | |
| 9 | 27 September 1964 | Népstadion,Budapest,Hungary | 2 –1 | 2–1 | Friendly match | |
| 10 | 8 May 1966 | Stadion Maksimir,Zagreb,Yugoslavia | 2 – 0 | 2–0 | Friendly match | |
| 11 | 3 May 1967 | Red Star Stadium,Belgrade,Yugoslavia | 1 – 0 | 1–0 | UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying |
With his playing career over, he came back to Marseille, and became technical manager in 1977 under managerIvan "Ðalma" Marković.[15] Due to an internal conflict he left the club after one season to pursue a career as a manager.[16] He began his career as a manager in third tier clubNK Orijent inRijeka. He took the club to the quarter-final of the1981 Yugoslav Cup beatingNK Zagreb andOFK Beograd. In the quarter-finalOrijent lost toBudućnost Titograd of penalties.[17]
Skoblar joinedNK Rijeka in May 1983 replacingMarijan Brnčić. He concluded the last six matches of1982–83 season and saved the club from relegation and finished at 15 place.[18] In his second season at the club Skoblar nearly won theLeague short three point from first placedRed Star Belgrade,Rijeka finished in fourth place behindŽeljezničar andPartizan. This result was the club best league result since1965–66, they also reached the quarter-final ofYugoslav Cup and qualified forUEFA Cup.
On 24 OctoberRijeka beatReal Madrid 3:1 in the second round of theUEFA Cup. This match made Skoblar reputation with the supporters and club rise to a status of legend. In their away match against theSpanish side they lost 3:1 withReal Madrid advancing and eventually winning theCup. Many of the players and Skoblar himself have stated that they were cheated from victory by the referee.[19] Theseason ended with the club at a mid-table eight place, four points shy of aEuropean qualification.[20]
1985–86 season started out poorly with losses in the league and elimination in the second round of theCup. During the second part of the season Skoblar managed to secure fifth place with the club and secured a place in theUEFA Cup.Rijeka was eliminated during the first round of the1986–87 UEFA Cup byStandard Liège. Mid-seasonRijeka was in tenth place in the league and had reached the semi-final in the Cup. Skoblar left the club in December 1986.
He later became head coach for Hajduk Split with whom he won 2 Yugoslavia Cups. WithHamburger SV he lostDFB Supercup in1987. In 1988 he managedČelik Zenica and saved them from relegation.[21]
He also had short stints inSpain withReal Valladolid andPortugal withF.C. Famalicão. He also coachedCroatian clubsDinamo Zagreb,NK Zagreb,Zadarkomerc andHNK Rijeka. At his second stint atRijeka Skoblar's results were unfavorable so he was sacked after two months in 1995. Later during the year in October he was again set as manager ofRijeka but was again sacked due to results in February 1996. Years later Skoblar stated that he wasn't given enough freedom by the (then) president of the clubHrvoje Šarinić to work properly with the team.[22]
He is employed at the Marseille since 2001 as scout, and he is now close to retirement. During the summer 2001, he was with Marc Levy the co-manager of the team for 3 days, few days before the nomination ofTomislav Ivić. He managed theLebanon national football team. He joined them in March 2000 and got sacked later in the year (October) after failing to qualify to the second round of the2000 AFC Asian Cup.
| Club | From | To | Competition | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| NK Orijent | 1979 | 1981 | Croatian Republic League | 60 | 25 | 15 | 20 | 041.67 |
| Yugoslav Cup | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 066.67 | |||
| NK Orijent Total | 63 | 27 | 16 | 20 | 042.86 | |||
| NK Rijeka | 22 May 1983 | 14 December 1986 | First League | 125 | 50 | 39 | 36 | 040.00 |
| Yugoslav Cup | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 045.45 | |||
| UEFA Cup | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 033.33 | |||
| NK Rijeka Total | 142 | 57 | 45 | 40 | 040.14 | |||
| Hajduk Split | 22 February 1987 | 14 June 1987 | First League | 17 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 052.94 |
| Yugoslav Cup | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 033.33 | |||
| Hajduk Split Total | 20 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 050.00 | |||
| Hamburger SV | 28 July 1987 | 9 November 1987 | Bundesliga | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 033.33 |
| DFB-Pokal | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |||
| DFB-Supercup | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 000.00 | |||
| Hamburger SV Total | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 038.89 | |||
| Čelik Zenica | 6 March 1988 | 12 June 1988 | First League | 17 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 047.06 |
| Čelik Zenica Total | 17 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 047.06 | |||
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2 August 1988 | 6 May 1989 | First League | 27 | 13 | 6 | 8 | 048.15 |
| Yugoslav Cup | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 040.00 | |||
| UEFA Cup | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 025.00 | |||
| Dinamo Zagreb Total | 36 | 16 | 9 | 11 | 044.44 | |||
| Real Valladolid | 2 September 1989 | 28 October 1989 | La Liga | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 033.33 |
| European Cup Winners' Cup | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 050.00 | |||
| Real Valladolid Total | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 040.00 | |||
| F.C. Famalicão | 18 August 1991 | 8 March 1992 | Primeira Divisão | 25 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 024.00 |
| Taça de Portugal | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 066.67 | |||
| F.C. Famalicão Total | 28 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 028.57 | |||
| NK Zagreb | 27 February 1994 | 12 June 1994 | Prva HNL | 17 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 052.94 |
| NK Zagreb Total | 17 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 052.94 | |||
| Nîmes | August 1994 | October 1994 | French Division 2 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 025.00 |
| Nîmes Total | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 025.00 | |||
| HNK Rijeka | 12 April 1995 | 4 June 1995 | Prva HNL | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 011.11 |
| HNK Rijeka | 25 October 1995 | 17 February 1996 | Prva HNL | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 000.00 |
| Croatian Cup | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |||
| HNK Rijeka Total | 18 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 011.11 | |||
| NK Zadarkomerc | 22 November 1998 | 13 December 1998 | Prva HNL | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 025.00 |
| NK Zadarkomerc Total | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 025.00 | |||
| Lebanon | 12 October 2000 | 18 October 2000 | 2000 AFC Asian Cup | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 000.00 |
| Lebanon Total | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 000.00 | |||
| Marseille | 25 August 2001 | 25 August 2001 | Ligue 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 000.00 |
| Marseille Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 000.00 | |||
| Totals | 394 | 154 | 107 | 133 | 039.09 | |||
Skoblar owns a family restaurant with his brother inZadar.[27]
OFK Beograd[28]
Marseille[28]
Individual[28]
Hajduk Split