Tomislav Crnković (footballer)

Tomislav Crnković (17 June 1929 – 17 January 2009) was a Croatian footballer. He was born in Kotor in what was still the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

Tomislav Crnković
Personal information
Full name Tomislav Crnković
Date of birth (1929-06-17)17 June 1929
Place of birth Kotor, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Date of death 17 January 2009(2009-01-17) (aged 79)
Place of death Zagreb, Croatia
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
HAŠK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1947–1949 Metalac Zagreb
1950–1961 Dinamo Zagreb 439 (5)
1961–1962 LASK 32 (0)
1962–1964 Servette
International career
1952–1960 Yugoslavia 51 (0)
Managerial career
1965–1966 1. Simmeringer SC
Medal record
Men's Football
Representing  Yugoslavia
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1952 Helsinki Team
European Championship
Silver medal – second place 1960 France Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

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Club

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As a defender, he played for HAŠK, Metalac and Dinamo Zagreb. Abroad, he later played at Linzer ASK in Austria and Servette Geneva in Switzerland.

With his 439 caps at Dinamo, Crnković was part of their Yugoslav First League-winning club in 1954 and 1958 as well as their Yugoslav Cup – winning team in 1951 and 1960. Crnković is regarded to be one of Dinamo's greatest defenders of all time. In 2006, he was also the founder of the Croatian Football Federation.[1][2]

International

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He made his debut for Yugoslavia in a June 1952 friendly match against Norway and earned a total of 51 caps, scoring no goals. He was part of the team that won silver at the 1952 Olympics,[3] and was also a member of Yugoslavia's 1954 and 1958 FIFA World Cup squads. His final international was a May 1960 European Nations' Cup qualifying match away against Portugal.[4]

Managerial career

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He also coached Austrian side Simmering.[5]

Personal life

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Crnković was a well-known womanizer, and was married at least five times in his life. After his football career ended, Crnković spent a brief time as a journalist and later the owner of a popular restaurant in Zagreb. He also found himself in financial trouble after being involved in a car accident where he was injured. He insisted to pay money to the other victims of the accident as well which left him nearly bankrupt. Near the end of his life, he was provided for by the Croatian Football Federation.[2]

References

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  1. ^ ""Čudo u Bernu" – Švajcarska 1954. II deo | P.U.L.S.E". Archived from the original on 30 November 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  2. ^ a b Židak, Tomislav (18 January 2009). "Preminuo Tomislav Crnković Crni". Jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Tomislav Crnković". Olympedia. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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