Branko Zebec

Branislav "Branko" Zebec (17 May 1929 – 26 September 1988) was a Croatian footballer and manager who played for Yugoslavia.

Yugoslavia had to settle for the silver medal, because this tournament was also the birthplace of the Hungarian Miracle-rapper">Miracle team of the 1950s.

With seven goals Zebec was to secure for himself the honour of top scorer of the event.

At the club level, his successful career continued.

In 1951 he had the call from Partizan, one of the capital city teams dominating Yugoslav football.

His quality and speed soon secured him a place on the left wing of the team, and almost as soon with the national team, in which he would feature 65 times, scoring 17 goals.

With Partizan he won 3 Yugoslav Cups (1952, 1954, 1957).

In 1952 he won his first title, the national cup.

In the same year, the Summer Olympics in Helsinki provided a great international stage for him.

In his heyday, Zebec fascinated the world with his performances at the World Cups in 1954 and 1958.

1954 saw Partizan finishing second in the championship and again winning the cup.

Zebec secured an invitation for the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland.

There Yugoslavia overcame the group stage with a win against France and a draw against Brazil thanks to a goal by Zebec.

In the quarterfinals, the eventual winners Germany put a stop to the campaign of the team from the Balkans.

In his club side Zebec evolved more and more to be the leading player in midfield, a position for which he was most suitable due to his intelligence.

In 1955 he played in the Partizan debut in the European Cup (Partizan played as a nominated team and not as a national champion – a historic peculiarity of the first edition of this tournament).

In the first round, Partizan beat Sporting CP in two high scoring encounters, 5–2 and 8–5.

In the second round, then the quarterfinals, the team of the era, Real Madrid, put an end to Yugoslavia's first entry into this new competition as a home 3–0 win against the Iberian glamour side was insufficient to compensate for a 0–4 defeat at the hands of Alfredo Di Stéfano and Co. in the Spanish capital.

On the domestic scene, Partizan remained in the shadow of the big two of those days, Hajduk Split, and Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade).

Thus, in 1956 Partizan again had to make do with being honourable runner up in the championship, as they did in 1958.

In between Partizan would grab another Yugoslav cup.

By the time the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden took place Zebec had become the captain of the national side.

In the group stages, draws against Scotland and Paraguay and a win against France was enough to enter the quarterfinals, but, as four years before, Germany put an end to Yugoslav ambitions.

Zebec earned a total of 65 caps, scoring 17 goals.

With Red Star Belgrade he won the national championship in 1960.

As coach he led Hajduk Split, Bayern Munich and Hamburger SV to success.

A highly versatile player noted for his physical abilities and understanding of the game, Zebec was world-class whether on the left wing or in the more defensive role of left fullback, although he was capable of playing almost every outfield position on the pitch.

He was particularly well known for his pace, having been able to run 100 meters in 11 seconds with football boots.

In his youth days Zebec played for a number of teams in his hometown: Građanski Zagreb, Poštar Zagreb, Lokomotiva Zagreb and Borac Zagreb.

In Yugoslavia he achieved another second place in the championship before making a controversial switch of allegiances to local rivals Red Star, where at the end of his career, in 1960, he finally got his hands on the championship trophy.

This would remain his last honour as player.

and his final international was a June 1961 World Cup qualification match against Poland.

In 1963 he was old enough for a player to leave the country, in line with the political circumstances of those days.

For Zebec it was then too late for the big-time clubs, so the German second division side Alemannia Aachen may not have provided a great opportunity for renewed success on the pitch, but for Zebec it was a valuable two years in which he could acquaint himself with the country in which he would celebrate his greatest successes as coach.

Branko Zebec got his first coaching assignment soon after he finished playing.

In 1965 he became joint coach of the Yugoslav first division side Dinamo in his hometown Zagreb.

He held the office together with Ivica Horvat, who later too would enjoy success in Germany.

The team was to qualify for the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, the precursor of the UEFA Cup.

Initially, things were not looking promising in this campaign.

The aggregate result in the first round encounters with Czech side Spartak Brno was 2–2, and only the toss of a coin saw Dinamo advancing.