Safet Sušić

Safet "Pape" Sušić (born 13 April 1955) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player.

He was a gifted midfielder known for his dribbling skills and technical ability, and is strongly reputed to have been one of the finest European players of his generation.

In 1972, he joined the youth team of Sarajevo.

Sušić made his senior debut for Sarajevo in 1973, one year after joining the youth team.

Between 1977 and 1990, Sušić appeared 54 times for Yugoslavia, scoring 21 times.

He debuted for his country in 1977 and scored his first goals for the team against Hungary in October of that year.

A month later, he scored a hat-trick in a 6–4 victory against Romania during the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification.

However, this was Yugoslavia's only victory of their group and they failed to qualify for the tournament finals.

During the 1979–80 season, he was the top scorer in the Yugoslav First League with 17 goals.

In 1979, he was honoured as the Yugoslav Footballer of the Year, also being selected as the best athlete hailing from SR Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In June 1979, Sušić scored his second international hat-trick as Yugoslavia beat Italy 4–1 in a friendly match held in Zagreb.

In September, he again scored three times in a 4–2 win over world champions Argentina.

In 1981, Sušić was awarded the Sixth April Award of Sarajevo.

Sušić played for Yugoslavia in two FIFA World Cups, 1982 and 1990, and at UEFA Euro 1984.

In 1982, Sušić signed with Paris Saint-Germain, where he became a star on the European stage.

During his first season with the club, Sušić helped PSG to win the 1982–83 Coupe de France, scoring three goals over two legs in the semi-final against Tours, and once in 3–2 victory over Nantes in the final.

Overall, Sušić scored 85 goals and made a record 95 assists for PSG between 1982 and 1991.

He is fifth in the club's all-time appearance list with 344 appearances, tied with Paul Le Guen.

Sušić was a member of the Yugoslav team that qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, scoring once in a 5–0 win against Luxembourg.

On 22 September 1984, in a 7–1 home drubbing of Bastia, he assisted on five of the side's goals.

At 36, Sušić went to the second Paris-based club for a final year with Red Star.

Sušić was top scorer of Yugoslavia in qualification for UEFA Euro 1984.

His two goals in a 3–2 win over Bulgaria in the final qualification fixture helped Yugoslavia to finish three points ahead of the Bulgarians and one point ahead of Wales and advance to the tournament finals.

Yugoslavia ultimately finished bottom of their group in France, losing all three matches.

During the 1985–86 season, Sušić scored ten goals as the Parisiens won their first ever national league title.

At the age of 35, Sušić made his second appearance at a World Cup finals as a member of Yugoslavia's squad for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy.

Shortly after leaving Red Star, Sušić announced his retirement from football in 1992.

During Sušić's playing career, Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of SFR Yugoslavia and thus he represented the Yugoslavia national team at international level.

As part of the UEFA Jubilee Awards in 2004, the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina chose Sušić as the nation's greatest ever player.

Following his retirement from playing, Sušić started working as a manager.

He worked for a number of club sides: Cannes, İstanbulspor, Al Hilal, Konyaspor, Ankaragücü, Çaykur Rizespor, Ankaraspor, Évian, Alanyaspor, Akhisarspor and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.

In 2010, France Football voted Sušić as Paris Saint-Germain's best player of all time and the best foreign player of Ligue 1 of all time, with his compatriot and friend who also had a spell with PSG, Vahid Halilhodžić, being voted seventh.

On 5 February 2010, France Football chose Sušić as the best player in the history of Paris Saint-Germain, ahead of players such as Carlos Bianchi, Mustapha Dahleb, Ronaldinho, George Weah, Joël Bats, Raí and Luis Fernández.

In his only season with Red Star, he played in Ligue 2, the second division of French Football.

He played in 17 league games for the club in that season campaign, scoring 3 goals in the process.

As a manager, he qualified the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team to the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Sušić played as an attacking midfielder, often in a role of trequartista or fantasista (i.e. a creative playmaker) and rarely as a second striker for Sarajevo, Paris Saint-Germain and Red Star, and internationally for Yugoslavia.

Even more later during his career, he was utilized more in a role of a deep-lying playmaker, both for club and national team.

Sušić won his only trophy as manager with Akhisarspor, the 2018 Turkish Super Cup.

Born in Zavidovići, FPR Yugoslavia, present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sušić started playing football in the youth team of his hometown club Krivaja.