Bernard Vukas

Bernard Vukas

Bernard Vukas (nickname Bajdo ,) (born May 1, 1927 in Zagreb , † April 4, 1983 ibid) was a Yugoslav football player .

biography

In a survey by Sportskih novosti  , Bernard Vukas was named the best athlete in Yugoslavia in 1955; after one of the Narodni sport (popular sport) Vukas was the best footballer of Yugoslavia in 1955 and 1956. He was the first sports director of Hajduk Split.

After his death he was buried in the Mirogoj cemetery in Zagreb . In 1998 Zvonimir Magdić published a book called Tako je živio i igrao Bernard Vukas (this is how Bernard Vukas lived and played).

societies

• 1938–1945 youth player with Concordia Zagreb
• 1945–1946 Amater Zagreb
• 1946–1947 NK Zagreb
• 1947–1957 HNK Hajduk Split
• 1957-1958 AGC Bologna
• 1958–1963 HNK Hajduk Split
• 1963–1967 professional clubs SK Austria Klagenfurt , Grazer AK , Kapfenberger SV
• 1967–1968 HNK Hajduk Split

National team

Vukas played 59 times for the Yugoslav national team and scored 22 goals.

successes

• Three championships with Hajduk Split (1950, 1952 and 1955) The championship from 1950 should be emphasized here, as it was won without a defeat. This record is still unbroken today.
• Two silver medals at the Olympic Games (1948 and 1952) for Yugoslavia
• Top scorer in the 1954/55 season with 20 goals
• For Hajduk Split he played 615 games and scored 300 goals.
• On October 21, 1953 he was named to the world selection to take part in the game against England at Wembley Stadium. The game ended 4-4
• On August 13, 1955 he got an invitation to the European selection for another game against Great Britain in Belfast. Here the European selection won 4-1 and Bernard Vukas was successful with a hat trick
• Participation in two world championships in 1950 and 1954.

Honors

The Croatian Football Association named him in 2000 as the “best Croatian football player of all time”, and the renowned daily Večernji list voted him “Sportsman of the Century”.

Others about vukas

“He's one of the greatest footballing artists I've ever seen, he knows how to use this artistic ability in an inimitable way to the advantage of his team, for me he represents the prototype of a modern player. Bernard Vukas is not just one of them best footballer in the world, but also a role model for others as an athlete. "

- Sepp Herberger

"The final proof of the perfection of this player is the last match between Italy and Yugoslavia in Turin, which he turned into a one-man show."

- Gianpiero Boniperti

"In my opinion, if you were to put together the best team in the world today that there would be no question of who would play as the center forward, the choice would definitely fall on Bernard Vukas."

- Nandor Hidegkuti

"I will never forget his appearance in Belfast when he played for the European selection this year and scored a hat trick that proved that he is one of the best players in the world."

- Stanley Matthews

"When you talk about good football, you have to talk about the team from Yugoslavia, and if you ask yourself who is the best player in the world, then his name is one of the first."

- Fritz Walter

“I had the opportunity to follow the development of Bernard Vukas, especially in the last three games between France and Yugoslavia and Great Britain against Europe, and every time I noticed what kind of extraordinary technique this player has and an inimitable feeling for the game "For me and most of the other French players he is the best player from Yugoslavia that has ever existed."

- Raymond Kopa

Web links

• www.bernardvukas.com (Croatian and English)
• Bernard Vukas in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )