Slobodan SantraÄ
Slobodan Santrač ( born July 1, 1946) is a former Yugoslav football player who joined the coaching profession later.
Playing career
Born in Serb Santrač played in his home as a teenager, initially for small clubs in Takovo and Valjevo. At age 19, he moved to the capital club OFK Belgrade. There he quickly became a successful scorer: he was in 1968 top scorer of the first Yugoslav league. He succeeded in 1970, 1972 and 1973 again. In all, he scored 218 goals in the top flight and is therefore best scorer of the Yugoslav football history. In 1970 he was awarded the Bronze Shoe as the third top scorer in Europe.
In 1974 he completed the change to the Grasshoppers Zurich. After two years in Switzerland, however, he returned to OFK Belgrade. With 32 years he joined in 1978 the local rivals Partizan Belgrade, for whom he played two more years before he could finish his career from 1980 to 1983 at a small club in Belgrade suburb galenicals.
Despite his outstanding win number Santrač remained a career in the national team denied what observers mainly because moored, that he did not play in his heyday for the neighboring large clubs Partizan and Red Star. So he brought it to only eight missions in the national team, scoring only one goal.
Coach
Santrač struck his time a coaching career, initially in the Belgrade suburb FK Zemun, he brought between 1988 and 1990 from the third to the first division. In 1991, the Yugoslav federation him as a young director; later he became an assistant coach Ivica Osim and the National Ivan Čabrinović. 1994 promoted him to the Association President Milan Miljanić head coach.
The qualifying for the Euro 1996 Yugoslavia was not allowed to participate again due to the sanctions as a result of the civil war. The qualification for the 1998 World Cup but was then managed a second group and by two subsequent victories in the play- offs secure against Hungary. However, critical voices have been raised against Santrač again and again, it is directed only to the wishes of stars such as Dragan Stojkovic or Dejan Savićević.
At the World Cup finals in France, Yugoslavia finished second in the preliminary round Group F behind Germany. In the second round followed a narrow 1-2 defeat against the Netherlands. Although this was a respectable result to Santrač showed from the cutting disappointed. He resigned and was replaced by Milan Živadinović.
In his further career Santrač were granted no great success. He held office briefly as national coach of Saudi Arabia and 2005 took over the selection of Macedonia, there was but a year later replaced by Srečko Katanec.