Branko Zebec

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Branko Zebec
Zebec in 1953
Personal information
Full name Branislav Zebec
Date of birth 17 May 1929
Place of birth Zagreb, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes
Date of death 26 September 1988(1988-09-26) (aged 59)
Place of death Zagreb, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Left full-back, Left winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1943–1945 Građanski Zagreb
1946–1947 Poštar Zagreb
1947 Lokomotiva Zagreb
1948–1951 Borac Zagreb
1951–1959 Partizan Belgrade 131 (39)
1959–1961 Red Star Belgrade 29 (6)
1961–1965 Alemannia Aachen 71 (4)
Total 231 (49)
International career
1951–1961 Yugoslavia 65 (17)
Managerial career
1966–1967 Dinamo Zagreb
1968–1970
Bayern Munich
1970–1972 VfB Stuttgart
1972–1973 Hajduk Split
1974–1978 Eintracht Braunschweig
1978–1980 Hamburger SV
1981–1982 Borussia Dortmund
1982–1983 Eintracht Frankfurt
1984 Dinamo Zagreb
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

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

In his heyday, Zebec fascinated the world with his performances at the World Cups in

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.

Career

In his youth days Zebec played for a number of teams in his hometown: Građanski Zagreb, Poštar Zagreb, Lokomotiva Zagreb and Borac Zagreb. 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. 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. Yugoslavia had to settle for the silver medal,[2] because this tournament was also the birthplace of the Hungarian 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. 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

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.[3] and his final international was a June 1961 World Cup qualification match against Poland.[4]

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.

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.

Coaching career

Branko Zebec got his first coaching assignment soon after he finished playing. In 1965 he became joint coach of the Yugoslav first division side

Juventus were their opponents in the quarterfinals, but were overcome 2–2 and 3–0. In the semifinals Dinamo managed one of the great comebacks in the history of European competitions. After a 0–3 defeat in Frankfurt against Eintracht
Dinamo outclassed the Germans in Zagreb 4–0.

In the finals the club had to face

Leeds United then with Peter Lorimer and Billy Bremner
in the team. The home leg was won 2–0, thus a nil-all draw in England was sufficient.

Bayern Munich

This was an opportunity for Zebec to grab attention beyond the Yugoslav borders and in 1968 he was hired by

AS Saint-Etienne. Already early in the season Zebec announced that he would not extend his contract at the end of the year. As Bayern experienced a spell of three matches with only one point mid-way through the second half of the season and fell back five points behind the leaders his contract was even terminated prematurely. Udo Lattek
was to succeed him. In a later book Beckenbauer reported of "atmospheric disturbances" between the coach and the team.

For Zebec there now followed a stay of almost two years with VfB Stuttgart, then a team with aspirations of joining the top of the league. He led the unimpressive team, which was in his second season reinforced with German international Horst Köppel and the Austrian midfielder Hans "Buffy" Ettmayer to positions 12 and 8, respectively. This was disappointing for both, club and coach, thus, here also the last couple of months of his contract were cut short.

Zebec returned for a season to Yugoslavia, where this time he coached

Leeds United proved lethal. The 0–0 draw at home meant the end of the road for the Croatians, but reaching this semifinal remains the greatest international success for them to date. Leeds ended up missing out on winning this tournament by the tightest of margins losing the final against AC Milan
0–1.

The team finished the national league a disappointing 9th, but the defence of the Yugoslav Cup through a victory against champions Red Star Belgrade assured a memorable season eventually. The 1970s were to be Hajduk's golden decade after all, but without Branko Zebec, who returned to Germany.

Return to Germany: Eintracht Braunschweig

Real Madrid
. Even thus reinforced, the team could not maintain the trend and finished a disappointing 13th. By then Zebec's efforts had been successful enough to attract interest elsewhere.

Hamburger SV and after

The European Cup Winners' Cup winner from 1977 was ambitious and longed for its first championship since 1960 but ended up only 11th in the 76/77 season. Zebec was the right man for the job. In his first season, he formed a competitive unit around wing back Manfred Kaltz, striker Horst Hrubesch. Most important was that he facilitated the integration of "Mighty Mouse" Kevin Keegan who failed to convince in his first season. By the end of Zebec's first year at the helm, Hamburg were champions and Keegan their most prolific striker.

A year later the team progressed all the way into the

0–1
. Zebec and his coaching methods were widely blamed. Zebec, besides being a strict disciplinarian, believed that when a team plays successfully it can take more training. As it was, the players complained about the harsh training at that late stage of the season, and critics said that it was the reason why Hamburg inside four days of the final also lost a decisive match which consigned them to runners-up in the league.

At the beginning of his third season with Hamburg another problem came to the fore. Branko Zebec had a serious drinking problem and was caught out even on the coaching bench. A funnier consequence was that when he came into the cabin and told his players "0–2, lost! Does not matter, we have to win the next match!" It was only halftime. By December the problem and its consequences which were now frequently recognizable, e.g. when he was dozing on the bench, needed a resolution, and thus by December the contract was terminated. Aleksandar Ristić became his successor for half a year, before Ernst Happel took Hamburg to renewed glory.

By 1981/82 Zebec got himself a new appointment – then with

UEFA Cup
. But his personal issues were still increasing and stretched the abilities of the club to deal with him. By the end of the season Borussia saw the need to let him go.

By the beginning of the 82/83 season Branko Zebec had no job. However, this made him available when Eintracht Frankfurt, the club in Germany with the highest attrition rate for coaches, was in need for a replacement of former Austrian national coach Helmut Senekowitsch. Zebec ended the season with Eintracht as 10th, but he himself fell victim to the traditional shortlivedness of coaching jobs by 17 October of the following season.

He had one more ephemeral engagement with his hometown club Dinamo Zagreb before his career ended.

In 1988, he died from alcohol-related illness, aged only 59. He remains one of the most successful coaches in the history of the German Bundesliga.

Managerial statistics

[5][6]

Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Dinamo Zagreb
 June 3, 1966 July 1, 1967 52 27 15 10 051.92
FC Bayern Munich July 1, 1968 March 13, 1970 66 39 15 12 059.09
VfB Stuttgart July 1, 1970 April 18, 1972 57 23 18 16 040.35
Hajduk Split
 July 1, 1972 June 30, 1973 42 18 4 20 042.86
Eintracht Braunschweig July 6, 1973 June 30, 1978 203 102 43 58 050.25
Hamburger SV July 1, 1978 December 18, 1980 85 54 17 14 063.53
Borussia Dortmund July 1, 1981 June 30, 1982 37 20 5 12 054.05
Eintracht Frankfurt September 1982 October 1983 39 11 8 20 028.21
Dinamo Zagreb
 April 28, 1984 October 1, 1984 15 5 4 6 033.33
Total 596 299 129 168 050.17

Honours

Player

FK Partizan
Red Star Belgrade

Manager

Bayern Munich
Eintracht Braunschweig
HSV

References

  1. ^ Nag, Utathya (3 February 2022). "Indian football at the Olympics: The complete history". olympics.com. The Olympics. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Branko Zebec". Olympedia. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Branko Zebec - International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Osoblje treneri kroz povijest". povijest.gnkdinamo.hr. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Alle Trainer des FC Bayern". fcbayern.com. Retrieved 24 December 2017.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Branko_Zebec&oldid=1194359996"