Mišo Smajlović

Mišo Smajlović
Personal information
Full name Drago Smajlović
Date of birth (1938-10-28) 28 October 1938
Place of birth Sarajevo, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Playing position Striker
Youth career
FK Sloga Sarajevo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1958–1967 Željezničar 166 (88)
1967–1968 Standard Liège 21 (5)
1968–1969 Olimpija Ljubljana 14 (4)
1969–1971 Čelik Zenica 19 (3)
Total 220 (100)
National team
1963–1964 Yugoslavia 4 (1)
Teams managed
1988 Toronto Croatia
1988–1991 Željezničar
1994–1997 Željezničar
1998 Bosnia and Herzegovina U21
1999–2002 Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Drago "Mišo" Smajlović (Bosnian pronunciation: [drǎːɡo mǐːʃo smǎjloʋitɕ]; born 28 October 1938) is a Bosnian football manager and a former player.

Playing career

His career began in FK Sloga, a small amateur club from Sarajevo. In 1955 he moved to FK Željezničar youth team. Two years later, he signed a professional contract with the club in which he played more than 400 games and scored 241 goals. If we consider only official matches, he played 190 games and scored 97 goals. He was a topscorer of 1962–63 Yugoslav First League with 18 goals.

He was a fine striker, one of the best in Yugoslavia at the time. He played for youth national teams and "B team", before he made his debut for the Yugoslav national team in 1963. He has collected four caps while scoring one goal. Smajlović will be remembered as a great sportsman. Journalists often called him a gentleman in football shoes. Unfortunately, the fact that he did not play for one of the bigger Yugoslav clubs limited his chances of being a regular choice in the national team.

In 1967, he went to play for Belgian side Standard Liège. After a season and a half in Belgium, he returned to Yugoslavia and continued playing for Olimpija Ljubljana and Čelik Zenica after which he ended his professional player career.

Managing career

After his playing days were over, he dedicated himself to a managing career. In 1988, he was invited to Canada and soon after was named the manager to Toronto Croatia in the National Soccer League.[1] He was a FK Željezničar coach on several occasions. He also worked as a sporting director in his favourite club. It is important to say that he was among the responsible ones for saving the club during the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 1997, he was elected to be a head coach of Under-21 Bosnia-Herzegovina national team. After Faruk Hadžibegić stepped down as a national coach in October 1999, Smajlović was first appointed as a caretaker coach and several months later he was definitely elected as a coach of Bosnia-Herzegovina national team. After the end of his contract in 2002, he never renew it.

He lives in Sarajevo and he is not employed at any club at the moment.

References

  1. ↑ Sopta, Marin. "Istaknuti nogometaši i treneri hrvatskog iseljeništva - treći dio" (in Croatian). Retrieved 2017-10-11.
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