Dražan Jerković was a Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n and Yugoslav

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 forward

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

, and manager. His first name is sometimes (incorrectly) spelled "Dražen". He was born in Šibenik

Šibenik

Šibenik is a historic town in Croatia, with population of 51,553 . It is located in central Dalmatia where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea...

, Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...

.

He played for Dinamo Zagreb

Dinamo Zagreb

GNK Dinamo Zagreb, commonly referred to as Dinamo Zagreb , or by their nickname Modri are a Croatian football club based in Zagreb. They play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Croatian football, having won thirteen Croatian championship titles, ten...

 (1954–65). Severe injuries forced him to retire early, at the height of his career. With Dinamo he won the league title in 1958, and league cup in 1960 and 1965. In 315 games for Dinamo, he scored 300 goals.

He played internationally for Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia national football team

The Yugoslavia national football team represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in association football. It enjoyed a modicum of success in international competition. In 1992, during the Yugoslav wars, the team was suspended from international...

 between 1960 and 1964, scoring 11 goals in 21 games. He participated in Euro 1960 and World Cup 1962

1962 FIFA World Cup

The 1962 FIFA World Cup, the seventh staging of the World Cup, was held in Chile from 30 May to 17 June. It was won by Brazil, who retained the championship by beating Czechoslovakia 3–1 in the final...

. He was also part of the Yugoslav squad for the 1958 FIFA World Cup

1958 FIFA World Cup

The 1958 FIFA World Cup, the sixth staging of the World Cup, was hosted by Sweden from 8 June to 29 June. The tournament was won by Brazil, who beat Sweden 5–2 in the final for their first title. To date, this marks the only occasion that a World Cup staged in Europe was not won by a European...

, but did not play.

In Euro 1960 he scored two goals against France

France national football team

The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...

 in the semifinal, which Yugoslavia won (5-4). In the final, Yugoslavia lost against USSR

USSR national football team

The Soviet Union National Football Team was the national football team of the Soviet Union. It ceased to exist after the break up of the Union...

 (1-2; AET), finishing second.

In World Cup 1962 Jerković scored four goals and was, with five other players, the top goalscorer, winning the World Cup Golden Boot. Yugoslavia finished in fourth place. In the quarter-final, Yugoslavia beat Germany

Germany national football team

The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

 (1-0). In the semifinal Yugoslavia lost to Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia national football team

The Czechoslovakia national football team was the national association football team of Czechoslovakia from 1922 to 1993. At the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the team was participating in UEFA qualifying Group 4 for the 1994 World Cup; it completed this campaign under the name...

 (1-3), and lost to Chile

Chile national football team

The Chilean national football team represents Chile in all major international football competitions. The team is controlled by the Federación de Fútbol de Chile which was established in 1895. They have appeared in eight World Cup tournaments and were hosts of the 1962 FIFA World Cup finishing in...

 for third place (0-1).

Jerković played in a single international match with Croatia, as a Croatian national team was assembled in communist Yugoslavia once for a friendly

Croatia v Indonesia (1956)

On September 12, 1956 Croatia hosted Indonesia in an international friendly in Zagreb. This was Croatia's only match against a foreign country while it was part of Yugoslavia.-Background:...

 against Indonesia

Indonesia national football team

The Indonesia national football team represents Indonesia in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Indonesia . Prior to independence in 1945, the team competed as the Dutch East Indies national football team. Under this name, Indonesia was the first Asian team to...

 in 1956. He was also the first manager of the new Croatia national football team

Croatia national football team

The Croatia national football team represents Croatia in international football. The team is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation, the governing body for football in the country, and has been managed since 2006 by former player Slaven Bilić...

, between 1990 and 1992. He died in December 2008 in Zagreb

Zagreb

Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

, Croatia.

Club statistics

|-
|1954/55||rowspan="11"|Dinamo Zagreb||rowspan="11"|First League

Yugoslav First League

The Yugoslav First League was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and socialist Yugoslavia...

||1||0
|-
|1955/56||12||9
|-
|1956/57||15||9
|-
|1957/58||22||17
|-
|1958/59||14||7
|-
|1959/60||16||16
|-
|1960/61||8||5
|-
|1961/62||19||16
|-
|1962/63||14||12
|-
|1963/64||4||0
|-
|1964/65||17||5

|-
|1965/66||La Gantoise||First Division||3||1
142||96
3||1
145||97
|}

National team statistics

|-
|1960||3||2
|-
|1961||5||3
|-
|1962||11||5
|-
|1963||0||0
|-
|1964||2||1
|-
!Total||21||11
|}