Ivan "Ivica" Šurjak was a Yugoslavian

Yugoslavs

Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...

 footballer

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...

. He was the driving force behind Hajduk Split as it led the Yugoslav First League

Yugoslav First League

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

 and Europe in the old stadium (before Poljud stadium was built). He started his career as a left-back, but with time learned to play total football

Total Football

"Total Football" is the label given to an influential tactical theory of association football in which any outfield player can take over the role of any other player in a team. It was pioneered by Dutch football club Ajax from 1969 to 1973, and further used by the Netherlands National Football...

, the prototype for the footballer who can play every position successfully.

He played 54 games for the Yugoslav national team. He continued his career in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and Udine

Udine

Udine is a city and comune in northeastern Italy, in the middle of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic sea and the Alps , less than 40 km from the Slovenian border. Its population was 99,439 in 2009, and that of its urban area was 175,000.- History :Udine is the historical...

 but turned down offers by the New York Cosmos

New York Cosmos

The New York Cosmos were an American soccer club based in New York City, New York and its suburbs. The team played home games in three stadiums around New York before moving in 1977 to Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, where it remained for the rest of its history...

 and Real Madrid

Real Madrid

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...

.

He served as sports director at Hajduk Split of the Croatian First League

Croatian First League

The Prva HNL , also known as 1. HNL or for sponsorship reasons the MAXtv Prva Liga, is the top Croatian football league competition, established in 1992. The winners qualify for the UEFA Champions League...

 from 1999 to 2003.

Speedboat incident

In July 1999. Šurjak killed a swimmer while driving a speedboat near the coast of Trogir (Croatia). The swimmer (Miroslav Didak) died a few days after the accident, while in a coma in the intensive care unit of the Firule hospital. Šurjak was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing.

Career by club

1970 - 1981 Hajduk

HNK Hajduk Split

HNK Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian football club founded in 1911 and based in the city of Split. The club's home ground since 1979 is the 35,000-seater Poljud Stadium and the team's traditional home colours are white shirts with blue shorts and...

 1981 - 1982 Paris Saint-Germain 1982 - 1983 Udinese

Udinese Calcio

Udinese Calcio is an Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and currently plays in the Serie A. Founded in 1896, Udinese is the second oldest club in the Serie A, after Genoa....

 1984 - 1985 Real Zaragoza

Real Zaragoza

Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. is a Spanish association football team from Zaragoza in Spain. Founded on 18 March 1932, Real Zaragoza have spent the majority of their 78 year history in the Spanish top-flight. Real Zaragoza are Spain's 9th highest ranked team in overall league points...

Accomplishments

• Champion of Yugoslavia - 1974, 1975 and 1979
• Co-champion of Yugoslavia - 1976 and 1981
• Cup winner of Yugoslavia - 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976 and 1977
• Coupe de France
  Coupe de France
  The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...
  
   - 1982
  Coupe de France Final 1982
  The Coupe de France Final 1982 was a football match held at Parc des Princes, Paris on May 15, 1982, that saw Paris Saint-Germain FC defeat AS Saint-Étienne in a penalty shoot out. After normal time and extra-time could not separate the two sides, the match was to be decided on penalty kicks...
  
  
• 54 caps for Yugoslavia, 10 goals scored between 1973 and 1982
• Yugoslavian Football Player of the year- 1976