Rajko Mitic
Encyclopedia
Rajko Mitić (November 19, 1922 – March 29, 2008) was a Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

n football player and coach. Mitić was born in the village Dolac, Bela Palanka
Bela Palanka
Bela Palanka is a town and municipality located in the Pirot District of south-east Serbia. According to 2011 census, the population of the town is 8,112, while population of the municipality is 12,051. In ancient times, the town was known as Remesiana...

 in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. He died in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

.

Košutnjak and BSK

Before becoming Red Star's
Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a part of the Red Star Sports Society.Red Star Belgrade is the most successful Serbian club, with a record of 25 national championships and 23 national cups in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslav competitions...

 the first successful player of the club, Mitić started his career in 1937 on the football fields of Košutnjak
Košutnjak
Košutnjak is a park-forest and urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is divided between in the municipalities of Čukarica and Rakovica .-Location:...

. In May 1938, he was transferred to BSK Beograd where he played from 1938-1944. For BSK, he became a member of the junior team of the then champion. Two years later, in 1940, he had his debut as a striker for the first team, where he scored two goals.

The Second World War halted his football development, but he continued playing in 1944 for the engineer squadron under he which he fought for, along with fellow Yugoslav
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...

 players Predrag Đajić and Jovan Jezerkić.

Red Star Belgrade

On March 4, 1945, when Red Star was founded, Rajko Mitić shortly became the captain of the team, and wore the red and white uniform for 14 seasons. In Red Star's uniform, he scored 262 goals in 572 matches (31 of which were domestic league goals, while the other 11 came in National Cup matches. He was a decent goal-scorer at Red Star, and became known by people in the local towns. His popularity in the early fifties was only by those in local towns, and surpassed that of other players. He was known as the memorable Red Star captain.

As a captain and a sometime leader of the team, he won five championships (1951, 1953, 1956, 1957, and 1959) and four National Cups (1948, 1949, 1950, and 1958). One of his fondest memories was the first championship title, won in a dramatic finish, when the first place Dinamo lost their lead by slipping in the last three rounds. This allowed Red Star to win with a better goal ratio of 0.018 goals. A great achievement in the career of Rajko Mitić, according to him, was winning the National Cup three times in a row. He almost never missed a game, except in 1947, when he had to go to rehabilitation
Physical therapy
Physical therapy , often abbreviated PT, is a health care profession. Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing quality of life and movement potential within the spheres of promotion, prevention, diagnosis, treatment/intervention,and rehabilitation...

 after a knee meniscus operation.

On November 29, 1958, he officially retired from football at the age of 36, after Red Star’s convincing Cup win of 4:0. Rajko was seen out with sitting ovations at Topčider Hill
Topcider
Topčider is a forest park and an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is divided between in the municipalities of Čukarica, Rakovica and Savski Venac...

.

As a captain, he most frequently remembered two of his decisions that had separated the football public. First, when he sent his best friend Branko Stanković to the dressing room because of inappropriate conduct. The second came on April 7, 1957, against 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...

 in Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...

, when he pulled the entire team off the pitch after a stone thrown from a disgruntled Red Star fan in the stands hit Bora Kostić
Bora Kostic
Borivoje "Bora" Kostić was a former Serbian footballer.During his club career he played for Red Star Belgrade, Lanerossi Vicenza and St. Louis Stars. He earned 33 caps and 26 goals for the Yugoslavia national football team, and participated in the 1960 European Nations' Cup...

 in the head.

In the 71st minute of the aforementioned match, the result was 1:1. The disciplinary committee of the FSJ
Football Association of Yugoslavia
The Football Association of Yugoslavia was the governing body of football in Yugoslavia, based in Belgrade, with a major administrative branch in Zagreb....

 suspended all the players of Red Star (except Beara
Vladimir Beara
Vladimir Beara is a retired Croatian-born Serb football player, as goalkeeper, and also football manager.-Early life:...

 and Kostić
Bora Kostic
Borivoje "Bora" Kostić was a former Serbian footballer.During his club career he played for Red Star Belgrade, Lanerossi Vicenza and St. Louis Stars. He earned 33 caps and 26 goals for the Yugoslavia national football team, and participated in the 1960 European Nations' Cup...

) for a month. The club did not appeal against the decision, and Rajko Mitić made the most positive impression possible on the shocked football public.

As a big opponent of unfair play, he never pulled his opponent by the shirt, or tripped his opponents on purpose. The football pitch for Rajko Mitić never represented a contest in strength as he was too small, but a place for a game and to play. He loved football, spreading his love to his other players and was happy to spread his love to his national team and club team-mates, and onto the opponents and supporters of all colours. There were plenty of better players in his time when it came to attractiveness and skill, but Rajko Mitić was unique because of his extraordinary people skills and sportsmanship.

Mitić is considered one of the most important players in the history of Red Star Belgrade, he is one of only five players to have been awarded the Zvezdine zvezde.

National team career

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...

, Mitić won 59 caps (in which he was captain 34 times), and scored 32 goals. http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/mitic-intlg.html He scored his first goal for the national team in his debut on 9 May 1946 in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

, when Yugoslavia outplayed 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...

 2-0. Until the end of his national team career, he scored 3 hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...

s. The first against Denmark
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...

 in 1950 (the final score being 5-1), the second against India
India national football team
The Indian national football team is the national football team of India and is governed by the All India Football Federation. It is a member of the Asian Football Confederation. Since 1948, the AIFF has been affiliated with FIFA, the international governing body for football. In 1954, AIFF became...

 in 1952 (10-1), and finally in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

 against Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...

 (5-2) in 1953.

He often said that he never missed a chance to remind himself of his favourite goal in the national team uniform, against England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

, in 1954. 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...

 won 1-0 as Rajko Mitić scored the decisive goal in the dying minutes of the match.

He took part in two Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 tournaments in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 1948, and in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

 1952, where he captained the unforgettable Olympic team that included players such as Beara
Vladimir Beara
Vladimir Beara is a retired Croatian-born Serb football player, as goalkeeper, and also football manager.-Early life:...

, Stanković, both Zlatko and Željko Čajkovski
Željko Cajkovski
Željko Čajkovski is a Croatian football player and coach.With the national team he won the silver medal in the football tournament of th 1948 Olympics held in lLondon, losing in the final 1-3 to Sweden, then starring the young Gunnar Nordahl, Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm...

, Boškov
Vujadin Boškov
Vujadin Boškov is a retired Serbian football player and coach.Boškov was born in the village of Begeč near Novi Sad, Danube Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia). He played with FK Vojvodina for most of his career...

, Ognjanov
Tihomir Ognjanov
Tihomir "Bata" Ognjanov was a Serban footballer who was part of Yugoslavia national football team at the 1950 and 1954 FIFA World Cup. He later became a manager. He played for Spartak Subotica , Partizan and Red Star...

, Vukas
Bernard Vukas
Bernard "Bajdo" Vukas was a Croatian football player.Bernard Vukas played as a left winger/forward and is mostly remembered for his extraordinary dribbling ability...

, Bobek
Stjepan Bobek
Stjepan Bobek was a football striker from Yugoslavia, and later a football manager. An ethnic Croat, Bobek started playing at a very young age and had spells with several clubs in Zagreb but is mainly remembered for his time at the Serbian side Partizan Belgrade, where he moved to following the...

 and Zebec
Branko Zebec
Branislav "Branko" Zebec was a Croatian football player and coach...

. He earned the silver medal both times. There were two dramatic matches against the 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...

 (in the second of which Rajko Mitić scored the first goal, and paved the way for an important 3-1 win). He also took part in two World Cups
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

 (in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 1950
1954 FIFA World Cup
The 1954 FIFA World Cup, the fifth staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerland was chosen as hosts in July 1946. The tournament set a number of all-time records for goal-scoring, including the highest average goals scored per game...

 and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 1954
1954 FIFA World Cup
The 1954 FIFA World Cup, the fifth staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerland was chosen as hosts in July 1946. The tournament set a number of all-time records for goal-scoring, including the highest average goals scored per game...

), but none of these were pleasant. Before the match against Brazil
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...

 at the Maracanã
Estádio do Maracanã
The Estádio do Maracanã , officially Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho, is an open-air stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Owned by the Rio de Janeiro State Government, it is named after the Maracanã neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro. It was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup, and in the final...

 in Rio
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

, while he was entering the pitch from the underground tunnel, he lifted his head suddenly and hit a medal lid. Due to the large cut and bleeding, he was forced to ask for medical attention and couldn't play the first 20 minutes of the match, so he didn't see Ademir's
Ademir Marques de Menezes
Ademir Marques de Menezes , best known as Ademir , was a Brazilian footballer, regarded as one of the best centre forwards in the history of the Brazil national team. His prominent jawbone earned him the nickname Queixada, which means "Jaw".He is best known for his exploits in the World Cup 1950...

 goal in the 3rd minute and wasn't aware of the Brazil's lead until he was informed of it by his teammates in the halftime. Since, in those days, there were no substitutions, the team was handicapped and finally lost the match 2-0.

He celebrated his 50th match with the national team during World Cup 1954
1954 FIFA World Cup
The 1954 FIFA World Cup, the fifth staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerland was chosen as hosts in July 1946. The tournament set a number of all-time records for goal-scoring, including the highest average goals scored per game...

 (in Switzerland), against 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....

 (who went on to become World Champion), but lost 2-0. He played his last match for the national team on 29 November, in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....

 against Romania
Romania national football team
The Romania national football team is the national football team of Romania and is controlled by the Romanian Football Federation.Romania is one of only four national teams, the other three being Brazil, France, and Belgium, that took part in the first three World Cups.However, after that...

, as a 35-year-old striker. The final score of the match was 1-1.

He was one of the leaders and best scorers on the national team, where he made a special mark for a full decade.

Coaching career

He was a successful manager at Red Star from 1960 until 1966, when he became a member of the national team selection committee. His biggest achievement as a coach was in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 1968, when the national team (led by star player Dragan Džajić
Dragan Džajic
Dragan Džajić is widely considered to have been one of the best Serbian football players to emerge from former Yugoslavia. Regarded as a preeminent and very proficient left winger, he is strongly reputed to have been one of the finest European players of his generation...

) won the silver medal.

After football

When he retired in 1983, he applied himself actively as a volunteer in Red Star. He was a member of the team's leadership for a long time (including two mandates as vice president
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...

 of the club). Until his death on March 29, 2008, he was active in the Counsel of Veterans together with the stars from his and later generations.

Even as an active player in the early fifties, he was a commentator for Sport
DSL Sport
Sport is a Serbian daily sports newspaper. Тhе first edition was published on 5 May 1945 under the name Fiskultura...

daily, and later on (for a long series of years until his retirement), a renowned chronicler of the weekly sports magazine Tempo
Tempo (magazine)
Tempo was a Serbia-based magazine devoted to sports, published weekly.-Beginnings:Tempo was founded in Belgrade in 1966, as a weekly sports magazine under Politika's umbrella. Most of its coverage centered around football, with basketball, handball, volleyball, and water polo also featuring...

.

Career statistics

|-
|1946-47||rowspan="13"|Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a part of the Red Star Sports Society.Red Star Belgrade is the most successful Serbian club, with a record of 25 national championships and 23 national cups in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslav competitions...

||rowspan="13"|Prva Liga
Yugoslav First League
The Yugoslav First League was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and socialist Yugoslavia...

||9||4||||||-||-||?||?
|-
|1947-48||18||2||||||-||-||?||?
|-
|1948-49||16||6||||||-||-||?||?
|-
|1949-50||18||11||||||-||-||?||?
|-
|1950-51||17||5||||||-||-||?||?
|-
|1951-52||13||8||||||-||-||?||?
|-
|1952-53||18||8||||||-||-||?||?
|-
|1953-54||18||5||||||-||-||?||?
|-
|1954-55||17||7||||||-||-||?||?
|-
|1955-56||25||4||||||-||-||?||?
|-
|1956-57||21||4||||||?||0||?||?
|-
|1957-58||19||6||||||?||2||?||?
|-
|1958-59||11||2||||||-||-||?||?
|-
220||72||?||?||?||2||?||?

http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=20636

External links

Profile @ Serbian national football team website IN MEMORIAM: Rajko Mitić (1922-2008), MTS Mondo, March 30, 2008 Preminuo Rajko Mitić, B92, March 30, 2008
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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