Dragutin Vabec, most commonly known as ''Drago Vabec'' (born 26 October 1950), is a Croatian former professional footballer who played for

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

Stade Brestois Stade Brestois 29, commonly known as Stade Brestois or simply Brest,''Stade Brest'', used by some English-speaking media outlets and journalists, is not a grammatically correct name for the club. is a French professional Association football, f ...

and

Toronto Metros-Croatia Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the fourth-most populous city in North America. The city ...

. He is considered one of the best players in Dinamo Zagreb history and the best player in Stade Brestois history. He left Brest in 1983. At international level, he represented the SFR Yugoslavia national team. His family originates from

Čakovec Čakovec (; ; ; ) is a city in Northern Croatia, located around north of Zagreb, the Croatian capital, and close to the borders with Slovenia and Hungary. Čakovec is both the county seat and the largest city of Međimurje County, the northernmo ...

Međimurje County Međimurje County (; ; ) is a triangle-shaped Counties of Croatia, county in the northernmost part of Croatia, roughly corresponding to the historical and geographical region of Međimurje (region), Međimurje. It is the smallest Croatian count ...

, and he spent most of his time there.

Playing career

Vabec was born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. He made his debut for

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

in a September 1973

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and earned a total of seven caps, scoring one goal. His final international was an April 1976 European Championship qualification match against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. While playing for Yugoslavia during a match against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

on 10 October 1975 he scored a fantastic goal, which was for years screened at the beginning of the sports program.

Style of play

Although Vabec played mostly as a left winger, he was an excellent right winger too and could also play at a high level as a midfielder or a defender. The football experts deem him the most versatile player in Dinamo's history. Vabec was described as a highly intelligent player, with superb technique and passing skills, and equally adept with both feet.

Managerial career

In October 2006, he was appointed head coach at relegation-threatened Croatian second division side

NK Čakovec Nogometni Klub Čakovec (), commonly referred to as NK Čakovec or simply Čakovec, was a Croatian football club based in Čakovec, in the northern part of the country. The club folded in 2011. The club's arguably biggest success came when they ...

. He remained at the position until the end of the season, but failed to save the club from relegation.

References

External links

* *
NASL stats

Biography in the Croatian Football Lexicon
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vabec, Drago 1950 births Living people Footballers from Čakovec Footballers from Zagreb Men's association football forwards Men's association football wingers Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players Stade Brestois 29 players Yugoslav First League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Ligue 1 players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's footballers in France Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in France Yugoslav football managers