Ivan Toplak (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Иван Toплaк; 21 September 1931 – 25 July 2021) was a Serbian

football player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. Toplak played for

NK Olimpija Ljubljana Nogometni klub Olimpija Ljubljana (; ), commonly referred to as Olimpija Ljubljana or simply Olimpija, is a Slovenian professional football club based in Ljubljana that competes in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top division of the Slovenian foot ...

and

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

, with whom he had much success. As a player he also represented the Yugoslavia national team. As a manager he also managed Red Star, had a managing period in the United States, managed almost all levels of the Yugoslavia national team and also managed the Indonesia national team. At the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

, he guided Yugoslavia to a bronze medal.

Club career

Toplak started his career at NK Branik Maribor in

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

, where his family moved in 1943 from

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. In 1951, he signed with

, where he spent playing the next three years. With Olimpija, he won the

Slovenian Republic League The Slovenian Republic Football League () was the highest Association football, football league in Slovenia within the Yugoslav football league system, Yugoslav football system. During the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the league was known as the Ljubl ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

. In 1954, Toplak left Olimpija for

. He played at Red Star for seven years, until 1961. With Red Star he won the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

in the seasons 1955–56, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1959–60. He had also won the

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...

in the 1957–58 season and the 1958–59 season. On international club level, he won the

Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called Coupe de l'Europe Centrale, Mitteleuropäischer Pokal or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European association football, football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the suc ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

. He left Red Star in 1961 and shortly after retired from football at the age of 30.

International career

Toplak earned one cap for the Yugoslavia national team in 1956, but did not score a goal in that game.

Managerial career

In 1964, Toplak became the new manager of

in the

. He managed the club for two years, but did not manage to win anything. After Yugoslavia, he went to the USA in 1967, where he managed the

California Clippers California () is a state in the Western United States that lies on the Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California to the sout ...

from 1967 to 1968,

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

from 1969 to 1971 and the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

from 1974 to 1975. In 1976 he left the US and came back to

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 ...

, where from 1976 to 1977, he was manager of the Yugoslavia national team. After the A team, he managed the Yugoslavia U20 and Yugoslavia U21 sides, both at the same time from 1978 to 1980. He led the U21 side at the 1980 UEFA Euro U21 Championship where he got the team to the

semi-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

. In 1984, he led the Yugoslavia U23 side at the

. He guided the team to third place. In 1986 he was a co-manager of the Yugoslavia national team, this time alongside

Ivica Osim Ivan Osim (6 May 1941 – 1 May 2022), best known as Ivica Osim, was a Bosnian professional Football player, footballer and Manager (association football), football manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Bosnian football managers of all ...

. From 1991 to 1993, Toplak managed the Indonesia national team. In 1993, after leaving Indonesia, he announced his managerial retirement.

Death

Toplak died on 25 July 2021 at the age of 89.

Honours

Player

Olimpija Ljubljana *

Red Star Belgrade *

: 1955–56, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1959–60 *

: 1957–58, 1958–59 *

Manager

Yugoslavia *

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

Third place:

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Toplak, Ivan 1931 births 2021 deaths Footballers from Belgrade Serbian men's footballers Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Men's association football forwards NK Olimpija Ljubljana (1945–2005) players Red Star Belgrade footballers Yugoslav First League players Yugoslavia national football team managers Yugoslav football managers Yugoslav expatriate football managers Serbian football managers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) head coaches Indonesia national football team managers Red Star Belgrade managers San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) head coaches Expatriate soccer coaches in the United States Expatriate football managers in Indonesia Serbia and Montenegro expatriate football managers Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States