Mario Brnjac (October 3, 1944 – September 24, 2007) was a

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

ian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player.

Club career

Born in

Sveta Nedelja, Istria Sveta Nedelja (, also ''Santa Domenica d'Albona''; takes its name from Kyriaki (martyr), Saint Kyriake = Sancta Dominica; ) is a municipality of twenty villages in Croatia. The three largest villages are municipal seat Nedešćina (604), Štrmac ( ...

, as a player he spent nine seasons with

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka (), commonly referred to as HNK Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka competes in Croatia's top division, Croatian First Football League, Supersport HNL, o ...

. He was one of the key defenders for Rijeka during much of the 1960s and the early 1970s, collecting over 300 caps. In 1972, he moved to

Borac Banja Luka Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Бopaц Бања Лука, ) is a Bosnian Serb professional football club, based in the city of Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is the main ...

where he played for four more years before retiring. Brnjac died age 62 in September 2007.

References

1944 births 2007 deaths People from Sveta Nedelja, Istria Footballers from Istria County Men's association football defenders Yugoslav men's footballers HNK Rijeka players FK Borac Banja Luka players Yugoslav First League players {{Croatia-footy-defender-stub