Ratko Kacian (; 18 January 1917 – 18 June 1949; spelled Kacijan in some sources) was a Croatian and Yugoslav footballer. He played internationally for the wartime

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

team from 1940 to 1943 and for the Yugoslavia national team in 1946. He was also part of Yugoslavia's squad at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

in London, without appearing in any matches.

Club career

Kacian played for

HAŠK HAŠK (full name Hrvatski akademski športski klub, ) was a Croatian football club established in Zagreb in 1903. The club was one of the most successful sides in Zagreb and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the period between the two World Wars. The ...

in Zagreb and

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

before moving to

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 ...

after World War II.

International career

He played a single match for the

Banovina of Croatia The Banovina of Croatia or Banate of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=, Banovina Hrvatska, Бановина Хрватска) was an administrative subdivision ( banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1941. It was formed by a m ...

team, (then a province of

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

) in a December 1940 friendly 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 ...

. During the World War II he went on to earn nine caps for the

team, all of them in friendlies with other

Axis powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...

nations. After the war, he continued playing professional football, and earned a single cap 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 May 1946, in a friendly against

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

Personal life

Death

He died of

endocarditis Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves. Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, o ...

in the summer of 1949.Profile
– Serbian federation official website

References

External links

* * 1917 births 1949 deaths Footballers from Zadar People from the Kingdom of Dalmatia Men's association football forwards Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's international footballers Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Yugoslavia Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Footballers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Dual internationalists (men's football) HAŠK players HNK Hajduk Split players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Yugoslav First League players Deaths from endocarditis Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery {{Yugoslavia-footy-bio-stub