Safet "Pape" Sušić (; born 13 April 1955) is a Bosnian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager and former player who was most recently the manager of

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig, officially known as Spor Toto 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization of the ...

club

Akhisarspor Akhisarspor Kulübü (Akhisar Sports Club), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.

. He was a gifted midfielder known for his dribbling skills and technical ability, and is strongly reputed to have been one of the finest European players of his generation. Sušić played for Yugoslavia in two FIFA World Cups,

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

and

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, and at UEFA Euro 1984. As a manager, he qualified the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team to the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. He played as an attacking midfielder, often in a role of ''trequartista'' or ''fantasista'' (i.e. a creative

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...

) and rarely as a second striker for Sarajevo, Paris Saint-Germain and

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. I ...

, and internationally for Yugoslavia. Even more later during his career, Sušić was utilized more in a role of a deep-lying playmaker, both for club and national team. In 2010, '' France Football'' voted him as Paris Saint-Germain's best player of all time and the best foreign player of

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

of all time, with his compatriot and friend who also had a spell with PSG, Vahid Halilhodžić, being voted seventh. As part of the UEFA Jubilee Awards in 2004, the

Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Nogometni/Fudbalski Savez Bosne i Hercegovine (N/FSBiH); Ногометни/Фудбалски Савез Босне и Херцеговине (Н/ФСБиХ), (FSBiH); unified abbreviation N/FS ...

chose Sušić as the nation's greatest ever player. Following his retirement from playing, he started working as a manager. He worked for a number of club sides: Cannes, İstanbulspor, Al Hilal, Konyaspor, Ankaragücü, Çaykur Rizespor, Ankaraspor, Évian, Alanyaspor, Akhisarspor and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in Zavidovići, FPR Yugoslavia, present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sušić started playing football in the youth team of his hometown club Krivaja. In 1972, he joined the youth team of Sarajevo.

Sarajevo

Sušić made his senior debut for Sarajevo in 1973, one year after joining the youth team. During the 1979–80 season, he was the top scorer in the Yugoslav First League with 17 goals. In 1979, he was honoured as the Yugoslav Footballer of the Year, also being selected as the best athlete hailing from SR Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1981, Sušić was awarded the

Sixth April Award of Sarajevo The Sixth of April Sarajevo Award ( bs, Šestoaprilska nagrada grada Sarajeva / Šestotravanjska nagrada grada Sarajeva – Шестоаприлска награда града Сарајева) is the highest decoration given by the city of Sar ...

Paris Saint-Germain

In 1982, Sušić signed with Paris Saint-Germain, where he became a star on the European stage. During his first season with the club, Sušić helped PSG to win the

1982–83 Coupe de France The Coupe de France 1982–83 was its 66th edition. It was won by Paris SG which defeated FC Nantes in the Final. Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals First round ---- Second round Final References French federation
{{ ...

, scoring three goals over two legs in the semi-final against Tours, and once in 3–2 victory over

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

in the final. During the 1985–86 season, Sušić scored ten goals as the Parisiens won their first ever national league title. Overall, Sušić scored 85 goals and made a record 95 assists for PSG between 1982 and 1991. He is third in the club's all-time appearance list with 344 appearances, tied with Paul Le Guen, meaning he is the highest placed non-Frenchman on the list. On 22 September 1984, in a 7–1 home drubbing of Bastia, he assisted on five of the side's goals. At 36, Sušić went to the second Paris-based club for a final year with

. On 5 February 2010, '' France Football ''chose Sušić as the best player in the history of Paris Saint-Germain, ahead of players such as Carlos Bianchi, Mustapha Dahleb, Ronaldinho, George Weah,

Joël Bats Joël Bats (born 4 January 1957) is a French former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent his entire senior club career in his native France, appearing in a total of 553 competitive club matches and 504 Division 1 matche ...

Raí Raí Souza Vieira de Oliveira (born 15 May 1965), known as Raí (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He spent the better part of his 15-year career with São Paulo and Paris Saint-Germain ...

and Luis Fernández.

Red Star

In his only season with Red Star, he played in

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

, the second division of French Football. He played in 17 league games for the club in that season campaign, scoring 3 goals in the process. Shortly after leaving Red Star, Sušić announced his retirement from football in 1992.

International career

During Sušić's playing career, Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

and thus he represented the Yugoslavia national team at international level. Between 1977 and 1990, Sušić appeared 54 times for Yugoslavia, scoring 21 times. He debuted for his country in 1977 and scored his first goals for the team against Hungary in October of that year. A month later, he scored a hat-trick in a 6–4 victory against Romania during the

1978 FIFA World Cup qualification A total of 107 teams entered the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, which began with the preliminary qualification draw on 20 November 1975 at Guatemala City. Argentina, as the hosts, and West Germany, as the defending champions, qualified ...

. However, this was Yugoslavia's only victory of their group and they failed to qualify for the tournament finals. In June 1979, Sušić scored his second international hat-trick as Yugoslavia beat Italy 4–1 in a friendly match held in Zagreb. In September, he again scored three times in a 4–2 win over world champions Argentina. Sušić was a member of the Yugoslav team that qualified for the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national foo ...

, scoring once in a 5–0 win against Luxembourg. Sušić was top scorer of Yugoslavia in qualification for UEFA Euro 1984. His two goals in a 3–2 win over Bulgaria in the final qualification fixture helped Yugoslavia to finish three points ahead of the Bulgarians and one point ahead of Wales and advance to the tournament finals. Yugoslavia ultimately finished bottom of their group in France, losing all three matches. At the age of 35, Sušić made his second appearance at a World Cup finals as a member of Yugoslavia's squad for the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

in Italy. He scored his only World Cup goal in the team's 4–1 win against the United Arab Emirates during the group stage. He played 61 minutes before being substituted for Dejan Savićević in the penalty shootout loss to eventual runners-up Argentina at the quarter-final stage. His final international was a November 1990 European Championship qualification match away against Denmark. In 2004, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, Sušić was selected as the Golden Player of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the

as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.Golden players take center stage
UEFA.com, 29 November 2003 His former international teammate, Darko Pančev declared:

Managerial career

Early career

Sušić first managed French club Cannes during the 1994–95 season and the beginning of the 1995–96. From 1996 until 1999, he managed İstanbulspor, then Al Hilal in 2001, Konyaspor from 2004 to 2005, Ankaragücü from 2005 until 2006, Çaykur Rizespor on two occasions, first in 2006 and the second time from 2007 to 2008. Sušić was then hired by Ankaraspor in March 2008. He left Ankaraspor in June 2008.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

On 28 December 2009, Sušić was named head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. His debut was a friendly match against Ghana in Sarajevo. Bosnia and Herzegovina won the game 2–1 after goals from Vedad Ibišević and Miralem Pjanić. After only 2 wins in Sušić's 6 first matches in charge of the national team, including an important 2–0 loss against France in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, Sušić came under a lot of criticism from several journalists and columnists who called for his head. Sušić recorded a 1–1 draw against France during a second game in Paris and ensured Bosnia and Herzegovina qualified for their second consecutive qualification play-off berth for UEFA Euro 2012 which was played against Portugal in November of that year.

2014 FIFA World Cup

From August 2012 to August 2013, Sušić's Bosnia and Herzegovina side was on a nine-game unbeaten streak run. On 8 August 2013, the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team achieved their highest ever FIFA ranking, 13th place. On 15 October 2013, the country qualified for the

in Brazil, their first major tournament in the country's history as an independent nation. Sušić's side fared well in their first World Cup match against Argentina despite losing 2–1. An unlucky own goal and some brilliance from football legend Lionel Messi saw them to a defeat. However, highs taken from the match were the good play the team demonstrated and the materialisation of their first World Cup goal scored by Vedad Ibišević. The team however controversially exited the competition at the group stage of the tournament after their second game against Nigeria having an equaliser scored by Edin Džeko wrongly disallowed for offside. This revitalised the calls for reformation of the FIFA governing body and the replacement of linesmen with technology so as to remove human error from lines decisions. Bosnia and Herzegovina won their last game in the competition against Iran with a healthy 3–1 victory which would've seen them through instead of Nigeria, who incidentally failed to defeat Iran, to a round of 16 match with France.

Contract extension and sacking

In July 2014, Sušić signed a two-year contract to continue as head coach, after he withdrew his resignation. On 17 November 2014, the

and Sušić parted ways after poor showing of the national team in the first four games of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.

Évian

On 13 July 2015, Sušić was named manager of French

club Évian. On his debut he registered a draw. After the first four rounds, his new side registered four drawn games. On 11 January 2016, Sušić was sacked by Évian due to a run of poor results at the club. After 20 rounds, the club was placed 13th on the table and were eliminated from the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

at the third round. He was replaced by Romain Revelli.

Alanyaspor

On 27 January 2017, Sušić signed a contract with Alanyaspor until June 2018. He was sacked on 25 December 2017 because of a string of poor results.

Akhisarspor

On 30 June 2018, Sušić was named new manager of Turkish Cup winner

Akhisarspor Akhisarspor Kulübü (Akhisar Sports Club), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.

. After about a month and a half, Akhisarspor as cup winners, participated in the Turkish Super Cup match against league champions Galatasaray. The result after full-time was 1–1, but Akhisar won 5–4 on penalties. That was Akhisar's second mayor trophy in the club's history and the first in Sušić's managing career. On 17 September 2018, after only collecting two points in five games in the league, Sušić was sacked.

Legacy

'' Safet Sušić Pape'' is a bestseller novel written by Bosnian novelist Zlatko Topčić, and published in 2007. Popular Sarejevo sketch comedy and variety TV series, Top Lista Nadrealista, also on occasion treated a subject of football and popular sportsmen-women in their program, with songs dedicated to Sušić and Yugoslav national football team under management of another Sarajevan,

Ivica Osim Ivan Osim (6 May 1941 – 1 May 2022), best known as Ivica Osim, was a Bosnian professional footballer and football manager. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Bosnian football managers of all time and as one of the most influential foo ...

, being prominent feature of couple episodes.

Personal life

Sušić comes from a sporting family. Sead Sušić, a former footballer, is Safet's older brother. Safet's nephew,

Tino-Sven Sušić Tino-Sven Sušić (; born 13 February 1992) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. Sušić started his professional career at Hajduk Split, before joining Genk in 2016. In 2017–18, he had a loan spell with ...

, is also a footballer, formerly even a player of Sarajevo who also alongside Safet appeared at the

in Brazil. Safet's mother Paša died on 28 April 2018 at the age of 96.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Yugoslavia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sušić goal''.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Paris Saint-Germain * French Division 1: 1985–86 * Coupe de France: 1982–83

Individual

Awards *

Foreign Player of the Year: 1982–83 * Yugoslav Footballer of the Year: 1979 * UEFA Jubilee Awards – Greatest Bosnian Footballer of the last 50 Years: 2003 Performance * Yugoslav First League Top Goalscorer: 1979–80 (17 goals)

Manager

Akhisarspor * Turkish Super Cup:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Individual

* Bosnia and Herzegovina Manager of the Year:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Awards

: 1981

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Susic, Safet 1955 births Living people People from Zavidovići Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina Association football midfielders Yugoslav footballers Yugoslavia international footballers 1982 FIFA World Cup players 1990 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1984 players UEFA Golden Players FK Sarajevo players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Red Star F.C. players Yugoslav First League players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Yugoslav expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in France Bosnia and Herzegovina football managers AS Cannes managers İstanbulspor managers Al Hilal SFC managers Konyaspor managers MKE Ankaragücü managers Çaykur Rizespor managers Ankaraspor managers Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team managers 2014 FIFA World Cup managers Thonon Evian Grand Genève F.C. managers Alanyaspor managers Akhisarspor managers Ligue 1 managers Süper Lig managers Saudi Professional League managers Ligue 2 managers Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in France Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate football managers in Turkey Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Turkish people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia