Blagoje Marjanović

Blagoje "Moša" Marjanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Благоје "Моша" Марјановић, [blâɡoje marjǎːnoʋitɕ]; 9 September 1907 – 1 October 1984) was a Yugoslav football player and manager.

Born to merchant father Dimitrije and housewife mother Sofija, young Blagoje grew up on the outskirts of Belgrade in 7 Đakovačka Street.

Playing career

Blagoje Marjanović was one of the best football forward in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He played for BSK (1926–39), with whom he won five league titles (1931st, 1933rd, 1935th, 1936st and 1939th) and three times was the best league goal scorer (1930th, 1935th, 1937). For the national team, he debuts on 28 June 1926 in a friendly match against Czechoslovakia (2-6) in Zagreb. The first goal he scored on 15 May 1927 against Bulgaria in Sofia when in the last five minutes he scored two goals in the match. During his career, he scored 37 goals in 58 games for the national team (unbroken record, until Bobek came, and scored 38 goals in 63 games, although Marjanović has a better scoring ratio at 0,63 goals per game), and 575 goals in 14 seasons for his club BSK. He participated in the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam and the first FIFA World Cup 1930 in Uruguay. He has won a bronze medal in the FIFA World Cup 1930 in Uruguay. He scored one goal in that tournament in the game versus Bolivia.After returning from South America, this excellent striker became (alongside his teammate Tirnanić), first professional footballer in Yugoslavia (although he had a little bit higher salary then Tirnanić). For his services at BSK Marjanović was paid YUS1,800 per month. The exchange rate of dinar against US dollar in December 1930 was $1 = YUS56.39 meaning that his monthly salary was $32 (about $446 in 2014 dollar).He and Tirnanić formed one of the greatest right side partnership in Yugoslavian football history. Although, during the match he understood with Tirnanić very well, he had almost the same understanding with other teammates, from his club and from national team. Marjanović was highly intelligent player, and he was able to realize, how every of his teammates plays. During the game it always seemed that he knew what to do with or without a ball (especially during goalscoring situations in opponent penalty box, when he was highly unpredictable and very clever). He was very accurate shooter, but with average shot power. Moša could score from almost every position (he scored quite a few goals with his back-heel, chests and sometimes even stomach) and he didn't care if the ball came low or high, because he was, also, very good in air game. His main specialty was volley shot. Besides that, he was also one of the best free-kick takers in Yugoslavia. He scored a few times hat-trick for national team, but probably most memorable was against Brazil in 1934, in friendly game in Belgrade (the score was 8:4 for Yugoslavia). Many football experts of that time showed great appreciation for "Moša's" skills, including Hugo Meisl (creator and coach of the Austrian "Wunderteam") who claimed that with Marjanović in the attacking line "Wunderteam" would be perfect.

Marjanovic enjoyed great fame. He was a national superstar but also a playboy, up to the moment when his club played against Hajduk, in Split. On the eve of the match, he met a Dalmatian girl who supported Hajduk. They were married in 1938 with great interest of the public and journalists. The last match for the national team was played on 3 April 1938 against Poland in a World Cup qualifier. Marjanović scored the only goal of the match. During German invasion on Yugoslavia, he was captured as truck driver soldier of Yugoslav Army and placed in a prison camp in Fürstenberg, Germany. In the midst of adversity, sometimes they organized football matches between "war prisoners" versus "the guardians". When the war ended, he returned to Yugoslavia and played for Dinamo Pančevo (1945–48). His career ended in Proleter from Osijek (1949).

According to a biography of his timeMarjanović scored more than 1,000 goals in his career.

Coaching career

During his coaching career, he first led Proleter Osijek then OFK Beograd, with whom he won the national cup in 1955. After this, Marshal Tito honored Marjanovic with the Yugoslavian Order of Merit of the People. Also in 1955, Marjanović went on a tour to Asia where he had the honor to meet Chinese People's Leader Mao Zedong. He was later a coach in the Italian league (one year in AC Torino and one year in Calcio Catania). He returned to Yugoslavia and became a coach for FK Pobeda Prilep. After a match in 1961, Moša suffered a stroke. He never regained his speech and the right side of his body was paralyzed. He died in 1984. In the former Yugoslavia, he was also remembered for his statement: Football is my life.

Film

In the 2014 film See You in Montevideo, Marjanović was portrayed by actor Petar Strugar. (Movie trailer)

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	15 May 1927	Slavia Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Bulgaria	1–0	2–0	Friendly
2.				2–0
3.	25 March 1928	Üllői úti stadion, Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	0–1	2–1	Friendly
4.	6 May 1928	Stadion SK Jugoslavija, Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Romania	2–0	3–1	1928 King Aleksandar Cup
5.	19 May 1929	Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes, France	France	2–0	3–1	Friendly
6.	28 June 1929	Stadion Concordije, Zagreb, Yugoslavia	Czechoslovakia	2–2	3–3	Friendly
7.				3–2
8.	6 October 1929	ONEF Stadium, Bucharest, Romania	Romania	1–2	1–2	1929–31 Balkan Cup
9.	13 April 1930	BSK Beograd Stadium, Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Bulgaria	2–0	6–1	Friendly
10.				4–1
11.	17 July 1930	Estadio Gran Parque Central, Montevideo, Uruguay	Bolivia	2–0	4–0	1930 FIFA World Cup
12.	3 August 1930	Estadio Alvear y Tagle, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Argentina	1–3	1–3	Friendly
13.	16 November 1930	Slavia Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Bulgaria	2–0	3–0	1929–31 Balkan Cup
14.	19 April 1931	Stadion SK Jugoslavija, Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Bulgaria	1–0	1–0
15.	21 May 1931	BSK Beograd Stadium, Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Hungary	1–0	3–2	Friendly
16.	28 June 1931	Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Yugoslavia	Romania	1–1	2–4	1929–31 Balkan Cup
17.	2 August 1931	Stadion SK Jugoslavija, Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Czechoslovakia	2–0	2–1	Friendly
18.	4 October 1931	Yunak Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Bulgaria	2–0	3–2	1931 Balkan Cup
19.	30 April 1933	Stadion SK Jugoslavija, Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Spain	1–1	1–1	Friendly
20.	24 September 1933	BSK Beograd Stadium, Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Switzerland	2–0	2–2	1934 FIFA World Cup qualification
21.	18 March 1934	Stadion AS 23, Sofia, Bulgaria	Bulgaria	1–0	2–1	Friendly
22.				2–0
23.	3 June 1934	BSK Beograd Stadium, Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Brazil	3–3	8–4	Friendly
24.				6–3
25.				8–3
26.	26 August 1934	Stadion SK Jugoslavija, Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Poland	4–1	4–1	Friendly
27.	16 December 1934	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	France	1–1	2–3	Friendly
28.	1 January 1935	Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, Athens, Greece	Romania	2–0	4–0	1934–35 Balkan Cup
29.	17 June 1935	Yunak Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Romania	1–0	2–0	1935 Balkan Cup
30.	20 June 1935	Yunak Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Greece	2–0	6–1
31.	24 June 1935	Yunak Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Bulgaria	1–0	3–3
32.	12 July 1936	Taksim Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey	Turkey	1–1	3–3	Friendly
33.	6 September 1936	BSK Beograd Stadium, Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Poland	1–0	9–3	Friendly
34.				3–0
35.				5–0
36.				8–1
37.	3 April 1938	BSK Beograd Stadium, Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Poland	1–0	1–0	1938 FIFA World Cup qualification

Player

Club

SK Jugoslavija

• Yugoslav Championship: 1924

BSK Beograd

• Yugoslav Championship: 1930–31, 1932–33, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1938–39
• Yugoslav Cup: 1934

Manager

BSK Beograd

• Yugoslav Cup: 1955