Full name Drago Smajlovic Name Miso Smajlovic | 1967–1968 Standard de Liege Years Team | |
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Date of birth (1938-10-28) October 28, 1938 (age 77) 1958–1967 FK Zeljeznicar Sarajevo | ||
Drago "Mišo" Smajlović, nicknamed (born October 28, 1938. in Sarajevo) is a Bosnian football manager and a former player.
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Playing career
His career began in FK Sloga, little amateur club from Sarajevo. In 1955. he moved to FK Željezničar youth team. Two years later, he signed a professional contract with the club in which he played more than 400 games and scored 241 goals. If we consider only official matches, he played 190 games and scored 97 goals. He was a topscorer of Yugoslav League 1962-1963 with 18 goals.
He was a fine striker, one of the best in Yugoslavia at the time. He played for youth national teams and "B team", before he made his debut for the Yugoslav national team in 1963. He has collected four caps while scoring one goal. Smajlović will be remembered as a great sportsman. Journalists often called him a gentleman in football shoes. Unfortunately, the fact that he did not play for one of the bigger Yugoslav clubs limited his chances of being a regular choice in the national team.
In 1967, he went to play for Belgian side Standard Liège. After a season and a half in Belgium, he returned to Yugoslavia and continued playing for Olimpija Ljubljana and Čelik Zenica after which he ended his professional player career.
Managing career
After his playing days were over, he dedicated himself to a managing career. He was a FK Željezničar coach on several occasions. He also worked as a sporting director in his favourite club. It is important to say that he was among the responsible ones for saving the club during the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In 1997, he was elected to be a head coach of Under-21 Bosnia-Herzegovina national team. After Faruk Hadžibegić stepped down as a national coach in October 1999, Smajlović was first appointed as a caretaker coach and several months later he was definitely elected as a coach of Bosnia-Herzegovina national team. After the end of his contract in 2002, he never renew it.
He lives in Sarajevo and he is not employed at any club at the moment.