Slobodan Santrač

Slobodan Santrač (, ; 1 July 1946 – 13 February 2016) was a Yugoslav and Serbian football manager and player.

A prolific striker, Santrač is the Yugoslav First League all-time top scorer with 218 goals. He is also the top scorer in the history of OFK Beograd. As a manager, Santrač reached the knockout stage at the 1998 FIFA World Cup with FR Yugoslavia.

Club career Born in Koceljeva, Santrač grew up in Gornji Milanovac, starting out at local club Takovo. He moved with his family to Valjevo in 1958 and soon joined Radnički, which merged into Metalac Valjevo in 1959. Due to his promising performances in the Serbian League, Santrač was transferred to Yugoslav First League club OFK Beograd in the summer of 1965. He spent nine seasons with the Romantičari, totaling 244 league appearances and scoring 169 goals. During that time, Santrač was the Yugoslav First League top scorer on four occasions (1968, 1970, 1972, and 1973). He also won the Yugoslav Cup in 1966, scoring a brace in the final against Dinamo Zagreb.

In 1974, after completing his mandatory military service, Santrač moved abroad and joined Swiss club Grasshoppers. He was their best scorer in both seasons during his stay with them, before returning to OFK Beograd near the end of the 1975–76 season. Santrač was transferred to Partizan in the winter of 1978, winning the league just a few months upon arriving at the club. He spent two more seasons with the Crno-beli, before switching to Yugoslav Second League side Galenika Zemun in the 1980–81 season as part of the deal for Dragan Mance. With 19 goals in 1981–82, Santrač helped the team win promotion to the top flight for the first time ever. He retired from playing in 1983.

International career Despite being a prolific scorer during his entire club career, Santrač never established himself at international level, making just eight friendly appearances (only 110 minutes played) for Yugoslavia between 1966 and 1974. His first cap for the national team came on 1 June 1966 in a 2–0 loss to Bulgaria and his only goal later that month against Sweden, in a game that ended in a 1–1 draw.

Managerial career In November 1994, Santrač was announced as the inaugural manager of the national team of FR Yugoslavia, while the country was still under UN sanctions. He served as their manager for almost four years, qualifying them for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Subsequently, Santrač went abroad to China and took charge of Shandong Luneng, winning the double in 1999. He was also manager of Saudi Arabia (2001) and Macedonia (2005).

Death Santrač died of a heart attack on 13 February 2016 at the age of 69.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial

Honours

Player OFK Beograd Yugoslav Cup: 1965–66 Grasshoppers Swiss League Cup: 1974–75 Partizan Yugoslav First League: 1977–78 Mitropa Cup: 1977–78 Galenika Zemun Yugoslav Second League: 1981–82 (Group East) Individual Yugoslav First League top scorer: 1967–68, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73 European Bronze Shoe: 1971–72

Manager Shandong Luneng Chinese Jia-A League: 1999 Chinese FA Cup: 1999 Individual Chinese Football Association Coach of the Year: 1999