Branko Zebec

Branko Zebec was a Yugoslavian footballer and manager. He began his career playing in various Croatian teams; Građanski Zagreb, NK Poštar, Lokomotiva Zagreb, and NK Milicionar Zagreb. After the end of World War II, Branko played for NK Borac Zagreb and then joined Partizan, playing 128 matches and winning three Yugoslavian Cups. At the beginning of the 1959-60 season he moved to city rivals Crvena Zvezda, with whom he immediately won the top league. In 1961 Branko moved to Alemannia Aachen in West Germany, and ended his career with them and reached the final of the German Cup in 1965 when they lost to Borussia Dortmund.

With the Yugoslav national team Zebec participated at the 1952 Olympics, winning the silver medal, and was the tournament’s top scorer with seven goals. He also took part in the 1954 and 1958 World Cups, as well as the 1960 European Championships, where he played in the semi-final against France but not in the Paris final, won by the Soviet Union.

Zebec began his career as a coach at Dinamo Zagreb, with whom he won the 1966-67 Fairs Cup, beating Don Revie’s Leeds United in the final. Returning to West Germany, he managed the prestigious Bayern München to win the 1968-69 Bundesliga and 1969 German Cup. He also coached Stuttgart for two seasons and, after a brief period with Hajduk Split, Zebec returned to Germany. He led Eintracht Braunschweig and Hamburger SV with whom he won the 1978-79 Bundesliga and reached the final of the 1979-80 UEFA Champions Cup but lost to Nottingham Forest in Madrid. Zebec later coached Borussia Dortmund and finally Eintracht Frankfurt before ending his career coaching Dinamo Zagreb for a few matches in 1984.