August Lešnik

August Lešnik (July 16, 1914 in Zagreb – February 24, 1992 in Zagreb) was a Croatian footballer. He played for the Yugoslavian football team in the late 1930s and the Croatian national team from 1940 to 1944.

Lešnik played most of his club football for Građanski Zagreb. In 1941 he was the Croatian First League's top scorer while playing for Građanski, and performed the same feat twice in the Yugoslavian First League as well: in 1938 and 1939.

One of his most famous club matches occurred against BSK in Belgrade in which Lešnik scored a hat-trick in the first seven minutes of the game. In 1936, Lešnik scored three goals in an exhibition match against Liverpool FC which Građanski won 5-1. [ [http://www.jutarnji.hr/sport/nogomet/clanak/art-2007,6,28,antolkovic_memoriam,80065.jl Posljednji mušketir ‘purgera’ - Jutarnji.hr] ]

After World War II, Građanski was disbanded by the communist Yugoslav authorities, and Lešnik finished his career with the newly-formed Dinamo Zagreb.

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