- Svetozar Đanić
Svetozar Đanić (born
April 1 ,1917 inManđelos village nearSremska Mitrovica ,Kingdom of Serbia - died June 18, 1941 inZagreb ,Independent State of Croatia ) was a Serbian footballer who played for the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Independent State of Croatia national teams. He was also known by nicknames Cveta and Lala.Born during the latter part of
World War I in a smallSyrmia n village, Đanić started playing football withNovi Sad outfit FK Slavija. At the age of 17, he moved to their more established crosstown rivalsFK Vojvodina and immediately established himself in the first team.Two years later, in 1936, together with brother Miran, he moved to
Zagreb in pursuit of university studies. Parallel to studies he also played football withHŠK Građanski , spending the 1936/37 season with them.Đanić's studies then took him to
Czechoslovakia for a year where also played one season forSK Viktoria Plzeň (1938/39).Returnig to Zagreb he also continued playing for Građanski, eventually earning a callup to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia national team in 1940. His debut came on November 3, 1940 versus Germany in Zagreb. He would only play in three matches before the
Nazi Germany invasion and quick disememberment of Yugoslavia put an end to Yugoslav football activities. Đanić's last match in Yugoslavia jersey was also Kingdom of Yugoslavia's last ever outing - a match versus Hungary on March 23, 1941 inBelgrade .Soon after the Royal Yugoslav Army defeat, and the establishment of Croatian Nazi-puppet state (NDH) under collaborationist
Ustashe regime, Đanić was forcedFact|date=August 2008 into the newly established Croatian national football team as one of only a handful of Serbs that were recruited into that team, which played all of its matches with other Nazi client states or Nazi Germany itself. Đanić appeared in four matches for NDH and even scored one goal. His last match appearance took place inVienna on June 15, 1941 versus Nazi Germany. Upon returning to Zagreb, he was immediately put on trial by Ustashe under the accusation that he collaborated with the communists. After a quickieshow trial , Đanić was executed three days later on June 18, 1941.External links
* [http://www.jutarnji.hr/sport/kolumne/clanak/art-2006,4,7,zidak_kolumna,20695.jl IZ MAKSIMIRSKE ŠUME] , "Jutarnji list", April 7, 2006
* [http://www.reprezentacija.co.yu/reprezentativci/Djanic-Svetozar.htm Svetozar Đanić Profile on Serbian Football Federation Site]
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