Safet Sušić facts for kids
Sušić as manager of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2013
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 13 April 1955 | ||
| Place of birth | Zavidovići, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | |||
| Youth career | |||
| 1971–1972 | Krivaja | ||
| 1972–1973 | Sarajevo | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1973–1982 | Sarajevo | 221 | (86) |
| 1982–1991 | Paris Saint-Germain | 287 | (67) |
| 1991–1992 | Red Star | 17 | (3) |
| Total | 525 | (155) | |
| International career | |||
| 1977–1990 | Yugoslavia | 54 | (21) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1994–1995 | Cannes | ||
| 1996–1999 | İstanbulspor | ||
| 2001 | Al Hilal | ||
| 2004–2005 | Konyaspor | ||
| 2005–2006 | Ankaragücü | ||
| 2006–2007 | Çaykur Rizespor | ||
| 2007–2008 | Çaykur Rizespor | ||
| 2008 | Ankaraspor | ||
| 2009–2014 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | ||
| 2015–2016 | Évian | ||
| 2017 | Alanyaspor | ||
| 2018 | Akhisarspor | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Safet "Pape" Sušić (born 13 April 1955) is a famous Bosnian football manager and former player. He was an amazing midfielder known for his incredible dribbling skills and technical ability. Many people consider him one of the best European players of his time.
Sušić played for the Yugoslavia in two FIFA World Cups, in 1982 and 1990, and also at UEFA Euro 1984. After he became a manager, he led the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. This was a huge achievement for the country!
He mostly played as an attacking midfielder, a creative player who helps set up goals. He played for clubs like Sarajevo, Paris Saint-Germain, and Red Star. In 2010, a French football magazine called France Football voted Sušić as Paris Saint-Germain's best player ever. He was also chosen as Bosnia and Herzegovina's greatest player of all time in 2004.
After he stopped playing, Sušić became a football manager. He coached several clubs and, in 2018, he won his first trophy as a manager with Akhisarspor, the 2018 Turkish Super Cup.
Contents
Playing Career Highlights
Starting Out in Football
Safet Sušić was born in Zavidovići, which is now in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He began his football journey in the youth team of his hometown club, Krivaja. In 1972, he moved to the youth team of Sarajevo.
Success with Sarajevo
Sušić started playing for Sarajevo's senior team in 1973. In the 1979–80 season, he was the top scorer in the Yugoslav First League with 17 goals. In 1979, he was named the Yugoslav Footballer of the Year. He also received the prestigious Sixth April Award of Sarajevo in 1981.
Becoming a Star at Paris Saint-Germain
In December 1982, Sušić joined Paris Saint-Germain in France. Here, he became a big star in European football. In his first season, he helped PSG win the 1982–83 Coupe de France, scoring important goals in the semi-final and the final.
During the 1985–86 season, Sušić scored ten goals, helping Paris Saint-Germain win their first ever national league title. He played for PSG until 1991, scoring 85 goals and making a record 95 assists. He is fifth on the club's all-time appearance list with 344 games. In 2010, France Football magazine named him the best player in Paris Saint-Germain's history!
Final Years as a Player
After leaving Paris Saint-Germain, Sušić played one more season with Red Star, another club based in Paris. He played 17 league games and scored 3 goals. He retired from playing football in 1992.
International Football Career
During his playing days, Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of Yugoslavia. So, Safet Sušić played for the Yugoslavia national team.
Between 1977 and 1990, Sušić played 54 games for Yugoslavia and scored 21 goals. He scored his first goals for his country in 1977 against Hungary. A month later, he scored three goals in a single game against Romania. He also scored three goals against world champions Argentina in 1979.
Sušić was part of the Yugoslav team that qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup. He also helped Yugoslavia qualify for UEFA Euro 1984, scoring two crucial goals against Bulgaria.
At 35 years old, Sušić played in his second World Cup, the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. He scored one goal in a 4–1 win against the United Arab Emirates. His last international game was in November 1990.
In 2004, UEFA honored Sušić as the "Golden Player" for Bosnia and Herzegovina. This meant he was chosen as the nation's most outstanding player of the past 50 years. His former teammate, Darko Pančev, once said that playing with Sušić was like a treasure for any forward because his passes were so amazing.
Managerial Career
Early Coaching Roles
Safet Sušić started his coaching career with the French club Cannes in 1994. After that, he managed several clubs, mostly in Turkey, including İstanbulspor, Konyaspor, Ankaragücü, and Çaykur Rizespor. He also coached Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
Leading Bosnia and Herzegovina to the World Cup
On 28 December 2009, Sušić became the head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. His first game was a friendly match against Ghana, which Bosnia and Herzegovina won 2–1.
Even though he faced some criticism early on, Sušić led his team to a 1–1 draw against France in Paris. This helped Bosnia and Herzegovina reach the play-offs for UEFA Euro 2012.
2014 FIFA World Cup Qualification
From August 2012 to August 2013, Sušić's Bosnia and Herzegovina team had an amazing nine-game unbeaten streak. On 15 October 2013, the country made history by qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil! This was their first time ever reaching a major tournament as an independent nation.
At the World Cup, Bosnia and Herzegovina played well against Argentina, even though they lost 2–1. They scored their first ever World Cup goal in that match. Unfortunately, they were eliminated in the group stage after a close game against Nigeria, where a goal for Bosnia and Herzegovina was wrongly disallowed. They won their last game against Iran 3–1.
After the World Cup
In July 2014, Sušić signed a new two-year contract to continue as coach. However, due to some difficult results in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying games, he and the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina decided to part ways on 17 November 2014.
Later Coaching Roles
After leaving the national team, Sušić managed the French club Évian in 2015. He was later sacked in January 2016 due to poor results.
In 2017, he coached Alanyaspor in Turkey, but he was also let go after a series of tough games.
Winning a Trophy with Akhisarspor
On 30 June 2018, Sušić became the new manager of Akhisarspor, a Turkish club that had just won the Turkish Cup. About a month and a half later, Akhisarspor played against Galatasaray in the Turkish Super Cup. The game ended 1–1, but Akhisarspor won 5–4 in a penalty shootout! This was Akhisarspor's second major trophy and Safet Sušić's first trophy as a manager.
However, after only collecting two points in five league games, Sušić was sacked by Akhisarspor on 17 September 2018.
Legacy and Personal Life
Safet Sušić Pape is a popular novel written by Bosnian author Zlatko Topčić in 2007, which tells the story of Sušić's life.
Safet Sušić comes from a family of athletes. His older brother, Sead Sušić, was also a footballer. Safet's nephew, Tino-Sven Sušić, is also a footballer and even played alongside Safet at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Career Statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sarajevo | 1973–74 | Yugoslav First League | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 2 |
| 1974–75 | 33 | 11 | 1 | 0 | – | 34 | 11 | |||
| 1975–76 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | 16 | 2 | |||
| 1976–77 | 28 | 9 | 3 | 3 | – | 31 | 12 | |||
| 1977–78 | 33 | 8 | 2 | 0 | – | 35 | 8 | |||
| 1978–79 | 30 | 15 | 1 | 0 | – | 31 | 15 | |||
| 1979–80 | 34 | 17 | 4 | 1 | – | 38 | 18 | |||
| 1980–81 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 4 | ||
| 1981–82 | 17 | 11 | 0 | 0 | – | 17 | 11 | |||
| 1982–83 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 21 | 13 | ||
| Total | 221 | 86 | 13 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 244 | 96 | ||
| Paris Saint-Germain | 1982–83 | French Division 1 | 18 | 8 | 18 | 8 | ||||
| 1983–84 | 38 | 8 | 1 | 38 | 9 | |||||
| 1984–85 | 34 | 10 | 2 | 34 | 12 | |||||
| 1985–86 | 37 | 10 | – | 37 | 10 | |||||
| 1986–87 | 29 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 3 | ||||
| 1987–88 | 24 | 3 | – | 24 | 3 | |||||
| 1988–89 | 34 | 7 | – | 34 | 7 | |||||
| 1989–90 | 36 | 7 | 1 | 36 | 8 | |||||
| 1990–91 | 37 | 10 | – | 37 | 10 | |||||
| Total | 287 | 67 | 14 | 4 | 344 | 85 | ||||
| Red Star | 1991–92 | Division 2 | 17 | 3 | – | 17 | 3 | |||
| Career total | 525 | 155 | 20 | 8 | 605 | 184 | ||||
International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yugoslavia | 1977 | 4 | 5 |
| 1978 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1979 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1980 | 6 | 3 | |
| 1981 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1982 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1983 | 5 | 3 | |
| 1984 | 5 | 2 | |
| 1985 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1986 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1987 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1988 | 2 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1990 | 10 | 1 | |
| Total | 54 | 21 | |
International goals
- Scores and results list Yugoslavia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sušić goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 October 1977 | Budapest, Hungary |  Hungary |
1–2 | 3–4 | Friendly |
| 2 | 3–4 | |||||
| 3 | 13 November 1977 | Bucharest, Romania |  Romania |
1–1 | 6–4 | 1978 World Cup qualifier |
| 4 | 3–3 | |||||
| 5 | 4–3 | |||||
| 6 | 13 June 1979 | Maksimir, Zagreb, Yugoslavia |  Italy |
1–1 | 4–1 | Friendly |
| 7 | 2–1 | |||||
| 8 | 3–1 | |||||
| 9 | 16 September 1979 | Marakana, Belgrade, Yugoslavia |  Argentina |
1–0 | 4–2 | Friendly |
| 10 | 2–0 | |||||
| 11 | 3–0 | |||||
| 12 | 30 March 1980 | Belgrade, Yugoslavia | Romania |
2–0 | 2–0 | Balkan Cup |
| 13 | 27 August 1980 | Bucharest, Romania | Romania |
1–3 | 1–4 | Balkan Cup |
| 14 | 10 September 1980 | Luxembourg, Luxembourg |  Luxembourg |
1–0 | 5–0 | 1982 World Cup qualifier |
| 15 | 12 October 1983 | JNA, Belgrade, Yugoslavia |  Norway |
2–0 | 2–1 | Euro 1984 qualifier |
| 16 | 21 December 1983 | Poljud, Split, Yugoslavia |  Bulgaria |
1–1 | 3–2 | Euro 1984 qualifier |
| 17 | 2–1 | |||||
| 18 | 2 June 1984 | Lisbon, Portugal |  Portugal |
1–1 | 3–2 | Friendly |
| 19 | 7 June 1984 | La Línea, Spain |  Spain |
1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 20 | 19 November 1988 | JNA, Belgrade, Yugoslavia |  France |
2–2 | 3–2 | 1990 World Cup qualifier |
| 21 | 19 June 1990 | Dall'Ara, Bologna, Italy |  United Arab Emirates |
1–0 | 4–1 | 1990 World Cup |
Managerial Statistics
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||
| Cannes | 1 July 1994 | 11 September 1995 | 52 | 20 | 9 | 23 | 83 | 75 | +8 | 38.46 |
| İstanbulspor | 25 September 1996 | 30 June 1999 | 102 | 45 | 25 | 32 | 178 | 148 | +30 | 44.12 |
| Al Hilal | 1 February 2001 | 30 June 2001 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 33.33 |
| Konyaspor | 1 October 2004 | 30 June 2005 | 28 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 58 | 53 | +5 | 35.71 |
| Ankaragücü | 23 September 2005 | 9 February 2006 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 18 | +1 | 38.46 |
| Çaykur Rizespor | 15 September 2006 | 19 January 2007 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | +0 | 40.00 |
| Çaykur Rizespor | 31 August 2007 | 1 February 2008 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 18 | 24 | −6 | 42.86 |
| Ankaraspor | 6 March 2008 | 30 June 2008 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 50.00 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 29 December 2009 | 17 November 2014 | 49 | 23 | 9 | 17 | 83 | 49 | +34 | 46.94 |
| Évian | 12 July 2015 | 11 January 2016 | 23 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 37 | 33 | +4 | 30.43 |
| Alanyaspor | 27 January 2017 | 25 December 2017 | 35 | 13 | 5 | 17 | 62 | 64 | −2 | 37.14 |
| Akhisarspor | 30 June 2018 | 17 September 2018 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 13 | −3 | 16.67 |
| Total | 343 | 139 | 75 | 129 | 573 | 498 | +75 | 40.52 | ||
Honours
Player
Paris Saint-Germain
- French Division 1: 1985–86
- Coupe de France: 1982–83
Individual
- Sport Ideal European XI: 1979
- ADN Eastern European Footballer of the Season: 1979, 1984
- Ligue 1 Foreign Player of the Year: 1982–83
- Yugoslav Footballer of the Year: 1979
- UEFA Jubilee Awards – Greatest Bosnian Footballer of the last 50 Years: 2003
- Yugoslav First League Top Goalscorer: 1979–80 (17 goals)
Manager
Akhisarspor
- Turkish Super Cup: 2018
Individual
- Bosnia and Herzegovina Manager of the Year: 2013
Awards
- Sixth April Award of Sarajevo: 1981
Images for kids
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A portrait of Safet Sušić
See also
In Spanish: Safet Sušić para niños
