Đuka Lovrić Explained

Đuka Lovrić
Birth Date:23 August 1927
Birth Place:Sarajevo, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Death Place:Sarajevo, FPR Yugoslavia
Position:Midfielder
Years1:1945–1946
Years2:1946–1955
Clubs1:Sloboda
Clubs2:FK Sarajevo
Caps1:19
Goals1:4
Caps2:196
Goals2:78

Đuka Lovrić (born 23 August 1927 in Sarajevo, Kingdom of Yugoslavia - died 20 February 1957 in Sarajevo, FPR Yugoslavia) was a Yugoslav professional footballer. He fell in love with the game by watching his older brother, Bosnian footballer Franjo Lovrić, play.[1]

Club career

After the end of the war he joined newly-formed Sloboda with his brother and the two eventually joined SD Torpedo which was formed a year later by the fusion of Sloboda and another Sarajevo-based side, Udarnik and later renamed FK Sarajevo.[1] He spent 9 years playing for FK Sarajevo during which time he earned 196 caps and scored 78 goals for the maroon-whites, earning him a call-up to the Yugoslavia national team for a friendly against England in Belgrade in 1954.[1] He did however not play.

In the autumn of 1954 he became terminally ill[2] and soon after had to retire from professional football at the age of 27. He played his last match for FK Sarajevo on 5 June 1955 against NK Zagreb.[3]

Death

Lovrić died in Sarajevo, FPR Yugoslavia in 1957, at the age of just 30.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Đuka Lovrić (1927-1957). Fksinfo.com. Bosnian. 12 August 2014.
  2. Web site: Prije 60 godina: Umro Đuka Lovrić, jedan od najboljih strijelaca FK Sarajevo. RadioSarajevo.ba. Bosnian. 3 April 2021.
  3. Web site: Godišnjica smrti Đuke Lovrića. Historija.ba. Bosnian. 12 August 2014.