Ivan Bek Explained

Ivan Bek
Fullname:Yvan Beck
Birth Date:29 October 1909
Birth Place:Belgrade, Serbia
Death Place:Sète, France
Height:1.96 m
Position:Forward
Years1:1925–1928
Clubs1:BSK Beograd
Caps1:50
Goals1:51
Years2:1928
Clubs2:Mačva Šabac
Years3:1928–1931
Clubs3:Sète
Years4:1931–1932
Clubs4:Urania Genève Sport
Caps4:16
Goals4:16
Years5:1932–1935
Clubs5:Sète
Caps5:69
Goals5:33
Years6:1935–1939
Clubs6:Saint-Étienne
Caps6:109
Goals6:93
Years7:1940–1943
Clubs7:Nîmes
Years8:1943–1944
Clubs8:AS Aix
Totalcaps:254
Totalgoals:193
Nationalyears1:1927–1931
Nationalteam1:Yugoslavia
Nationalcaps1:8
Nationalgoals1:4
Nationalyears2:1935–1937
Nationalteam2:France
Nationalcaps2:5
Nationalgoals2:0

Ivan "Ivica" Bek (; 29 October 1909 – 2 June 1963), also known as Yvan Beck, was a Serbian-French football player.

He was part of Yugoslavia's team at the 1928 Summer Olympics[1] and at the 1930 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Bek was born to a German father, and a Czech mother in the Serbian capital Belgrade borough of Čubura. Aged 16, he started playing in BSK Belgrade where he scored 51 goals in 50 matches. In 1928, Bek moved to Mačva, and soon proceeded to French FC Sète. In his first season, he reached the cup finals, but lost 2–0 against Montpellier. Next year in cup finals against RC France, was victorious for Sète (3–1) with Bek scoring two decisive goals in extra time. Four years later with the same club, Bek was part of the first team that win the Double in France. Bek helped Yugoslavia get third place in the first FIFA world cup in Uruguay. Bek and his team went on a train from Belgrade to Marseille. When they came to Marseille they went on a crew ship to Uruguay in the second class.

International career

Internationally, Bek represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (seven caps, four goals) and France (five caps). For Yugoslavia he debuted in 1927 against Bulgaria (2–0), participated Olympic tournament in 1928 in Amsterdam and played in the 1930 FIFA World Cup for Yugoslavia scoring three goals. In 1933, Bek took French citizenship and renamed himself Yvan Beck and in February 1935 he was picked for the first time for the Equipe Tricolore.

International goals

Scores and results list Yugoslavia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bek goal.

List of international goals scored by Ivan Bek
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1 14 July 1930 Estadio Gran Parque Central, Montevideo, Uruguay 2–0 2–1 1930 FIFA World Cup
2 17 July 1930 Estadio Gran Parque Central, Montevideo, Uruguay 1–0 4–0 1930 FIFA World Cup
3 3–0

Post-playing career

During the Second World War, Bek was a member of the French Resistance. After the war, he worked as a dockworker in Sète, where he died from a heart attack.

Honours

FC Sète

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ivan "Ivica" Bek . Olympedia . 17 September 2021 . 16 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210916232112/https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/111103 . live .