Yugoslav footballer (1931–2021)
Ivan Toplak (Serbian Cyrillic : Иван Toплaк; 21 September 1931 – 25 July 2021) was a Serbian football player and manager . Toplak played for NK Olimpija Ljubljana and Red Star Belgrade , with whom he had much success. As a player he also represented the Yugoslavia national team . As a manager he also managed Red Star, had a managing period in the United States, managed almost all levels of the Yugoslavia national team and also managed the Indonesia national team .
At the 1984 Summer Olympics , he guided Yugoslavia to a bronze medal.
Club career
Toplak started his career at NK Branik Maribor in Maribor , where his family moved in 1943 from Belgrade .[2]
In 1951, he signed with NK Olimpija Ljubljana , where he spent playing the next three years.
With Olimpija, he won the Slovenian Republic League in 1952 .
In 1954, Toplak left Olimpija for Red Star Belgrade . He played at Red Star for seven years, until 1961. With Red Star he won the Yugoslav First League in the seasons 1955–56 , 1956–57 , 1958–59 , 1959–60 . He had also won the Yugoslav Cup in the 1957–58 season and the 1958–59 season . On international club level, he won the Mitropa Cup in 1958 .
He left Red Star in 1961 and shortly after retired from football at the age of 30.
International career
Toplak earned one cap for the Yugoslavia national team in 1956, but did not score a goal in that game.
Managerial career
In 1964, Toplak became the new manager of Red Star Belgrade in the Yugoslav First League . He managed the club for two years, but did not manage to win anything.
After Yugoslavia, he went to the USA in 1967, where he managed the California Clippers from 1967 to 1968, Stanford University from 1969 to 1971 and the San Jose Earthquakes from 1974 to 1975.
In 1976 he left the US and came back to Yugoslavia , where from 1976 to 1977, he was manager of the Yugoslavia national team .
After the A team, he managed the Yugoslavia U20 and Yugoslavia U21 sides, both at the same time from 1978 to 1980. He led the U21 side at the 1980 UEFA Euro U21 Championship where he got the team to the semi-finals .
In 1984, he led the Yugoslavia U23 side at the 1984 Summer Olympics . He guided the team to third place.
In 1986 he was a co-manager of the Yugoslavia national team, this time alongside Ivica Osim .
From 1991 to 1993, Toplak managed the Indonesia national team . In 1993, after leaving Indonesia, he announced his managerial retirement.
Death
Toplak died on 25 July 2021 at the age of 89.[3] [4]
NASL winning head coaches
Ivan Toplak managerial positions
Ivan Toplak managerial positions
Ugrinić 1920 –24)Sekulić 1924 )Zinaja 1924 –25)Pandaković 1926 –30)Simonović 1930 –32)Veljković 1933 )Simonović 1933 –34)Šuste, Miodragović & Pleše 1934 –35)Simonović 1935 )Simić 1936 )Popović 1937 –38)Simonović 1939 )Popović 1939 )Simonović 1939 –40)Popović 1940 –41)Arsenijević & Tirnanić 1946 –48)Arsenijević 1948 –52)Arsenijević , Tirnanić , Lemešić 1952 –54)Pešić , Tirnanić , Lemešić , Wölfl & Ćirić 1954 )Tirnanić 1955 –58)Nikolić , Tirnanić & Lovrić 1959 –61)Lovrić , Mihajlović & Ruševljanin 1961 –63)Lovrić & Ruševljanin 1963 –64)Lovrić 1964 )Tirnanić , Antolković , Miljanić & Gegić 1965 )Tirnanić , Antolković & Miljanić 1966 )Tirnanić & Miljanić 1966 )Tirnanić , Miljanić , Mitić , Boškov & Stanković 1966 )Mitić 1967 –70)Boškov 1971 –73)Miljanić , Ribar , Rebac , Ivić & Ćirić 1973 –74)Mladinić 1974 –76)Toplak 1976 –77)Valok , Vilotić & Zec 1977 )Vilotić 1978 )Luštica 1978 )Mladinić 1978 )Jerković 1978 )Miljanić 1979 –82)Veselinović 1982 –84)Milutinović 1984 –85)Toplak & Osim 1986 )Osim 1986 –92)Čabrinović 1992 )
