Milan Ružić

Milan Ružić (25 July 1955 in Rijeka, Yugoslavia – 25 January 2014 in Rijeka, Croatia) was a Croatian football player. He was capped twice for Yugoslavia.^[1]

Milan Ružić

Personal information
Date of birth	(1955-07-25)25 July 1955
Place of birth	Rijeka, FPR Yugoslavia
Date of death	25 January 2014(2014-01-25) (aged 58)
Place of death	Rijeka, Croatia
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	NK Kraljevica
	Crikvenica
	Rijeka
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1976–1983	Rijeka	176	(18)
1983–1984	Beringen	22	(2)
1984–1988	AA Gent	114	(14)
1988–1989	Harelbeke	22	(3)
1989–1990	Hoek
Total		374	(115)
International career‡
1983	Yugoslavia	2	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 28 May 2010 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 28 May 2010

Club career

He scored 31 goals in 430 appearances for hometown club Rijeka and also played in Belgium.^[2]

International career

Ružić made his debut for Yugoslavia in a March 1983 friendly match away against Romania and earned a total of 2 caps, scoring no goals. His second and final international was a June 1983 friendly against West Germany.^[3]

Death and legacy

He died in January 2014 after a long and serious illness.^[4]

NK Kraljevica changed the name of their stadium Oštro to Stadium Milan Ružić - Minta in his honour in August 2015.^[5]

Career statistics

Club

^[6]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Yugoslavia		League			Yugoslav Cup		Other		Europe		Total
NK Rijeka	1976-77	Yugoslav First League	29	2	2	0	–	–	–	–	31	2
	1977-78		29	0	4	1	–	–	–	–	33	1
	1978-79		32	3	5	1	–	–	4	0	41	4
	1979-80		26	5	0	0	–	–	6	0	32	5
	1980-81		24	4	0	0	–	–	-	-	28	4
	1981-82		16	0	2	0	–	–	-	-	18	0
	1982-83		18	4	2	0	–	–	-	-	20	4
	1983-84		1	0	-	-	–	–	-	-	1	0
Belgium		League			Belgian Cup		Other		Europe		Total
K. Beringen	1983-84	First Division	22	2	2	0	–	–	–	–	24	2
K.A.A. Gent	1984-85		28	5	3	1	–	–	1	0	32	6
	1985-86		32	5	4	1	–	–	–	–	36	6
	1986-87		24	1	0	0	–	–	5	0	29	1
	1987-88		30	2	1	0	–	–	–	–	31	2
K.R.C. Harelbeke	1988-89	Second Division	22	3	2	0	–	–	–	–	24	3
Netherlands		League			KNVB Cup		Other		Europe		Total
HSV Hoek	1989-90	Hoofdklasse	-	-	-	-	–	–	–	–	0	0
Career total			333	36	27	4	0	0	16	0	376	40

Honours

NK Rijeka

• Yugoslav Cup: 1978, 1979
• Balkans Cup: 1978

Individual

• Best NK Rijeka player 1978-79, 1980-81, 1982-83
• NK Rijeka best left midfielder of all time
• Scorer of the 2500 goal of the Yugoslav First League^[7]
• HNK Rijeka all time XI by Novi list