Velimir Naumović

Velimir Naumović (Serbian Cyrillic: Велимир Наумовић; 19 March 1936 – 19 December 2011) was a Serbian footballer who played as a striker for SFR Yugoslavia. He was often called Veljko Naumović. During his managerial career, he was nicknamed The Saviour for his profound record of saving club from sticky situations.^[1]

Velimir Naumović

Naumović in 1965
Personal information
Date of birth	(1936-03-19)19 March 1936
Place of birth	Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Date of death	19 December 2011(2011-12-19) (aged 75)
Place of death	Liège, Belgium
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	Jedinstvo Zemun
	Red Star Belgrade
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1953–1956	Red Star Belgrade	3	(0)
1956–1965	Rijeka	204	(41)
1965–1969	Standard de Liège	66	(3)
1969–1971	Stade Rennais	49	(2)
1971–1972	Racing Jet
1972–1976	Tilleur
International career
1964	Yugoslavia	1	(0)
1963–1964	Yugoslavia XI	2	(0)
Managerial career
1976–1978	Rudar Labin
1978–1979	MC Alger
1980	MC Alger
1981–1983	Africa Sports
1986–1987	Mladost Petrinja
1989–1991	Orijent
1992–1993	Tilleur
	Union Namur
	Pazinka Pazin
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Club

He first appeared on Kantrida, his future club's ground, in 1954 at Kvarnerska Rivijera, where Red Star beat Rijeka 3:1 in the final of the tournament. During his military service in Rijeka, he moved to the town's football club NK Rijeka. He stayed at the club for nine years and became a legend, being part of the club's first generation to play in the First League. During his time in Rijeka, he received numerous offers to return to Red Star Belgrade, but stayed loyal to Rijeka. He played a total of 400 matches and scored 155 goals in all competitions.^[2]

In 1965, he moved to Belgian Standard Liège, where he won two Cup and one League title. During his time in Belgium, he was nicknamed "Yugoslav Puskás" for his superb playing. In the 1967–68 European Cup Winners' Cup, the team got to the quarter final where they were defeated by AC Milan.^[3] After Standard Liège, he moved to the French club Stade Rennais in 1969. There, he mostly played as a midfielder. He helped the club win the 1971 Coupe de France, their second trophy in history. He finished his career playing for the low-tier Belgian clubs Racing Jet and Tilleur.^[4]

International

Naumović made his debut for Yugoslavia in an October 1963 friendly match away against Romania, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute for Slaven Zambata, and earned a total of 3 caps (no goals). His final international again was a friendly against Romania but since the Romanians played with their Olympic squad both games are unofficial.^[5]

Managerial career

After his playing career, he managed NK Rudar Labin, NK Orijent, Tilleur, d'Abidjan, and MC Alger.^[6][7][8]

Career statistics

Club

^{[4] [9]}

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Yugoslavia			League		Yugoslav Cup		Europe		Total
1953–54	Red Star Belgrade	Yugoslav First League	2	0	–		–		2	0
1954–55			1	0	–		–		1	0
1955–56			0	0	–		–		0	0
1956–57	NK Rijeka	Yugoslav Second League	23	5	–		–		23	5
1957–58			26	17	–		–		26	17
1958–59		Yugoslav First League	22	8	4	1	–		26	9
1959–60			19	4	1	0	–		20	4
1960–61			20	1	1	0	–		21	1
1961–62			19	3	2	1	–		21	4
1962–63			24	1	1	0	–		25	1
1963–64			25	1	1	0	–		26	1
1964–65			26	1	1	0	–		27	1
Belgium			League		Belgian Cup		Europe		Total
1965–66	Standard Liège	Belgian First Division	24	2	–		3	0	27	2
1966–67			17	1	–		8	0	25	1
1967–68			23	0	–		5	0	28	0
1968–69			2	0	–		–		2	0
France			League		Coupe de France		Europe		Total
1969-70	Stade Rennais	Division 1	30	2	8	0	–		38	2
1970-71			19	0	5	0	–		24	0
Country	Yugoslavia		207	41	11	2	0	0	208	43
	Belgium		66	3	0	0	16	0	82	3
	France		49	2	13	0	0	0	62	2
Total			322	46	24	2	16	0	362	48

International matches

Velimir Naumović' matches for the Yugoslavia national team^[10]

Date	Location	Host team	Score	Away team	Competition	Goals scored
27 October 1963	Stadionul August 23, Bucharest	Romania	2–1	Yugoslavia	Friendly	0
18 March 1964	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia	Bulgaria	0–1	Yugoslavia	Friendly	0
17 June 1964	JNA Stadium, Belgrade	Yugoslavia	1–2	Romania	Friendly	0
Total		Appearances	3		Goals	0

Honours

Red Star Belgrade

• Yugoslav First League: 1955–56^[10]

NK Rijeka

• Yugoslav Second League: 1957–58

Standard de Liège

• Belgian First Division: 1968–69
• Belgian Cup: 1966, 1967

Stade Rennais

• Coupe de France: 1970–71

MC Alger

• Algerian Championnat National: 1978–79

Africa Sports

• Ivory Coast Ligue 1: 1982, 1983
• Coupe de Côte d'Ivoire: 1981, 1982
• Coupe Houphouët-Boigny: 1981, 1982

Individual

• Yugoslav Second League top goalscorer: 1957–58
• NK Rijeka all time XI by: Novi List