Branko Kralj

Branko Kralj

Personal information
Date of birth	10 March 1924
Place of birth	Zagreb, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Date of death	18 December 2012 (aged 88)
Place of death	Zagreb, Croatia
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Youth career
1938–1942	Concordia Zagreb
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1942–1945	Concordia Zagreb
1945–1952	Borac Zagreb
1952–1956	Dinamo Zagreb	61	(0)
National team
1954–1955	Yugoslavia	3	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Branko Kralj (10 March 1924 – 18 December 2012) was a Croatian footballer who played as goalkeeper. He was born and died in Zagreb. Kralj joined local side HŠK Concordia in 1938. After World War II when the club was disbanded he joined NK Borac. Borac later merged into today's NK Zagreb and Kralj moved to local powerhouse Dinamo Zagreb. During his time with Dinamo he appeared in a total of 108 matches (including 61 Yugoslav First League games) and helped the club win the 1953–54 championship title. He retired the following season after sustaining a career-ending injury during a match against Velež Mostar.

He was called up for Yugoslavia 39 times during his time at Dinamo, but always as a substitute for the team's first-choice goalkeeper Vladimir Beara of Hajduk Split. He eventually earned three caps for the national team, each time coming on as a substitute for Beara between 1954 and 1955, and was a member of the Yugoslav squad which reached the quarter-final in the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland.^[1]

After retiring from active football he graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Zagreb and worked in Dinamo's club management.

References

1. "1954 FIFA World Cup Switzerland - Yugoslavia squad". FIFA.com. Retrieved 2010-02-05.

External links

• Branko Kralj at National-Football-Teams.com
• Branko Kralj at the Serbia national football team website (Serbian)
• Branko Kralj's obituary (Croatian)