Velimir Sombolac

Velimir Sombolac

Personal information
Full name	Velimir Sombolac
Date of birth	(1939-02-27) February 27, 1939
Place of birth	Banja Luka, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Date of death	22 May 2016, (aged 77)
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
1955–1957	BSK Banja Luka
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1957–1959	Borac Banja Luka
1959–1965	Partizan	88	(0)
1965–1970	Olimpija Ljubljana	70	(0)
1970–1971	Orijent Rijeka
1971–1973	Borac Banja Luka
International career
1958–1959	Yugoslavia U-21	10	(0)
1960	Yugoslavia Olympic	2	(0)
1960	Yugoslavia	3	(0)
Medal record Men's Football Representing Yugoslavia Olympic Games 1960 Rome Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Velimir Sombolac (Serbian Cyrillic: Beлимиp Coмбoлaц ) (born February 27, 1939) is a former Bosnian Serb football player and manager.

Club career

Following the steps of his elder brother Petar, he started playing in his hometown club FK BSK Banja Luka where he, with his team, surprisingly achieved the third place in the Yugoslav national youth championship. After this success, the BSK's coach Aco Mastala received a proposal to move to the city's main club FK Borac Banja Luka, which he accepted and brought along some of the players that helped him previously, between them, obviously, Velimir Sombolac. While in Borac, Velimir's good exhibitions didn't passed unnoticed, and, beside starting to represent the Yugoslav under-21 team, two seasons after he came there, received an invitation to move to one of the greatest Yugoslav clubs, the Belgrade's FK Partizan. There, playing alongside stars like Šoškić, Galić, Jusufi, and others, he will play six seasons with a total of 260 matches, being national champion in four occasions. In 1965 he moved to NK Olimpija Ljubljana where he will play until 1970. Together with Smajlović Arslanagić and, again, Šoškić, they would make Olimpija one of the most attractive Yugoslav First League teams. In 1970, instead of moving abroad, as many other Yugoslav players in that period and with his age did, he will move to Second League NK Orijent Rijeka where he would play one season, before returning to FK Borac Banja Luka where he will hang on his boots in 1973.

National team

After having played ten matches for the Yugoslav U-21 team, and also five for the national "B" team, he was in the Olympic team that represented Yugoslavia at the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, and where Yugoslavia won the gold eliminating hosts Italy in the semi-finals, and beating Denmark ( 3–1 ) in the final. Afterward, Sombolac also played five matches for the Yugoslavia national football team.

Honours

Club

Partizan Belgrade

• Yugoslav First League (4): 1960-61, 1961-62, 1962-63, 1964-65

National team

Yugoslavia

• 1960 Summer Olympics: Gold medal

Managerial career

Right after retiring, in 1973, he took charge of a small regional club called FK Sloga Gornji Pogradec, that provided him with crucial experience for returning, in 1974, to Borac, to become the assistant manager until 1976. During this years, Borac played one Yugoslav Cup final, will play in the European Cup Winners Cup and gained promotion to the Yugoslav First League. Then he will take charge as main manager of FK Kozara Gradiška. After three seasons there, he stayed in the club, but he founded his true vocation, that was working with youth .

After the break-up of Yugoslavia, he worked at the Republika Srpska Football Federation, helping to form all the youth categories teams, and will become the main manager of the Republika Srpska national football team.

External links

• Profile at Worldfootball.
• Profile and career story at Serbian Federation website. Template:Sr icon
• Interview at Borac B.Luka official website. Template:Sr icon