Fahrudin Jusufi

Club career

Jusufi was born into an ethnic Gorani Muslims (ethnic group) family in the village of Zli Potok near Dragash, Vardar Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, in present-day Kosovo. During his career, he played for FK Partizan, Eintracht Frankfurt, Germania Wiesbaden and FC Dornbirn, retiring in 1972. He was part of the Partizan squad when they became vice-champions of Europe after losing the 1966 European Cup Final against Real Madrid.

International career

On the national level, Jusufi played for Yugoslavia (55 matches), and was a participant at the 1962 FIFA World Cup and at the 1960 Summer Olympics, where his team won the gold medal.

After retiring, Jusufi went into coaching, mainly in West Germany with SG Wattenscheid 09 in the second division, but also in 1987–88 at the helm of Partizan. He also coached Schalke 04, 1860 Munich and lastly Čelik Zenica.

In a 1991 interview for Serbian bi-weekly Tempo, Jusufi was asked if he is "experiencing any problems in regards to the current political situation" and "due to his ethnicity." Jusufi replied, "Why would I be experiencing any problems? I'm a Gorani, if that even interests anyone." His son Sascha was also a professional footballer. Jusufi died on 9 August 2019 at the age of 79 in Hamburg, Germany.

Player

Partizan

Yugoslav First League: 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1964–65 Eintracht Frankfurt

UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1966–67 Yugoslavia

1960 European Nations' Cup: Runner-up 1960 Summer Olympics: Gold medal

Individual

Awards

World Soccer World XI: 1962, 1963, 1968 kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 1967–1968