Vedran Rožić

Hajduk Split

He started his youth career at Slaven Trogir. Thanks to the scouting of Vojmir Kačić, he quickly came to Hajduk Split. Vedran made his debut in November 1972 against Sloboda Tuzla. He was the youngest member of the Hajduk golden generation and would be the last one of them to leave the club later. Rožić played technically beautiful football and at the beginning he played as a left back. During the Branko Zebec years, he played in the midfield. Later he became a left center back where he was good at attacking counter play and had good marking against enemy strikers. Later in his career he played as a sweeper. He played the Backenbauer role perfectly. He was known for his elegance in front of the keeper. He could easily jump in the 11 meter box and return the ball to the keeper. Many defenders in Yugoslavia would try to copy that style. He was not an aggressive player, he did not talk much to the press and was very moderate. During the 70s when Hajduk players such as Šurjak, Mužinić and Žungul were superstars, he would drive every day after training to his house in Trogir and would ignore the media attention. He won the Yugoslav league in 1974,1975 and 1979. He also won five Yugoslav cups in 1973,1974,1976,1977 and 1984. He left the club in 1984 and thus becoming the last player of the great 70s generation which stayed at Hajduk and had 390 caps in total.

Croatia Sydney FC

His move to Australia was a political controversy because the Croats in…

He made his debut for Yugoslavia in an April 1978 friendly match away against Iran, coming on as a 46th-minute substitute for Aleksandar Trifunović, and earned a total of 10 caps, scoring no goals. His final international was an October 1983 friendly away against Switzerland.

During his Australian period, he fathered a son called Ante, who later also became a professional footballer.

Hajduk Split

Yugoslav First League (3): 1974, 1975, 1979 Yugoslav Cup (5): 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1984