:Edin Sprečo

{{Short description|Bosnian footballer (1947–2020)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}

{{infobox football biography

| name = Edin Sprečo

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| fullname = Edin Sprečo

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1947|04|19|df=y}}

| birth_place = Sarajevo, FPR Yugoslavia

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|05|12|1947|04|19|df=y}}

| death_place = Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

| position = Striker

| currentclub =

| youthyears1 = 1959–1964

| youthclubs1 = Željezničar

| years1 = 1964–1975

| clubs1 = Željezničar

| caps1 = 199

| goals1 = 61

| years2 = 1975–1976

| clubs2 = NAC Breda

| caps2 = 25

| goals2 = 7

| years3 = 1976–1977

| clubs3 = Željezničar

| caps3 = 4

| goals3 = 0

| years4 = 1977–1979

| clubs4 = Rennes

| caps4 = 35

| goals4 = 18

| years5 = 1979–1981

| clubs5 = Iskra Bugojno

| caps5 = 38

| goals5 = 9

| totalcaps = 301

| totalgoals = 95

| nationalyears1 = 1967–1969

| nationalteam1 = Yugoslavia

| nationalcaps1 = 3

| nationalgoals1 = 2

}}

Edin Sprečo (19 April 1947 – 12 May 2020) was a Bosnian professional footballer who played as a winger.

Club career

Born in Sarajevo, SFR Yugoslavia, present day Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sprečo started playing football for the youth team of hometown club Željezničar when he was 12. At the age of 17, he made his debut for the first team. Sprečo scored two goals in his first game and it was clear that he would become a great player.{{cite web|url=http://1921.ba/edin-spreco-1608|title=Edin Sprečo|accessdate=1 August 2019|language=Bosnian|author=Nedim Kreštalica|website=1921.ba}}

He played 199 league games and scored 61 goals for Željezničar. In total, Sprečo played in 234 games and managed to score 75 goals. He was a member of the Željezničar team that won the Yugoslav First League title in the 1971–72 season. In 1975, Sprečo turned 28 and he was allowed to go abroad, as it was prohibited for under-28 players to leave the domestic clubs at the time. He went to Dutch Eredivisie club NAC Breda. He played in Holland alongside compatriots Miroslav Vardić and Nikola Budišić, finishing in 11th place in the Eredivisie.[https://www.bndestem.nl/nac/edin-spreco-een-kanjer-van-een-spits~ad24c5fa/ Edin Sprečo: een kanjer van een spits] - BN De Stem {{in lang|nl}}

He also played for, at the time, French Ligue 2 club Rennes making his debut against AS Brestoise on 8 January 1978.[https://www.stade-rennais-online.com/Edin-Spreco.html Profile] - Stade Rennais Sprečo finished his career at the age of 34 in 1981, while playing for Iskra Bugojno.

International career

Sprečo earned 3 caps for the Yugoslavia national team and also scored two goals while playing for the national team from 1967 to 1969. He scored his first goal for Yugoslavia on 12 November 1967, in a 4–0 win against Albania in a UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying match.{{cite web|url=https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/match/3879--yugoslavia-vs-albania/|title=Yugoslavia 4–0 Albania|date=12 November 1967|access-date=20 April 2020|language=English|website=uefa.com}} His final international was a June 1969 World Cup qualification match away against Finland.{{cite web|url=https://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=19861|title=Player Database|website=eu-football.info|accessdate=2021-05-22}}

Career statistics

=Club=

Source:{{cite web|url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/player/26113/Edin_Spreco.html|title=Edin Sprečo|accessdate=20 April 2020|language=English|website=National-Football-Teams.com}}

class=wikitable style="text-align: center;font-size:95%"
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

!rowspan=2|Club

!rowspan=2|Season

!colspan=3|League

!colspan=2|Cup

!colspan=2|Continental

!colspan=2|Total

DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
rowspan=13|Željezničar

|1964–65

|Yugoslav First League

|2

0colspan=2|—colspan=2|—20
1965–66

|Yugoslav First League

|2

0colspan=2|—colspan=2|—20
1966–67

|Yugoslav First League

|19

7colspan=2|—colspan=2|—197
1967–68

|Yugoslav First League

|26

13colspan=2|—colspan=2|—2613
1968–69

|Yugoslav First League

|24

12colspan=2|—colspan=2|—2412
1969–70

|Yugoslav First League

|6

0colspan=2|—colspan=2|—60
1970–71

|Yugoslav First League

|33

7colspan=2|—colspan=2|—337
1971–72

|Yugoslav First League

|32

5colspan=2|—84409
1972–73

|Yugoslav First League

|31

10colspan=2|—213311
1973–74

|Yugoslav First League

|15

7colspan=2|—colspan=2|—157
1974–75

|Yugoslav First League

|7

0colspan=2|—colspan=2|—70
1975–76

|Yugoslav First League

|2

0colspan=2|—colspan=2|—20
colspan=2|Total

!199||61||colspan=2|—||10||5||209||66

NAC Breda

|1975–76

|Eredivisie

|25

710colspan=2|—267
Željezničar

|1976–77

|Yugoslav First League

|4

000colspan=2|—40
rowspan=3|Rennes

|1977–78

|Ligue 2

|9

4colspan=2|—colspan=2|—94
1978–79

|Ligue 2

|26

14colspan=2|—colspan=2|—2614
colspan=2|Total

!35||18||colspan=2|—||colspan=2|—||35||18

rowspan=3|Iskra Bugojno

|1979–80

|Yugoslav Second League

|23

6colspan=2|—colspan=2|—236
1980–81

|Yugoslav Second League

|15

3colspan=2|—colspan=2|—153
colspan=2|Total

!38||9||colspan=2|—||colspan=2|—||38||9

colspan=3|Career total

!301||95||1||0||10||5||312||100

=International=

Source:

class=wikitable style=text-align:center
National teamYearAppsGoals
rowspan=4|Yugoslavia
196721
196800
196911
colspan=2|Total||3||2

=International goals=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

! # !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition

1.12 November 1967Stadion JNA, Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia{{fb|ALB}}1–04–0UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying
2.4 June 1969Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland{{fb|FIN}}4–15–11970 FIFA World Cup qualification
colspan="7"|Source:

Death

Sprečo died at the age of 73 in his hometown of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on 12 May 2020.{{cite web|url=https://www.klix.ba/sport/nogomet/preminuo-edin-spreco-legendarni-nogometas-zeljeznicara/200512066|title=Preminuo Edin Sprečo, legendarni nogometaš Željezničara|date=12 May 2020|accessdate=12 May 2020|language=Bosnian|author=N.K.|publisher=Klix.ba}}

Honours

=Player=

References

{{Reflist}}