Bruno Belin

{{short description|Croatian footballer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Bruno Belin

| image = Bruno Belin wiki photo.jpg

| image_size = 200px

| fullname = Bruno Belin

| birth_date = 16 January 1929

| birth_place = Zagreb, Kingdom of SCS

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1962|10|20|1929|1|16}}

| death_place = Belgrade, FPR Yugoslavia

| position = Defender

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 = HAŠK

| youthyears2 = 1945–1947

| youthclubs2 = Metalac Zagreb

| years1 = 1947–1950

| years2 = 1951–1962

| clubs1 = Metalac Zagreb

| clubs2 = Partizan

| caps1 = | goals1 =

| caps2 = 205 | goals2 = 10

| nationalyears1 = 1952–1959

| nationalteam1 = Yugoslavia

| nationalcaps1 = 25 | nationalgoals1 = 0

}}

Bruno Belin (16 January 1929 – 20 October 1962) was a Croatian and Yugoslav footballer best remembered for his time with Partizan between the early 1950s and the early 1960s. He was also part of the Yugoslavia squad at the 1954 FIFA World Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals.

Club career

He started his career at Zagreb based NK Metalac and after completing his military service in 1950 he joined Belgrade-based giants FK Partizan where he won one national championship and 3 cup titles.[http://www.reprezentacija.rs/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=904&Itemid=12 Bruno Belin] at Reprezentacija.rs {{in lang|sr}} Belin played a total of 463 games for Partizan with 41 goals scored. He was considered one of the best Yugoslav defenders at the time he played, and he especially stood out for his technique, quickness and calmness in the game.

International career

He made his debut for Yugoslavia in a December 1952 friendly match against West Germany and earned a total of 25 caps scoring no goals.{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/joeg-recintlp.html|title=Yugoslavia (Serbia (and Montenegro)) - Record International Players|access-date=29 March 2024|website=RSSSF}} His final international was a May 1959 European Nations' Cup qualifying match against Bulgaria.{{cite web|url=https://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=1553|title=Player Database|accessdate=6 June 2022|website=EU-football}}

Death and legacy

After retiring from playing in 1961 he became a youth coach at Partizan.

He died in a car crash in October 1962 on the Belgrade-Zagreb highway, together with Partizan defender Čedomir Lazarević, water polo player Boris Škanata and Radnički Beograd player Vladimir Josipović. The FK Partizan Academy, commonly known as "Belin–Lazarević–Nadoveza youth school" is named in his honour.

Belin's younger brother Rudolf (b. 1942) was also an accomplished footballer and a Yugoslav international, who won three Marshal Tito Cups with Dinamo Zagreb in the 1960s.

Honours

References

{{Reflist}}