Ivan Ico Hitrec
Personal information
Full name Ivan Hitrec
Date of birth (1911-04-13)13 April 1911
Place of birth Zagreb, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary
Date of death 11 October 1946(1946-10-11) (aged 35)
Place of death Zagreb, FPR Yugoslavia
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1924–1927 Ilirija Zagreb
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1927–1931 HAŠK
1931–1932 Grasshopper Club Zürich
1933 Krajišnik Banja Luka
1933 Sparta Zagreb
1933–1940 HAŠK
International career
1929–1939 Kingdom of Yugoslavia 14 (10)
Managerial career
1945 OSK Mladost
1945–1946 Dinamo Zagreb (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ivan "Ico" Hitrec (13 April 1911 – 11 October 1946) was a Croatian football player.

He was the first technical officer and in his office in the Zagreb power-works in Gundulićeva Street, the best players from Građanski met and discussed forming a new club with blue shirts which later became Dinamo Zagreb.

Club career

The centre-forward became a legend after scoring twice against then famous Spanish keeper Ricardo Zamora during the first night game in Zagreb between Zagreb and Madrid in 1931. As one of the first Croatian international players, he went on to play for Grasshopper of Switzerland, and "Kicker", at the time the foremost sports journal in Europe, chose him as a member of the European elite 11.[1][2]

International career

Hitrec was a goal-scorer for the Kingdom of Yugoslavia national team. He appeared in 14 international games and scored 9 goals in 7 of them. He was one of seven Croatian players to boycott the Yugoslavia national team at the 1930 FIFA World Cup after the Football Association of Yugoslavia was moved from Zagreb to Belgrade.[1][2] His final international was an October 1939 friendly match against Germany.[3]

Style of play

Hitrec's play was characterized by excellent technique and dribbling skills. He was able to sprint 100 meters in under 12 seconds in football conditions making him one of the fastest footballers of the era.[1][2] He was also known for very powerful kicks, and was quoted as saying jokingly that he did not like to perform 11 m penalty kicks because they were "too close" (to the goal).[1][2] Severino Minelli, his Grasshopper teammate, reminisced about Hitrec: "I played many matches where Hitrec was brilliant, the best. But, above all, I remember his kicks. Frightful! Goalkeepers would move away from his balls, I'm not exaggerating, that's indeed how it was."[4]

Honours

Grasshopper Club Zürich

HAŠK

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "100 godina Dinama - Povijest Dinama". gnkdinamo.hr (in Croatian). Zagreb: GNK Dinamo. Archived from the original on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Career story at Serbian Federation site
  3. ↑ "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  4. ↑ "Imao je top u nogama, a Englezi se nisu mogli nadiviti njegovoj 'žabi': 'To je nesvakidašnji dribling'". Sportske novosti (in Croatian). 19 June 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
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