Ivan

Petra

Dino

About the greatest success of the founder of Dinamo and the urban legend of Croatian football.

If a legend can be written from Croatian football, then its hero is precisely Ivan Hitrec. The young man with a boyish smile was not only the best domestic football player of the first half of the 20th century. Ico, the famous founder of Dinamo, was a charismatic personality of his time.

The player who will become a legend first showed himself to the people of Zagreb in the summer of 1926. As a fifteen-year-old, he played in the team of the City Swimming Pool. He delighted the audience. The cheerful boy passed his rivals as if for a joke, always with a new trick of the body. As a first-team member of HAŠK, he played against Hajduk from Split at the age of sixteen. On May 19, 1927, the "Whites" won 4:0, but little Ico was among the best on the field. He progressed incredibly fast. At the age of seventeen he played for the Zagreb seniors, and at the age of eighteen for Yugoslavia. He played 14 games in the national team and scored 9 goals.

Ico was our first soccer player of the highest world class. He played center forward and clutch, and he was tall and broad-shouldered, which is why he was nicknamed "Rucksack". Despite his height, he was unpredictable on the field. He had brilliant technique. With incredible speed and agility, he played superbly with both feet. The people of Zagreb came to the matches eagerly waiting for his tricks, which were recounted even decades later. Ica's first success took place in 1931, in one of the most famous matches ever held in Zagreb.

The game was watched by a then record 15,000 spectators from the stands. Madrid was led by the famous goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora. Zamora's greatness is best described by the fact that the Spanish award for the best goalkeeper in the season was named after him.

Posters were pasted all over Zagreb, inciting the crowd with the title "Hitrec v Zamora!". And the audience got nothing less than what they expected. Ico, the "cannon leg of Yugoslavia", then performed his legendary trick.

Technician Danko Premerl saw Hitrec in the penalty area. In the run, he passed an opposing player and passed the ball to Hitrec. Two opposing players then started running towards Ica. He couldn't turn left or right. He could only go through the middle. That move seemed impossible, and in such a stalemate, every other player would stop fighting.

But not Ico. He jerked his shoulders left and right. And in the blink of an eye, the cheated players went their separate ways, and the legendary purger flew between them! - Icooooo! - screamed the stands. And right in front of him, on the goal, stood Zamora. The famous Spanish goalkeeper was preparing for the jump. Hitrec didn't wait a second. From twelve meters, he cannonballed the ball into the very corner of the net. Screams of delight filled the stadium. The ball was indefensible! Even for Zamora! That evening, no one could believe that a twenty-year-old young man had outplayed the best Spanish players. Zagreb won 2:1 in the first Croatian night game, which took place at the Concordia stadium. Both goals were scored by Ico.

Later, Ico achieved a significant career in Switzerland's Grasshopper. In addition to his unique talent, he is also remembered as a good man with a big heart. They say that there was no better man between the two world wars. The football world was shaken by his sudden and tragic death. Namely, the beloved man from Zagreb died at the age of only 35. The Dinamo youth school was named after him, and the legend about him still lives on in the history of the city and his favorite club.

Goal legend

Ico was the biggest threat to the biggest rival of the Hašak team - Građanski.

The civic club was a broad-based club, in contrast to HAŠK, which was still mainly connected to the University and academics. At that time, there was a huge rivalry between the academics of HAŠK, who played in red shirts, and the purgers of Građanski, whose basic color was blue. Both the people of Haskovo and the Purgers were united in emphasizing their Croatianness.

In fact, during Ica's time, Građanski was a much better club than HAŠK. And because of this, many people wonder why the best Croatian football player did not play in that particular club.

What was even more unusual was that Ica's brother, Rudolf, played for Građanski. Journalists said that Hitrec's stay in HAŠK was due to the will of his older brother Rudolf, who played in that club for years. It seems that the brothers have created some of their own rules.

Nevertheless, Hitrec knew how to play for Građanski in some important matches. That's how he played against the strong Ferencvaros. Citizens won 2:1 thanks to Hitrec who scored both goals. After that match, Ferencvaros also recruited him, but Hitrec did not want to go to Hungary.

HAŠK vs. Civil

About cannonballs and missiles that break through European networks.

Izidor Dori Kürschner, Hungarian manager and coach, took the famous Ica to Zürich in 1931. There, the great dribbler from Zagreb played for the Swiss Grasshoppers.

In Europe, as well as in HAŠK, Ico was blazing and setting fire to the pitch.
In the same year, the Zagreb newspaper received a letter with nice news from Switzerland. Ico wrote the following:

– I scored five goals for Old Boys in the Swiss Cup. Oh, there was also a big accident. I shot one free kick so hard that it went through the net. The audience had fun for half an hour and laughed at my "bomb shush". –

"Bomb Shush"

About the funniest trick of the fastest HAŠK player

Journalists from well-known newspapers such as the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail couldn't help but admire Hitrec's popular "frog".

Ico would place the ball between his legs, squeeze it and jump between his opponents! The Zagreb stands were dying of laughter at that trick, but the strangest thing was that Hitrec, jumping like a frog, really managed to avoid his opponents. For every Ica match, more tickets were requested because the audience never knew what to expect!

Hitrec has always said that he does not enjoy taking kicks from 11 meters. He claimed that he was too close to the door then! Namely, this athlete was able to sprint 100 meters under 12 seconds. At the time, multiple Olympian Jesse Owens ran the same distance in 10.30 seconds.

From Ica's "bomber shots" that tore the nets, Olympic-fast sprints, to incredible dribbling with which he would deceive opponents, this unusual player turned ordinary games into a spectacle. Ica's wonderful "frog" was just the cherry on top of the football specialty that this talented purger prepared for the people of Zagreb.

Dribbling called "frog"

How did Hitrec end up in the "Magnificent Eleven"?

In the jersey of Yugoslavia, Ico gained fame in 1929, playing against the then Czechoslovakia. The match ended in a draw, 3:3. Then Ico played in a team with the greatest Serbian player of all time, the famous Blago Moša Marjanović. The legendary centre-forward, putting together the best pre-war world attack, gave the top ten - Ici.

Izidor Dori Kürschner, the Hungarian manager and coach of Grasshoppers, took the famous scorer and dribbler to Switzerland in 1931. In Zurich, Ico gained European fame. "Kicker", the largest European sports newspaper at the time, saw Hitrec and included him in the best team in Europe. The "Magnificent Eleven" team consisted of: Hiden - Monzeglio, Rosetta - Nausch, Sarosi, Gail - Halme, Hitrec, Sindelar, James and Orsi!

The Magnificent Eleven

Ivan Hitrec, the best Croatian soccer player before the Second World War, is known for his unusual and entertaining tricks and incredible goals, as well as for his commitment to Croatian sports.

He boycotted the Yugoslav national team, as a protest, due to the move of the Association from Zagreb to Belgrade. Then he refused to play at the first WC in Uruguay.

This talented football player was one of the founders of Dinamo in 1945, and then became its technical officer. I remember Hitrec's sentence from the founding meeting that took place in his office in the "Elektra" building. That sentence spread through the city in a whisper. Hitrec said: - Dinamo is a conspiratorial name for Građanski, and Mladost for HAŠK! –

Namely, Građanski was founded at a time when Croatia was still part of Austria-Hungary. Croats, dissatisfied with their status, demanded independence. Football was one of the ways they achieved it. Back in the spring of 1911, there were rumors around Zagreb that a new Hungarian football club would be founded and that it would be a member of the Hungarian Football Association, even though all the clubs in Zagreb were members of the Croatian Sports Association founded in 1909. Among young sports enthusiasts, the idea that it should to found a new football club before the Hungarians.

This is why the First Croatian Civic Sports Club Zagreb (1. HŠK Civic Zagreb) was founded on April 26, 1911. It was founded by Mutafelija with a group of his friends in the Matković restaurant, in Frankopanska 8. Mutafelija was elected the first president of the club. The popular purgers in blue jerseys initially played on the lawn at Tuškanec, and in 1924 they got their own playground next to today's Bus Station. The playground was personally opened by Stjepan Radić.

After the war, Građanski, Concordia and HAŠK were abolished. They were forbidden to act. Football club Dinamo was founded on June 9, 1945. From Građanski, he took over the blue color of the jerseys, most of the players, fans and the nickname purgeri, and the club crest was modeled after Građanski's crest.

Even today, Dinamo is considered the successor of Građanski. Its current name was adopted at the meeting of the club's assembly on April 12, 2011. Then the name "Nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb" was changed to "Civil football club Dinamo Zagreb" in order to pay tribute to the rich tradition of the Civic club.

How was Dinamo founded?

About the name that symbolizes the source of energy...

Ivan Hitrec was a builder by profession, an expert in road and bridge construction. In addition to playing football, he worked as a technical officer at the Zagreb Electric Power Station. Ico was one of the founders of Dinamo. A meeting was held in his office in the "Elektra" building in June 1945 at which Dinamo was founded.

It was Ico who gave Dinamo its famous name. "Dinamo" was an extremely popular name in Eastern Europe at the time, namely the name of the Moscow club. The name symbolized the source of energy.

Some witnesses of that historic meeting, at which Ico Hitrec and Ivica Medarić gave the main speech, recounted how Ico said a famous sentence: "Dinamo is a conspiratorial name for Građanski, and Mladost for HAŠK".

Although, after the collapse of the former state, there was a lot of discussion about the future of that name - in fact, some argued that the name Civic should be returned, the name remained. In 2011, "Football club Dinamo Zagreb" changed its name to "Citizen football club Dinamo Zagreb" in order to pay tribute to the rich tradition of the Građanski club.

How did Dinamo get its name?

About the good deeds of the great soccer player from Zagreb.

Ica is remembered by his contemporaries, not only as a top soccer player, but also as a great pedagogue, a cheerful person and a great man. Namely, due to its influence, Hitrec stood out during the Second World War.

He used his status and career to save the lives of many Jewish families. With his involvement, he saved almost the entire Hirschler and Rosenfeld family. At the last moment, they avoided the tragic fate that the Nazis were preparing for them.

Ico was a favorite. Sociable and always cheerful, he made jokes in the dressing room, was a favorite of the crowd, and did favors for everyone who turned to him for help...

A great benefactor

The tragic end of one of the greatest Croatian football talents...

Ica's brilliant but too short football career was marked by injuries. The first fatal injury occurred in 1932 when Ico Hitrec played for the Swiss Grasshopper.

Then he was "cut down" by the Austrian Tadler, and as a result Ico ended up in the hospital, in a plaster cast. The Swiss Grasshoppers lost the championship title in the last round of that season, and Ico was never as powerful as in the days when he was called "cannon legs". In fact, Ico had an incredible shot and speed. He ran a hundred meters in less than 12 seconds, which was a great result, considering how Jesse Owens, the multiple Olympic champion at the time, ran the same distance in 10 seconds and 30 hundredths.

But Ico recovered after those injuries and played again for Sparta. He later returned to his parent club HAŠK, with which he won the championship in 1938.

Another tragedy happened to him when he was returning from Marija Bistrica. Together with his wife Zita, he rode a motorcycle. They fell off the motorbike, but both of them had just peeled off. Ico continued on his motorcycle to the city, where he was hit by a truck in Gajeva Street.

The football world was shaken by his sudden and tragic death... He died in the Merkur hospital from a perforation of a stomach ulcer. For the greatest Croatian football player, koban was such a banal health problem.

Ici suddenly fell ill, so his brother Rudolf, an internist, took him to the hospital. There they were waiting for the surgeon who was supposed to operate on him. He was late for some reason, sepsis set in, and in a series of unfortunate circumstances, the beloved man from Zagreb died at the age of only 35.

In his honor, the Dinamo youth school was named after him, and incredible stories about his matches live on in the history of the favorite Zagreb club.

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