Vladica Popović

Vladimir "Vladica" Popović (Serbian Cyrillic: Владимир "Владица" Поповић; 17 March 1935 – 10 August 2020[1]) was a Serbian professional footballer[2] and manager. The biggest success in his coaching career was winning the Intercontinental Cup with Red Star Belgrade in 1991.

Vladica Popović

Personal information
Full name	Vladimir Popović
Date of birth	(1935-03-17)17 March 1935
Place of birth	Zemun, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Date of death	10 August 2020(2020-08-10) (aged 85)
Place of death	Belgrade, Serbia
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Jedinstvo Zemun
0000–1953	Red Star Belgrade
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1953–1965	Red Star Belgrade	214	(8)
1965–1966	VfB Stuttgart	2	(0)
1966–1968	Stuttgarter Kickers	52	(2)
1968–1969	Canarias
Total		268	(10)
International career
1956–1965	Yugoslavia	20	(0)
Managerial career
	Portuguesa
	Deportivo Italia
1971–1972	Independiente Santa Fe
1973	Atlético Nacional
1974	Deportivo Cali
1977–1978	Napredak Kruševac
	Trepča
1984–1986	Deportivo Cali
1989	Deportivo Cali
1990–1991	Borac Banja Luka
1991–1992	Red Star Belgrade
1992–1993	Peru
1994–1995	Millonarios
1998–1999	Caracas
Medal record Men's football Representing  Yugoslavia Olympic Games 1956 Melbourne Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Born in Zemun, Popović started playing at local side Jedinstvo but his talent was spotted while he was still very young and giants Red Star Belgrade brought him to their youth team where he will later play for more than a decade becoming team captain and also regular member of the Yugoslavia national team.[3] He was part of the team that won the silver medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics.[4]

Popović began coaching football in Venezuela in the 1970s, leading Portuguesa FC, Caracas F.C. and Deportivo Italia. He also managed Colombian sides Deportivo Cali and Millonarios as well as the Peru national football team.[5]