It is hard to say whether he was more strongly bound to Dinamo in his playing days or in his later years as a coach and in retirement. We will remember him as one of the most significant players in Dinamo's history, in the eyes of many perhaps part of the greatest blue eleven ever...

A celebrated member of Dinamo's famous 1967 generation, our renowned Krasnodar Rora, left us forever on 12 November 2020, in his 76th year.

It was a Tuesday in that gloomy November when our dear and unforgettable Kraso, his voice trembling and deeply shaken, gave a farewell speech at the funeral of his friend, teammate and captain Slaven Zambata... Only two days later came more shocking news. On Thursday, 12 November 2020, our Rora left us forever too.

We remember him as one of the heroes of Dinamo's history, among the leaders of the squad on the road to the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup trophy, a competition that grew into the UEFA Cup, today's Europa League. He flew down the left wing, left opposing defenders “in the dust”, delivered timely and precise crosses, and set up his teammates... The exquisite assist to Zambata for the first goal in the legendary match against Eintracht, immediately followed by a quick cross-shot to Marijan Novak for the second goal barely a minute and a half later, the net of Leeds United hit in the final itself...

In the 10 years he spent in the blue jersey, he made 459 appearances and scored 90 goals.

“Rora and Stjepan Lamza were the best dribblers of our generation,” recalled the celebrated Dinamo player and later coach Zdenko Kobeščak.

As an exceptionally gifted graduating junior, Rora shone in the leading line-up of then second-division side Šibenik, who came very close to securing promotion to the top flight. There, for example, he gained experience alongside the popular Zeko, the older brother of Slaven Zambata. After all, at Dinamo he got along best with Zambata. Perhaps even the key moment in Dinamo's march to the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was precisely a “consequence” of their partnership. In the 14th minute of the return leg against Eintracht in Zagreb, where the Blues were chasing a three-goal deficit from the first match, Rora delivered a precise cross to Zambata for an early 1-0 lead. It was only the beginning of tremendous pressure that completely broke the German defence. Practically in the very next move, Rora cut the ball back into the middle, where Novak ran in and slammed it home for 2-0 and complete delirium in the stands. The goal against Leeds in the final, for a 2-0 lead in the first leg in Zagreb, goes down in the annals as one of the most important in the club's history.

The title of Inter-Cities Fairs Cup winner in 1967, along with the Yugoslav Cup winner's trophies of 1965 and 1969, crowned Rora's impressive and exceptionally successful ten-year playing spell at the Maksimir club.

He was born on 23 September 1945 on Vis, but grew up in Šibenik. He came to Dinamo in 1964, where he inherited the number 11 shirt previously worn by Božidar Senčar, Aleksandar Benko, Dionizije Bato Dvornić, Ilijas Pašić, Tomislav Knez... He chose Maksimir with the explanation: “The tradition of Šibenik students drawn to Zagreb is well known, and I am glad that I, too, took that path.”

His first coach at Maksimir was Milan Antolković, followed by Vlatko Konjevod, with whom he did not get along best on the football front, then Antolković again, and then Ivan Oskar Jazbinšek, Branko Zebec, Ivica Horvat, Zlatko Čajkovski, Dražan Jerković, Stjepan Bobek and Domagoj Kapetanović.

After 10 seasons at Maksimir he moved to Belgium's Standard and then to France's Nancy, where he played in midfield and for a time even as a sweeper. At Nancy he played alongside the future legend of French and world football, Michel Platini, with whom he stayed behind for extra practice after regular training sessions. Indeed, Platini himself, during a visit to the Croatian Football Federation, noted: “I would not have become the player I was had I not stayed after training to do extra work with Rora.”

After his playing career, Rora worked as a coach in Dinamo's football academy and also served as an assistant to the head coach, and as an expert commentator he stood out in journalism as well.

At Dinamo he was also the president of the Players' Council. He was one of the symbols of the 1967 generation, a great friend, a unifying force and even a kind of “spokesman” for the whole generation. (Miroslav Tomašević)