Zvonko Varga (Serbian Cyrillic: Звонко Варга; born 27 November 1959) is a Serbian football manager and former player.

Zvonko Varga
Personal information
Date of birth (1959-11-27) 27 November 1959 (age 65)
Place of birth Crvenka, FPR Yugoslavia
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Crvenka
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1976–1977 Crvenka 1 (0)
1978–1986 Partizan 199 (58)
1986–1993 Club Liégeois 169 (65)
1993–1994 Seraing 24 (2)
1994–1995 Club Liégeois 28 (13)
1995–1997 Tilleur-Liégeois
Total 421 (138)
International career
1979 Yugoslavia U20 3 (0)
Managerial career
1997 Tilleur-Liégeois
2000–2001 OFK Beograd
2002 Rad
2002–2003 Partizan (assistant)
2004 Sartid Smederevo
2004–2005 Partizan (assistant)
2005–2006 Teleoptik
2006–2007 Partizan (assistant)
2007 Qatar SC (assistant)
2008–2011 Teleoptik
2011 Ittihad (assistant)
2012–2015 Partizan (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

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A striker, Varga made his senior debut at Crvenka in the Yugoslav Second League, before moving to Yugoslav First League side Partizan without his club's permission.[1] He would occasionally train with Second League club Rad, before being cleared to play for Partizan. From then on, Varga spent eight seasons with the Crno-beli (1978–1986), making 199 appearances and scoring 58 goals in the top flight of Yugoslav football. He also won two national championship titles (1983 and 1986).

In 1986, Varga moved abroad to Belgium and played for Club Liégeois over the next seven seasons. He was the Belgian league's second-highest scorer in the 1988–89 season with 22 goals, one less than Eddie Krncevic. On 13 May 1989, Varga scored all six goals in his team's 6–1 home league win over Beerschot. He would win the Belgian Cup in the following 1989–90 campaign. In the summer of 1993, Varga switched to Seraing, but returned to Club Liégeois a year later.

International career

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At international level, Varga represented Yugoslavia at the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship. He appeared in all three games, as the team exited the tournament at the group stage.[2]

Managerial career

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After starting his managerial career with Tilleur-Liégeois, Varga went back to his homeland and took over the helm of OFK Beograd in 2000.[3] He was also manager of Rad for several months,[4] before being named assistant manager to Lothar Matthäus at Partizan.[5] Following the departure of Matthäus, Varga left his position and became manager of Sartid Smederevo in January 2004.[6] He resigned from the club after only four games.[7] In June 2004, Varga returned to Partizan to be assistant manager to Vladimir Vermezović.[8] He then served as co-manager of Teleoptik, alongside Blagoje Paunović, between 2005 and 2006,[9] before returning to Partizan as an assistant.

In the second part of 2007, Varga was assistant manager to Dimitri Davidovic at Qatar SC.[10] He then returned to Serbia, taking charge of Teleoptik in early 2008. Varga led them to promotion to the Serbian First League in 2009.[11] He was released in January 2011.[12] Varga again moved to the Middle East and joined Davidovic at Saudi Arabian outfit Ittihad in the second part of 2011.[13] He returned to Partizan in 2012, being an assistant in the following three years.

Personal life

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Varga is the father of fellow footballer Saša Varga.[14]

Career statistics

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Crvenka 1976–77 Yugoslav Second League 1 0 1 0
Partizan 1978–79 Yugoslav First League 20 0 2 0 22 0
1979–80 Yugoslav First League 30 9 30 9
1980–81 Yugoslav First League 29 9 29 9
1981–82 Yugoslav First League 34 8 34 8
1982–83 Yugoslav First League 20 3 20 3
1983–84 Yugoslav First League 4 1 1 0 5 1
1984–85 Yugoslav First League 30 11 3 1 33 12
1985–86 Yugoslav First League 32 17 4 0 36 17
Total 199 58 10 1 209 59
Club Liégeois 1986–87 Belgian First Division 31 10 31 10
1987–88 Belgian First Division 31 11 31 11
1988–89 Belgian First Division 31 22 5 3 36 25
1989–90 Belgian First Division 28 8 6 1 34 9
1990–91 Belgian First Division 7 3 1 0 8 3
1991–92 Belgian First Division 28 10 28 10
1992–93 Belgian First Division 13 1 13 1
Total 169 65 12 4 181 69
Seraing 1993–94 Belgian First Division 24 2 24 2
Club Liégeois 1994–95 Belgian First Division 28 13 28 13
Tilleur-Liégeois 1995–96 Belgian Third Division
1996–97 Belgian Second Division
Total
Career total 421 138 22 5 443 143

Honours

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Partizan

Club Liégeois

References

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  1. ^ "Zvonko Varga: Moj kobni provod u Makarskoj" (in Serbian). mozzartsport.com. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Zvonko Varga". 11v11.com. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Varga trener OFK Beograda!" (in Serbian). glas-javnosti.rs. 1 June 2000. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  4. ^ "Rad turn to Djurovski". uefa.com. 7 November 2002. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  5. ^ "LOTHAR MATTHÄUS PROMOVISAN !" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 23 December 2002. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  6. ^ "Zvonko Varga novi trener Sartida" (in Serbian). b92.net. 6 January 2004. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Sartid bring back Kikovic". uefa.com. 16 March 2004. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  8. ^ "Zvonko Varga ponovo u stručnom štabu" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 24 June 2004. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  9. ^ "Teleoptik osvojio Kup Beograda" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 24 May 2006. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  10. ^ "Invazija stranaca u Humskoj" (in Serbian). politika.rs. 17 July 2007. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  11. ^ "Muka, pa kreč, pa drama, pa slavlje!" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 11 June 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  12. ^ "Rašović umesto Varge u Teleoptiku" (in Serbian). b92.net. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  13. ^ "Varga: Stanojević sve činio da me degradira!" (in Serbian). novosti.rs. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  14. ^ "Zvonko Varga: Napravio sam glupost veka" (in Serbian). novosti.rs. 27 August 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
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