Eddie Krnčević

Eddie Krnčević

Personal information
Full name	Edward Krnčević
Date of birth	August 14, 1960 (1960-08-14)
Place of birth	Geelong, Australia
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Retired
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1977–1978	Essendon Croatia
1979–1981	Marconi	81	(31)
1981–1984	Dinamo Zagreb	40	(7)
1984	Duisburg	18	(3)
1985	Sydney Croatia	3	(3)
1985–1986	Cercle Brugge	45	(15)
1986–1989	Anderlecht	84	(52)
1988	→ Marconi (loan)	1	(0)
1989–1990	Mulhouse	29	(7)
1990–1992	FC Liège	38	(6)
1992–1995	Eendracht Aalst	51	(12)
1995–1996	Charleroi	17	(4)
1996–1997	Gippsland Falcons	19	(5)
National team
1979	Australia U20
1979–1989	Australia	35	(17)
Teams managed
1997–1999	Carlton SC
1999–2001	Marconi
2001–2002	South Melbourne
2003	Fawkner Blues
2007	North Geelong Warriors
2010–	South Melbourne
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Edward "Eddie" Krnčević (born 14 August 1960 in Geelong) is a retired Australian footballer who played as a striker, and a current manager.

The son of Croatian immigrants, he played most of his professional career in Belgium.

Football career

After playing his first four years of professional football in Australia, Krnčević moved to the land of his parents in 1981, joining NK Dinamo Zagreb, where he had relative individual success, besides helping the side win one league and one cup.

Krnčević then played four months in the German second division with MSV Duisburg, after which he embarked on his most successful spell, ten 1/2 years in Belgium - with one season in France with FC Mulhouse in between - where he represented Cercle Brugge KSV, Royal Charleroi, R.S.C. Anderlecht, R.F.C. de Liège and K.S.C. Eendracht Aalst; he became the first Australian-born player to be crowned top scorer in a European League.

Even though silverware was hard to come even at Anderlecht, in 1988–89 Krnčević was crowned the league's top scorer at 23 goals, and helped the capital side to the domestic cup - in that competition, he scored in all three finals he won, the first being with Cercle.

In 1996, already at 36, Krnčević returned to his country and played one final season with the Gippsland Falcons. In the late 90's/2000's, he had a coaching career, with all the clubs hailing from his homeland, in the National Soccer League. Internationally, he opted to represent his birth country, scoring every other match in 35 caps, and helping the country to the 1980 OFC Nations Cup.

Honours

Club

• Essendon Croatia:
  • Victorian Champions: 1978
  • Victorian State League Cup: 1978
  • Ampol Cup: 1977, 1978
  • Armstrong Cup: 1977

• Marconi:
  • National Soccer League: 1979
  • NSL Cup: 1980

• Dinamo Zagreb:
  • Yugoslav League: 1981–82
  • Yugoslav Cup: 1982–83

• Cercle Brugge:
  • Belgian Cup: 1984–85; Runner-up 1985–86

• Anderlecht:
  • Belgian League: 1986–87
  • Belgian Cup: 1987–88, 1988–89

Country

• Australia:
  • OFC Nations Cup: 1980

Individual

• FFA Hall of Champions Inductee - 2000
• Belgian League: Top scorer 1988–1989
• NSL: Papasavas Medal (U-21) 1979

External links

• FFA - Hall of Fame profile
• Oz Football profile
• Eddie Krnčević at National-Football-Teams.com
• Weltfussball profile (German)

Awards
Preceded by Ian Souness	NSL U21 Player of the Year 1979	Succeeded by John Spanos
Preceded by Paul Sanders	Cercle Brugge top scorer 1986	Succeeded by Patrick Ipermans Didier Wittebole