Bruno Belin

Bruno Belin
Personal information
Full name	Bruno Belin
Date of birth	16 January 1929
Place of birth	Zagreb, Kingdom of SCS
Date of death	20 October 1962 (aged 33)
Place of death	Belgrade, FPR Yugoslavia
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
	NK Metalac Zagreb
Senior career*
Years	Team
1951–1962	Partizan
International career
1952–1959	Yugoslavia
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Bruno Belin (16 January 1929 – 20 October 1962) was a Croatia-born Yugoslav footballer who was in the Yugoslavia national team at the 1954 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

He started his career at Zagreb based NK Metalac and after completing his military service in 1950 he joined Belgrade-based giants FK Partizan where he won one national championship and 3 cup titles.^[1] Belin played a total of 463 games for Partizan with 41 goals scored. He was considered one of the best Yugoslav defenders at the time he played, and he especially stood out for his technique, quickness and calmness in the game.

International career

He made his debut for Yugoslavia in a December 1952 friendly match against West Germany and earned a total of 25 caps scoring no goals.^[2] His final international was a May 1959 European Nations' Cup qualifying match against Bulgaria.^[3]

Death and legacy

After retiring from playing career, he became a coach, however he died in a car crash in 1962 at the 25th kilometer of Belgrade-Zagreb highway, together with Partizan defender Čedomir Lazarević, water polo player Boris Škanata and Radnički Beograd player Vladimir Josipović.^[1]

The FK Partizan Academy, commonly known as "Belin–Lazarević–Nadoveza youth school" is named in his honour.^[1]