Saša Drakulić

Saša Drakulić

Personal information
Full name	Saša Drakulić
Date of birth	(1972-08-28) 28 August 1972
Place of birth	Vinkovci, SFR Yugoslavia
Height
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990–1993	Bačka BP	?	(?)
1993–1994	Red Star Belgrade	11	(2)
1995–1998	Busan Daewoo Royals	57	(16)
1998–1999	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	44	(26)
2000	Kashiwa Reysol	2	(0)
2000	→ Suwon Samsung Bluewings (loan)	14	(5)
2001–2003	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	90	(27)
2004–2005	AEK Larnaca	6	(1)
2005	Vojvodina Novi Sad	1	(0)
2006	→ ČSK Pivara (loan)	17	(14)
2006–2007	Mladost Apatin	24	(7)
2007–2008	Vojvodina Novi Sad	7	(3)
2008–2010	Proleter Novi Sad	20	(14)
2010	Mladost Apatin	5	(2)
2010	Cement Beočin
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12 December 2010

Saša Drakulić (Serbian Cyrillic: Саша Дракулић ; born 28 August 1972 in Vukovar) is a retired Serbian footballer. The striker went to South Korea in 1995 and during his nine seasons in the K League made a name for himself as one of the most successful foreign players ever in the league.

Career

Drakulić joined Red Star Belgrade in 1993.

In Asia

In 1995 he joined the Korean side Busan Daewoo Royals, scoring eight goals the first season. He played for the Busan Daewoo Royals until July 1998, when he made the switch to Suwon Samsung Bluewings. With the Bluewings he won two consecutive K-League Championships in 1998 and 1999, before making an ill-fated switch to J. League Division 1 side Kashiwa Reysol.

He spent a short unhappy period in Japan before returning to Suwon in May 2000, He was returned Suwon Samsung Bluewings as loan trade with Hwang Sun-hong in May 2000.

In 2011, he was on the move again, joining Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. Drakulić won three Championship medals from 2001–2003 with the Chunma before departing the K-League and signing for Cypriot side AEK Larnaca.

During his nine seasons in K League, Drakulić scored 104 goals in his 271 matches (Regular season and League Cup, at the time the second-highest scoring tally in the history of the league. He holds the record for the most shots on goal with 941 strikes.

Return

In 2005 he moved back to the First League of Serbia and Montenegro with Vojvodina Novi Sad, but subsequently moved on to second division side ČSK Pivara at the start of 2006. After ČSK Pivara, Drakulić joined Mladost Apatin in July 2006.

After a successful year with Mladost, Drakulic moved back to Vojvodina in the summer of 2007, and made an appearance in the UEFA Cup tie against Hibernians FC. His Vojvodina contract was cancelled in December 2007 after he picked up a cruciate knee injury whilst playing in an indoor football tournament without the permission of his club.

Honours

Club

Busan Daewoo Royals

• K League : 1997
• League Cup : 1997-Adidas Cup, 1997-Prospecs Cup

Suwon Samsung Bluewings

• K League : 1998, 1999
• League Cup : 1999-Adidas Cup, 1999-Daehanhwajae Cup
• Super Cup : 1999

Seongnam Ilhaw Chunma

• K League : 2001, 2002, 2003
• League Cup : 2002-Adisas Cup

Individual

• K League Top Scorer : 1999
• K League Best XI : 1998, 1999

Club statistics

Stats in K League

• Other competitive competitions, including the Korean Super Cup, Asian Super Cup, A3 Champions Cup, Peace Cup.

Club	Season	K League Classic			KFA Cup			League Cup			Continental		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Assists
Busan Daewoo Royals	1995	25	7	0	-	-	-	6	1	0	N/A	N/A	0	0	31	8	0
	1996	19	3	5	2	0	0	1	0	0	N/A	N/A	0	0	22	3	5
	1997	13	6	4	1	0	0	15	5	1	N/A	N/A	0	0	29	11	5
	1998	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	4	0	N/A	N/A	0	0	13	4	0
	Busan Total	57	16	9	3	0	0	35	10	1	0	0	0	0	95	26	10
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	1998	18	8	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	?	0	0	0	19+?	8	1
	1999	26	18	3	0	0	0	10	3	1	1+?	1	1	3	38+?	25	4
	2000	14	5	1	0	0	0	1	2	0	?	0	0	0	15+?	7	1
	Suwon Total	58	31	5	1	0	0	11	5	1	1+?	1	1	3	72+?	40	6
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	2001	25	10	3	2	0	0	9	5	1	N/A	N/A	0	0	36	15	4
	2002	26	9	4	0	0	0	11	10	4	N/A	N/A	1	1	38	20	8
	2003	39	8	9	0	0	0	-	-	-	2+?	2	1+?	1	42+?	11	9
	Seongnam Total	90	27	16	2	0	0	20	15	5	2+?	2	2+?	2	116	46	21
Career Total		205	74	30	6	0	0	66	30	7	3+?	3	3+?	5	283+?	112	37

Stats in J. League

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Japan			League		Emperor's Cup		J. League Cup		Total
2000	Kashiwa Reysol	J. League 1	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Country	Japan		2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Total			2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0

External links

• Saša Drakulić – K League stats at kleague.com
• Profile at Srbijafudbal.

Awards
Preceded by Yoo Sang-Chul	K-League Top Scorer 1999	Succeeded by Kim Do-Hoon