ZAGREB November 12, 2020 – Just two days ago, he spoke at the commemoration of Dinamo Zagreb’s Slaven Zambata. Today, the saddening news of his death was announced. Krasnodar Rora will be remembered as one of the greatest Dinamo players of all time.
As 24sata reports, in less than two weeks, football club Dinamo Zagreb has lost two legends who are credited with the club’s greatest successes. Following the death of Slaven Zambata, a former Dinamo football player and member of the Yugoslav national team, who died two weeks ago, the club announced today that Krasnodar Rora has also passed away.
Zambata and Rora used to be teammates, and just two days ago, Rora said goodbye to him at Zambata’s commemoration in Maksimir Stadium and the Mirogoj Cemetery with an emotional speech.
“I was speechless when my wife told me. We were wedding godparents. He was our godfather,” Rora told 24sata recently on the occasion of Slaven Zambata’s death.
Rora died early in the morning on Thursday 12 November 2020, at the age of 75. He will be remembered as the popular left-wing of Dinamo’s blue jersey from the end of the ’60s to the beginning of the ’70s when he played 459 games and scored 90 goals in 10 years. He took part in the club’s greatest success in history in 1967 when Dinamo Zagreb won the Fair Cities Cup by defeating Leeds in the final. Rora was therefore one of the symbols of the 1967 generation.
Born on March 23, 1945, on Vis, he made his first footballing steps at the age of 14 in Šibenik. There he spent his childhood in the “football district” of Šubićevac, known for its football stadium. In 1964, he came to Dinamo Zagreb, where he inherited the number 11 jersey. Later, he played for Belgian team Standard Liège, then for Nancy Lorraine, where he played alongside legend of French and world football, Michel Platini. Platini himself, during his visit to the Croatian Football Association, pointed out: “I would not have become such a player if I had not stayed to work with Rora after training.”
After his career as a football player, Rora was a coach at Dinamo’s football school and held the position of assistant head coach. As an expert commentator, he also excelled in journalism.
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