Saša Drakulić

Saša Drakulić
Personal information
Full name	Saša Drakulić
Date of birth	28 August 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth	Vinkovci, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team
1993–1994	Red Star Belgrade
1993	→ Priština (loan)
1994	→ Borac Čačak (loan)
1994	→ Obilić (loan)
1995–1998	Daewoo Royals
1998–1999	Suwon Bluewings
2000	Kashiwa Reysol
2000	→ Suwon Bluewings (loan)
2001–2003	Ilhwa Chunma
2004	AEK Larnaca
2005	Vojvodina
2006	ČSK Čelarevo
2006–2007	Mladost Apatin
2007	Vojvodina
2008–2009	Proleter Novi Sad
2010	Mladost Apatin
2010	Cement Beočin
2014–2015	Borac Novi Sad
2016–2017	Brodarac
Total
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Saša Drakulić (Serbian Cyrillic: Саша Дракулић; born 28 August 1972) is a Serbian retired footballer who played as a forward. He 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.^[1]

In 2001, 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, but subsequently moved on to second division side ČSK Čelarevo at the start of 2006. After ČSK, Drakulić joined Mladost Apatin in July 2006.

After a successful year with Mladost, Drakulić 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

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-Daehan Fire Insurance Cup
Super Cup: 1999

Seongnam Ilhaw Chunma

K League: 2001, 2002, 2003
League Cup: 2002-Adidas Cup

Individual

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

Club statistics

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

Club	Season	League		National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Obilić	1994–95	8	3			—		—		—		8	3
Busan Daewoo Royals	1995	25	7	—		6	1	—				31	8
	1996	19	3			1	0	—				20	3
	1997	13	6			15	5	—				28	11
	1998	0	0			13	4	—				13	4
	Total	57	16			35	10	—				92	26
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	1998	16	8			0	0			2	0	18	8
	1999	24	17			11	5			2	1	37	23
	Total	40	25			11	5			4	1	55	31
Kashiwa Reysol	2000	2	0			0	0					2	0
Suwon Samsung Bluewings (loan)	2000	14	5			0	0					14	5
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	2001	25	10			9	5					34	15
	2002	26	9			11	10					37	19
	2003	39	8			0	0					39	8
	Total	90	27			20	15					110	42
AEK Larnaca	2004–05	6	1			—		2	0	—		8	1
Career total		217	77			66	30	2	0	4	1	289	108