Early Life of Slaven Zambata

Slaven Zambata was born in 1940, and is a highly favored Croatian football player. He started playing football at an early age, and devoted much of his time during his childhood to playing the sport. He was born during a time of turmoil for football in Croatia, as the Yugoslav Communist Party disbanded the three football clubs of the day, HAŠK, Građanski and Concordia, at the end of the second World War. Luckily, five years after his birth, Dinamo Zagreb was founded, and this popular football club would later hold great significance for him. Slaven was diligent in his early years, and always set aside time for practice. During these early years he was involved with Junak Sinj, the football club based in his hometown, Sinj. Because of his devotion to football, he developed quite a talent and ability for the sport. His years of practice eventually paid off, and he caught the eye of professionals. When he was signed by Dinamo Zagreb, he was only 18 years old.

Early career accomplishments

Slaven Zambata stayed with Dinamo Zagreb until 1969, and during his years with Dinamo, he won four Yugoslav Cups. In 1964 and 1966, he was cup runner up, and nearly brought his team two more victories. While playing with Dinamo Slaven, Zambata and his team were the runner up five times for the Yogoslav championship. In the early portion of his career, he scored an impressive 267 goals, and earned a whopping 393 appearances. In 1964, he was given the honor of captain for the Yugoslavian Olympic team that went to Tokyo.

Because of his early start, Slaven Zambata was able to play football for much of his youth, and had a professional career for nearly 30 years. He was forced to stop playing in 1973 after multiple surgeries. Many football fans consider one of the most capable forwards of the 1960s. He is one out of two football players who scored a hat-trick in a Yugoslav Cup game, and still holds this accomplishment today.