Josip Weber

Josip Weber, nicknamed Joske, (born Josip Veber; 16 November 1964 – 8 November 2017) was a professional footballer who played as a forward. He represented Croatia and Belgium at international level.

Club career

Weber began his senior career in Yugoslavia with lower league side NK Borac Podvinje. He then joined BSK Slavonski Brod where he played 3 seasons before moving to HNK Hajduk Split of the Yugoslav First League in 1985. He spent 2 seasons in Split, winning the 1987 Yugoslav Cup. He also played for Yugoslav side NK Dinamo Vinkovci. He then moved to Belgium where he played several seasons for Cercle Brugge. There he proved to be a prolific goalscorer, becoming Belgium's top scorer several consecutive seasons without any contention despite Cercle Brugge only being an average team in the league at the time. Eventually he did join RSC Anderlecht (which was Belgium's top team at the time) and looked like he was headed for a brilliant few years. Unfortunately he got sidelined by a serious knee injury and never got to fulfil his clearly great potential with RSC Anderlecht, one of the few glimpses he was able to show was a strong performance in the Champions League match against Hungarian team Ferencvaros.

International career

In his international career, Weber became notable as one of the last footballers who played for national teams of two countries after being granted permission through clear connection shown from his family members. In July 1992, he started his international career with the Croatia national team during their Australian tour, where he appeared in all three of their friendly matches against the Australia national team and also managed to score Croatia's only goal during the tour as he scored in the second match, which they lost 3–1. The other two matches ended with a 1–0 win for Australia and a goalless draw respectively. After that, he never played for Croatia again.

During the 1993–94 season, Weber took the job as a Belgium international team striker. Belgium national team (he was allowed to play for Belgium because his grandfather was originally from Belgium and because the previous matches for Croatia were all friendlies that were not under FIFA. Croatia only joined FIFA and UEFA in 1993). He made his debut for Belgium on 3 June 1994 in their friendly match against Zambia, which was highly successful as he managed to score five goals in a 9–0 win.

He was also a regular member of the Belgian team at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States and played in all of their four matches at the tournament, starting three of them. He nevertheless did not manage to score any goals before Belgium was eliminated by Germany in the round of 16. In minute 63 of the game, he was brought down in the penalty area by Thomas Helmer, but referee Kurt Röthlisberger did not grant the penalty that could have led to a 3–2 score and a red card for the defender.

He won a total of eight international caps and scored six goals for Belgium, all in 1994. Five of his goals were scored in a 9-0 Belgian victory over Zambia. His final international was an October 1994 European Championship qualification match away against Denmark.

Death

Weber died on 8 November 2017 in Slavonski Brod, Croatia from prostate cancer.

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Croatia	1992	3	1
	Total	3	1
Belgium	1994	8	6
	Total	8	6
Total		11	7

• Weber's team's score listed first, score column indicates score after each Weber goal.

International goals by Josip Weber

No.	Team	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref
1	{{ Template:Yesno	alias = Croatia	flag alias = Flag of Croatia.svg	flag alias-civil = Civil Ensign of Croatia.svg	flag alias-1990 = Flag of Croatia (1990).svg	flag alias-naval = Naval ensign of Croatia.svg	link alias-naval = Croatian Navy	flag alias-air force = Flag of the Croatian Air Force.svg	link alias-air force = Croatian Air Force	link alias-military = Armed Forces of Croatia	flag alias-army = Flag of Croatian Army.svg	link alias-army = Croatian Army	flag alias-navy = Naval ensign of Croatia.svg	link alias-navy = Croatian Navy	size =	name =	altlink = national football team	variant = }}	Template:Dts	Hindmarsh Stadium, Hindmarsh, Australia	{{ Template:Yesno	alias = Australia	flag alias = Flag of Australia (converted).svg	flag alias-1901 = Flag of Australia (1901-1903).svg	flag alias-1903 = Flag of Australia (1903-1908).svg	flag alias-union = Flag of the United Kingdom.svg	flag alias-colonial = Australian Colonial Flag.svg	flag alias-civil = Civil Ensign of Australia.svg	flag alias-naval = Naval Ensign of Australia.svg	flag alias-naval-1913 = Naval ensign of the United Kingdom.svg	link alias-naval = Royal Australian Navy	link alias-army = Australian Army	flag alias-air force = Air Force Ensign of Australia.svg	link alias-air force = Royal Australian Air Force	flag alias-air force-1948 = Air Force Ensign of Australia (1948–1982).svg	flag alias-air force-1922 = Air Force Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg	link alias-football = Australia men's national soccer team	flag alias-marines=UCP 2RAR.svg	link alias-marines=2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment	flag alias-navy = Naval Ensign of Australia.svg	link alias-navy = Royal Australian Navy	flag alias-military = Ensign of the Australian Defence Force.svg	link alias-military = Australian Defence Force	size =	name =	altlink = national football team	altvar = football	variant = }}	1–3	1–3	Friendly
2	{{ Template:Yesno	alias = Belgium	flag alias = Flag of Belgium (civil).svg	flag alias-government = Government Ensign of Belgium.svg	flag alias-state = Flag of Belgium.svg	flag alias-1830 = Flag of Belgium (1830).svg	flag alias-1858 = Royal ensign of Belgium (1858).svg	flag alias-army = Flag of the Belgian Land Component.svg	link alias-army = Belgian Land Component	flag alias-naval = Naval Ensign of Belgium.svg	link alias-naval = Belgian Navy	flag alias-air force = Air Force Ensign of Belgium.svg	link alias-air force = Belgian Air Component	flag alias-navy = Naval Ensign of Belgium.svg	link alias-navy = Belgian Navy	size =	name =	altlink = national football team	variant = }}	Template:Dts	Stade du Heysel, Brussels, Belgium	{{ Template:Yesno	alias = Zambia	flag alias = Flag of Zambia.svg	flag alias-1964 = Flag of Zambia (1964–1996).svg	flag alias-1996 = Flag of Zambia (Pantone).svg	flag alias-2000 = Flag of Zambia (WFB 2000).jpg	flag alias-2004 = Flag of Zambia (WFB 2004).gif	flag alias-air force=Air Force Ensign of Zambia.svg	link alias-air force=Zambian Air Force	link alias-army = Zambian Army	size =	name =	altlink = national football team	variant = }}	1–0	9–0	Friendly
3		2–0
4		6–0
5		7–0
6		9–0
7		Template:Dts	Stade du Heysel, Brussels, Belgium	{{ Template:Yesno	alias = Hungary	flag alias = Flag of Hungary.svg	flag alias-1848 = Flag of Hungary (1848-1849, 1867-1869).svg	flag alias-1849 = Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg	flag alias-1867 = Flag of Hungary (1848-1849, 1867-1869).svg	flag alias-1869 = Flag of Hungary (1869-1874).svg	flag alias-1874 = Flag of Hungary (1874-1896).svg	flag alias-1896 = Flag of Hungary (1896-1915; angels).svg	flag alias-1915 = Flag of Hungary (1915-1918; angels).svg	flag alias-1918 = Flag of Hungary (1918-1919).svg	flag alias-1919 = Flag of Hungary (1919).svg	flag alias-1920 = Flag of Hungary (1915-1918, 1919-1946).svg	flag alias-1946 = Flag of Hungary (1946-1949, 1956-1957; 1-2 aspect ratio).svg	flag alias-1949 = Flag of Hungary (1949-1956; 1-2 aspect ratio).svg	flag alias-1956 = Flag of Hungary (1946-1949, 1956-1957; 1-2 aspect ratio).svg	flag alias-1957 = Flag of Hungary.svg	flag alias-state = Flag of Hungary with arms (state).svg	flag alias-civil = Civil Ensign of Hungary.svg	flag alias-naval = Naval Ensign of Hungary.svg	Hungarian River Guard	flag alias-military = Flag of the Hungarian Defence Forces.svg	link alias-military = Hungarian Defence Forces	flag alias-army = War Flag of Hungary.svg	link alias-army = Hungarian Ground Forces	link alias-air force = Hungarian Air Force	flag alias-navy = Naval Ensign of Hungary.svg	Hungarian River Guard	size =	name =	altlink = national football team	variant = }}	1–0	3–1	Friendly

Honours

Hajduk Split

• Yugoslav Cup: 1986–87

Anderlecht

• Belgian First Division: 1994–95
• Belgian Super Cup: 1995

Individual

• Belgian First Division top scorer: 1991–92 (26 goals), 1992–93 (31 goals), 1993–94 (31 goals)

External links

• Template:Sports links
• Profile - Cercle Brugge