Vladimir Beyala

Born in Croatia, Vladimir Beyala was one of the best goalkeepers in the world in the 1950s (personally I think one can be removed) and is considered one of the best goalkeepers ever. During his club career, he moved from Hajduk Split to Red Star Belgrade on a highly controversial transfer. Beara won many honors along with his teammates. Beara was also a mainstay of the talented Yugoslav team of the 1950s, playing in two World Cups as a main player in the Yugoslav national team and reaching the Olympic final in 1952.

Vladimir-Beara was born on 2 November 1928 in the village of Zerlovo, near Singi, on the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a child he took ballet lessons, which helped him a lot later in his career, and he later gained a reputation as a balleter in front of the door. He was the most agile and flexible goalkeeper in the world at the time. He was spotted by Hajduk Split as a teenager, when he was training in the local gymnasium and impressed scouts with his excellent jumping ability.

Early in his career, Vladimir Beyala trained a small ball for hours and developed excellent saves. Vladimir Beyala became the club's main goalkeeper immediately after joining Hajduk in the 1947-48 season and has maintained the standard of a world-class goalkeeper throughout his career.

After finishing second and third respectively in the first two seasons, Vladimir Beyala's first major honour was in the 1949–50 season, when he helped Hajduk set a record for a back-to-back unbeaten run, with Beyala conceding only 13 goals throughout the season. This remarkable achievement put him in the squad of Yugoslavia for the 1950 World Cup, but his role in the game was as a substitute. Beara did not get any appearances in this World Cup.

In the autumn of 1950, Vladimir Beara became the main player of the Yugoslav team, and in the 2-7 defeat to Austria, he was given the opportunity to make his debut for the national team, and since then he has been the main goalkeeper of the Yugoslav team. A month after the game against Austria, he helped his side to a 2-2 draw against England with a string of wonderful saves, the first team outside the Isles of England not to lose there.

Vladimir Beyala won his second league title in Hajduk in 1952 and accompanied Yugoslavia to the Olympic Games in Helsinki that summer. Although Vladimir Beyala conceded five goals in the group stage against the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia advanced to the knockout rounds and finished second. Hungary's strength was simply too strong, with Yugoslavia losing 2-0 to the opponent, but Bejara still saved Puskas's penalty in the match.

Vladimir Beyala's goalkeeping skills and extremely quick reflexes have earned him a reputation as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He has a unique defensive style, and he is known for directing his teammates to defend their positions when defending free kicks, rather than looking directly at the people who take free throws. His reputation led him to be invited by the European Star team and played 45 minutes in the second half.

Despite playing only half of the World Cup qualifiers, Bealla helped Yugoslavia reach the 1954 World Cup without conceding a goal and was the main goalkeeper of the Yugoslav team. In the opener's victory over France, he kept a clean sheet and saved multiple must-scores in a 1-1 draw with Brazil, which put Yugoslavia in the knockout round. In the quarter-final against the Federal Republic of Germany, Yugoslavia missed out on many scoring opportunities. Beara was injured in the middle of the game and Yugoslavia's promotion hopes were declared completely dashed. Due to injury, Beara conceded two goals in the match, and Yugoslavia lost 2-0 to the Federal Republic of Germany and was eliminated.

In 1954–55, Vladimir Beyala won his third league title of his career at Hajduk, impressively leading the team to a record of not conceding a goal. Red Star Belgrade was keen to sign him, but there were rumours that the transfer was forced by the authorities and he moved to Serbia in the summer of 1955. The transfer was a success as Red Star Belgrade won the league title in the first season of Beale's arrival. Hajduk, on the other hand, nearly relegated without him.

In the summer of 1958, Vladimir Beara competed in the World Cup for the third time, and despite the Poor Performances of Yugoslavia in the group stage, they advanced to the knockout stage, where they defeated France 3-2 in the group stage. Bayara did not get a chance to play in the quarter-finals, with Yugoslavia losing 1-0 to the Federal Republic of Germany.

Beara's main position in the Yugoslav national team was challenged, and after the 1958 World Cup, Beara was only given three appearances for the Yugoslav national team, and his 59th and final international match was in 1959, when The Yugoslav team lost 2-4 at home to Hungary, and he was replaced by Milutin Soskic in the middle of the game.

In the 1958–59 season, Vladimir Beyala helped Red Star Belgrade win league and cup doubles, and when they won the league again in 1960, he won a total of seven titles in Hajduk and Red Star Belgrade. After five years in Belgrade, he joined the Aachen club in the Federal Republic of Germany, becoming one of the few Eastern European players of his time to play in Western Europe. Sadly, Beara broke his right leg twice there, and he was plagued by injuries while playing in Germany.

Vladimir Beyala completed the final season of his career in 1963/64 before retiring. In an interview in 1963, when the legendary Soviet goalkeeper Yassin was named Europe's Best Player of the Year, he said: "I am not the best goalkeeper in the world, he [Beyala] is.' ’