Josip "Mane" Bukal (15 November 1945 â 30 August 2016) was a Yugoslav and Bosnian professional football player and later on football manager. During his playing days, he played as a striker.
Bukal was born in the village of Okeà ¡inec near IvaniÃÂ-Grad where he started his primary education, before moving to Veliki Crljeni in Serbia for the fifth, sixth, and seventh grade. He moved to Sarajevo at the age of 15.
Bukal's involvement with football began with the youth team of local club à ½eljezniÃÂar. He scored 10 goals in one game for the youth team before he made his debut for the first team in 1963. He played 290 official matches with à ½eljezniÃÂar and scored 127 goals. Bukal is the joint highest goalscorer in the history of the club, alongside Dà ¾elaludin MuharemoviÃÂ. He was a member of the à ½eljezniÃÂar team that won the Yugoslav championship in the 1971âÂÂ72 season.
In 1973, Bukal moved to Belgium to play for Standard Liège. There he played there for three seasons, where he was the third highest goalscorer during the 1973âÂÂ74 UEFA Cup season with 7 goals. He returned to Yugoslavia and, after one more season with à ½eljezniÃÂar, retired in 1977. He was best known for his powerful shot. During a game in Belgium, the ball was "clocked" at after his shot.
Bukal played for the junior and Under-21 team before he made his senior debut for Yugoslavia in an October 1966 friendly match against Israel in which he immediately scored a brace. He had collected 24 caps and scored 10 goals in the blue national jersey. His final international was a May 1974 friendly match against Hungary.
After retirement, Bukal was employed by à ½eljezniÃÂar as a coach, later on becoming a manager. He first worked with the youth squads, but was also an assistant manager to Blagoje Bratiàin the 1987âÂÂ88 season. During the beginning of the 1988âÂÂ89 Yugoslav First League season, Bukal was the manager of the first team after Bratiàleft the club with the end of the previous season.
Bukal died on 30 August 2016, at the age of 70 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was survived by his wife and children.
à ½eljezniÃÂar