Dragoslav Šekularac (, ; 8 November 1937 – 5 January 2019) was a Serbian professional footballer and coach. Nicknamed Šeki, he was quick and crafty with the ball, displaying creative skills which turned many heads. Possessing supreme self-confidence along with impeccable technical ability, he was one of the biggest showmen and crowd draws in the history of Yugoslav football. His enormous popularity throughout FPR Yugoslavia during the early 1960s transcended sports as he easily became one of the most recognizable individuals in the country. As a coach, he led several clubs in Canada, Colombia, Australia, Serbia, Mexico, and Spain, as well as the Guatemala national team in the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification. Šekularac is considered one of the most important players in the history of Red Star Belgrade: he is the second (and one of only five players) to have been awarded the Zvezdina zvezda status. Early life Šekularac was born on 8 November 1937 in Štip, Vardar Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia to Montenegrin Serb father Bogosav from the village of Kurikuće, Berane Municipality (the Vasojevići region in northern Montenegro) and Macedonian mother Donka (née Markovska). His father was a lawyer whose job took him to Štip where he got married and started a family. Dragoslav was an infant when the family moved to Belgrade due to his father getting a job at the Ministry of Agriculture. Šekularac was born bowlegged, much like Garrincha, a footballer who he was later often compared to. He took up footballing very early, right after World War II ended, and came up through the Red Star Belgrade youth system. Club career Šekularac made his senior debut at only 17 years of age on 6 March 1955 during the latter part of Red Star's 1954–55 league campaign under head coach Milovan Ćirić. The youngster would record only one more league appearance by the end of that season. However, the next season, 1955–56, signaled immediate breakthrough. In addition to securing a spot in the first team, he also became an integral part of the squad that won the Yugoslav league title in convincing fashion. He contributed to the cause with 7 goals in addition to many eye-catching midfield displays that would soon become a staple of his game. By the start of the 1956–57 season, eighteen-year-old Šekularac had already made his senior national team debut. And, in November and December 1956 during the league's winter