# Damir Desnica

Damir Desnica (born 20 December 1956) is a Croatian and Yugoslav retired footballer who played as a forward. Born deaf, Desnica spent the majority of his career in the 1970s and 1980s with Rijeka, with whom he won two Marshal Tito Cup titles (1978, 1979) and one Balkans Cup (1978).
Desnica played mostly as a left winger for Rijeka and relied on pace and dribbling ability to charge towards the opposition box. Remembered as one of the key figures of the club's golden era in the late 1970s, Desnica earned one full international cap for Yugoslavia in 1978, and also won a bronze medal with the Yugoslav deaf football team at the 1973 International Silent Games in Sweden.
Later in his career he spent five years with KV Kortrijk in Belgium. After returning to Croatia in 1990 he continued to play for smaller clubs, and helped NK Zadar win Yugoslav third-tier title in 1991. Following Croatia's independence and the establishment of the new league system he joined second-tier club NK Pazinka and also won promotion with them in 1992.

## Club career

Born in Obrovac, Croatia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Desnica spent much of his career with HNK Rijeka, appearing in nearly 300 official games and winning two Yugoslav Cups in the process. In 1985, aged nearly 29, he moved abroad and signed for Belgium's K.V. Kortrijk.
Desnica returned to his country after five years, and joined NK Zadar. After a brief spell with NK Orijent, he signed with NK Pazinka, and retired at 41 after representing, in both Rijeka and its outskirts, lowly clubs NK Halubjan, NK Klana and NK Lučki Radnik.

## International career

Desnica earned one cap for Yugoslavia, scoring in a 2–3 away loss against Romania for the UEFA Euro 1980 qualifiers, on 25 October 1978.

## Personal life

Desnica was one of the very few deaf persons to play football professionally – he also only communicated manually. On 7 November 1984, in a match against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium for the season's UEFA Cup, he was sent off for two bookable offences by referee Roger Schoeters, the second for allegedly protesting; Rijeka finished the match with eight players and lost the tie 3–4 on aggregate.

## Club statistics

| Season | Club | League | League | League | Cup | Cup | Continental | Continental | Total | Total |
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1974–75 | Rijeka | Yugoslav First League | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 3 | 0 |
| 1975–76 | Rijeka | Yugoslav First League | 23 | 5 | – | – | – | – | 23 | 5 |
| 1976–77 | Rijeka | Yugoslav First League | 9 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 9 | 0 |
| 1977–78 | Rijeka | Yugoslav First League | 31 | 4 | 5 | 1 | – | – | 36 | 5 |
| 1978–79 | Rijeka | Yugoslav First League | 29 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 37 | 7 |
| 1979–80 | Rijeka | Yugoslav First League | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 4 |
| 1980–81 | Rijeka | Yugoslav First League | 15 | 3 | – | – | – | – | 15 | 3 |
| 1981–82 | Rijeka | Yugoslav First League | 32 | 6 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 34 | 6 |
| 1982–83 | Rijeka | Yugoslav First League | 33 | 11 | 4 | 2 | – | – | 37 | 13 |
| 1983–84 | Rijeka | Yugoslav First League | 32 | 11 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 35 | 12 |
| 1984–85 | Rijeka | Yugoslav First League | 31 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 37 | 8 |
| Rijeka total | Rijeka total | Rijeka total | 251 | 54 | 21 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 284 | 63 |
| 1985–86 | Kortrijk | Belgian Pro League | 30 | 6 | ? | ? | – | – | 30 | 6 |
| 1986–87 | Kortrijk | Belgian Pro League | 27 | 4 | ? | ? | – | – | 27 | 4 |
| 1987–88 | Kortrijk | Belgian Pro League | 32 | 8 | ? | ? | – | – | 32 | 8 |
| 1988–89 | Kortrijk | Belgian Pro League | 18 | 1 | ? | ? | – | – | 18 | 1 |
| 1989–90 | Kortrijk | Belgian Pro League | 2 | 0 | ? | ? | – | – | 2 | 0 |
| Kortrijk total | Kortrijk total | Kortrijk total | 109 | 19 | ? | 4 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 23 |
| Career total (incomplete) | Career total (incomplete) | Career total (incomplete) | 360 | 73 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 393 | 86 |

## Honours
### Rijeka

* Yugoslav Cup: 1977–78, 1978–79
* Balkans Cup: 1978

### Zadar

* Yugoslav Inter-Republic League (West): 1990–91

### Pazinka

* Croatian Second Football League (West): 1992