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Australian footballer
Žarko Odžakov (Macedonian: Жарко Оџаков;born 11 November 1955) is a retired soccer player who played as a midfielder. Born in Yugoslavia, he played for the Australia national team 13 times.[2][3][4] Former Australia coach Rale Rasic in 2006 picked Odžakov in his greatest Socceroo team.[5]
Odžakov played 109 matches over eight years for FK Vardar in the Yugoslav First League, scoring nine goals.[1]
In 1982, he emigrated to Australia where he played for Preston Makedonia in the National Soccer League.[1]
From 1985 until 1987 he played at NSL club Sydney Croatia. It was at Croatia that he took the notice of the Australian selectors.[1][3]
After two years at Croatia he moved to Blacktown City where he played two years, playing 55 NSL matches.[1]
International career
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In 1985 Odžakov played his first international match for the Australia. In all he played 13 full international matches for the Socceroos, playing his last match in 1987.[1]
Odžakov played three matches for the Australia national futsal team at the 1989 FIFA Futsal World Championship.[4]
Soon after retiring Odžakov returned to his native North Macedonia. He soon received his coaching accreditation in Belgrade.[2]
After a string of assistant coaching roles Odžakov had stint managing FK Vardar, where he managed to place Vardar in the top half of the Macedonian First League.[2]
Odžakov managed various North Macedonia youth teams, including the North Macedonia national under-21 football team.[2]
The Zarko Odzakov Cup is named in honour of Odžakov. It is contested by Sydney United (formerly Sydney Croatia) and Bankstown City (a team representing the Macedonian-Australian community).[6]