Damir Desnica

Born in Obrovac, Croatia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Desnica spent the major part of his career with Rijeka, appearing in nearly 300 official games and winning two Yugoslav Cups. In 1985, aged nearly 29, he moved abroad, signing for Belgian club 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. He retired at the age of 41 after representing NK Halubjan, NK Klana, and NK Lučki Radnik in the Rijeka area. ==International career==

Desnica earned one senior cap for the Yugoslavia. He scored in a 2–3 away loss against Romania in a UEFA Euro 1980 qualifiers match on 25 October 1978. ==Personal life==

Desnica was one of the few deaf individuals to play football professionally, communicating solely through sign language. On 7 November 1984, during a match against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium as part of the 1984–85 UEFA Cup season. He was sent off from the game for two bookable offences by referee Roger Schoeters. The second yellow card was allegedly for protesting. Rijeka finished the match with eight players and lost the tie 3–4 on aggregate. ==Career statistics==

;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 ==References==