Ivan "Ivica" Bek (Serbian Cyrillic: Иван Ивица Бек; 29 October 1909 – 2 June 1963), also known as Yvan Beck, was a Serbian-French football player.
Bek in 1928
| |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Yvan Beck | ||
| Date of birth | (1909-10-29)29 October 1909 | ||
| Place of birth | Belgrade, Serbia | ||
| Date of death | 2 June 1963(1963-06-02) (aged 53) | ||
| Place of death | Sète, France | ||
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1925–1928 | BSK Beograd | 50 | (51) |
| 1928 | Mačva Šabac | ||
| 1928–1931 | Sète | ||
| 1931–1932 | Urania Genève Sport | 16 | (16) |
| 1932–1935 | Sète | 69 | (33) |
| 1935–1939 | Saint-Étienne | 109 | (93) |
| 1940–1943 | Nîmes | ||
| 1943–1944 | AS Aix | ||
| Total | 254 | (193) | |
| International career | |||
| 1927–1931 | Yugoslavia | 8 | (4) |
| 1935–1937 | France | 5 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
He was part of Yugoslavia's team at the 1928 Summer Olympics[1] and at the 1930 FIFA World Cup.
Bek was born to a German father, and a Czech mother in the Serbian capital Belgrade borough of Čubura. Aged 16, he started playing in BSK Belgrade where he scored 51 goals in 50 matches. In 1928, Bek moved to Mačva, and soon proceeded to French FC Sète. In his first season, he reached the cup finals, but lost 2–0 against Montpellier. Next year in cup finals against RC France, was victorious for Sète (3–1) with Bek scoring two decisive goals in extra time. Four years later with the same club, Bek was part of the first team that win the Double in France. Bek helped Yugoslavia get third place in the first FIFA world cup in Uruguay. Bek and his team went on a train from Belgrade to Marseille. When they came to Marseille they went on a crew ship to Uruguay in the second class.
Internationally, Bek represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (seven caps, four goals) and France (five caps). For Yugoslavia he debuted in 1927 against Bulgaria (2–0), participated Olympic tournament in 1928 in Amsterdam and played in the 1930 FIFA World Cup for Yugoslavia scoring three goals. In 1933, Bek took French citizenship and renamed himself Yvan Beck and in February 1935 he was picked for the first time for the Equipe Tricolore.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 July 1930 | Estadio Gran Parque Central, Montevideo, Uruguay |  Brazil |
2–0 | 2–1 | 1930 FIFA World Cup |
| 2 | 17 July 1930 | Estadio Gran Parque Central, Montevideo, Uruguay |  Bolivia |
1–0 | 4–0 | 1930 FIFA World Cup |
| 3 | 3–0 |
During the Second World War, Bek was a member of the French Resistance. After the war, he worked as a dockworker in Sète, where he died from a heart attack.
FC Sète
