Amar Osim facts for kids
Osim as Željezničar manager in 2013
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 18 July 1967 | ||
| Place of birth | Sarajevo, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1986 | Željezničar | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1986–1991 | Željezničar | 52 | (5) |
| 1991–1992 | Saint-Dié | ||
| 1992–1996 | Strasbourg | ||
| 1996–1997 | Željezničar | 7 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2001–2003 | Željezničar | ||
| 2006–2007 | JEF United Chiba | ||
| 2009–2013 | Željezničar | ||
| 2014–2016 | Al Kharaitiyat | ||
| 2018–2021 | Željezničar | ||
| 2022 | Velež Mostar | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Amar Osim, born on July 18, 1967, is a famous Bosnian football manager and a former player. Many people think he is one of the most successful Bosnian football managers ever.
As a teenager, Osim was a very talented player. He played for Željezničar, a team from his hometown. He also played in France for clubs like Saint-Dié and Strasbourg. He finished his playing career back at Željezničar in 1997.
After playing, Osim decided to become a football manager. He is the most successful manager in Željezničar's history. He won five Bosnian Premier League titles, four Bosnian cups, and one Bosnian Supercup during his three times managing the club. Osim also won the J.League Cup with a Japanese team called JEF United Chiba in 2006. He also managed Al Kharaitiyat in Qatar and briefly Velež Mostar in 2022.
Contents
Playing Football: Amar Osim's Early Career
Amar Osim grew up in Sarajevo and started playing football for his local club, Željezničar. He played for their youth team before joining the main senior squad in 1986.
In 1991, he moved to France. There, he played for smaller clubs like Saint-Dié and Strasbourg. He returned to Bosnia in 1996. Osim played one more season for Željezničar before he stopped playing professionally.
Even though Amar was a skilled player, he never became as famous as his father, Ivica Osim, who was also a well-known player.
Becoming a Football Manager
Starting at Željezničar
Amar Osim began his coaching journey with the youth team of Željezničar. He led them to win many local competitions. In 2001, the club promoted him to manage the first team.
He quickly led the team to win two Bosnian Premier League titles in 2001 and 2002. They finished second in 2003.
In August 2002, Osim guided Željezničar to the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. They played against the English club Newcastle United but lost. This was Željezničar's best result in a European competition after the Bosnian War.
He also helped the team win two national cup titles in 2001 and 2003. They were runners-up in 2002. Osim also won the Bosnian Supercup in 2001. In 2002, he was named the Bosnia and Herzegovina Manager of the Year.
Osim was let go from his job at the start of the 2003–04 season because the team's results were not good enough.
Managing JEF United Chiba in Japan
Amar's father, Ivica Osim, invited him to Japan to be his assistant coach at JEF United Chiba. When Ivica became the coach of the Japan national team, Amar took over as the main manager.
He led JEF United to win the J.League Cup in 2006. However, after a difficult 2007 season, where JEF United finished 13th in the J1 League, Osim was let go.
Returning to Željezničar
After his time in Japan, Osim came back to his hometown. In June 2009, he returned to Željezničar for his second time as manager.
In his first season back, Osim immediately led the club to win the league title. They also finished second in the national cup. The next season, he won the national cup but narrowly missed the league title, finishing third. In 2012, he won the league title again, breaking many records. He also defended the national cup, bringing the "double" (winning both league and cup) back to Željezničar after eleven years.
Osim left his manager role in September 2013 to become the club's new sporting director. In December 2014, he resigned from that position and left Željezničar.
During his time at the club, Osim received many individual awards for his success. He won the Manager of the Season award three times, more than any other manager.
Managing Al Kharaitiyat in Qatar
In December 2014, Osim became the new manager of Al Kharaitiyat, a club in the Qatar Stars League.
In his first season, the team had a club record of seven games without a loss in the league. They went nine games unbeaten in all competitions. Al Kharaitiyat finished 9th in the league that season. In March 2015, Osim was named the Qatar Stars League Manager of the Month for February 2015.
In his second season, Al Kharaitiyat finished 12th, just barely avoiding being moved to a lower league.
In November 2016, after a poor start to the 2016–17 season, Osim was let go after almost two years as Al Kharaitiyat's manager.
Second Return to Željezničar
2018–19 Season
On December 31, 2018, Osim returned to Željezničar for his third time as manager. He signed a contract for three and a half years.
His first win in this third period came on March 3, 2019. Željezničar won 2–1 at home against Mladost Doboj Kakanj. In Osim's first Sarajevo derby in six years, Željezničar lost 3–0 at home to their city rivals FK Sarajevo on April 6, 2019.
On April 13, in a 1–0 away loss against Zrinjski Mostar, Osim managed his 300th game for Željezničar. He became the club's third manager with the most games. The top two were Milan Ribar (367 games) and his father Ivica Osim (301 games). On April 24, in his 302nd game, Željezničar drew 0–0 against Široki Brijeg at their home stadium, Grbavica. With this, Osim managed more games for the club than his father.
In the last game of the season, Željezničar beat Tuzla City 3–0 away on May 25, 2019. This ended a very busy season for the club.
2019–20 Season
Osim's first win in the 2019–20 season was on July 27, 2019. It was a 2–0 away win against Mladost Doboj Kakanj. Željezničar won their first Sarajevo derby since Osim's second return with a 5–2 home win against Sarajevo on August 31, 2019.
On September 28, 2019, his team set a new Bosnian Premier League record. After a 2–2 away draw against Tuzla City, Željezničar had gone 11 games unbeaten in the league since the season started. This beat the record of their city rival Sarajevo, who had a 10-game unbeaten run in the 2006–07 season.
On October 6, 2019, Osim's team lost 3–0 away to Borac Banja Luka. This ended their 11-game unbeaten streak. On November 30, 2019, Željezničar beat their rivals Sarajevo again, this time with a 3–1 away win. Željezničar fans praised Osim for his smart tactics. In that game, he even got a yellow card for arguing with the referee.
However, Željezničar did not win any trophies at the end of the season. Osim's team finished 2nd in the 2019–20 league season, three points behind Sarajevo. The season ended early on June 1, 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also led the team to the semi-finals of the 2019–20 Bosnian Cup, but the competition was stopped due to the pandemic, and no winner was named.
2020–21 Season
Željezničar started the 2020–21 season with a win against Velež Mostar on August 1, 2020. Osim's team scored three goals early in the game and secured the win at home. This game was also Osim's 200th win as Željezničar manager. After three more league wins, Željezničar had its first loss under Osim in the new season on August 21, 2020. It was an unexpected 1–0 home defeat against Mladost Doboj Kakanj.
In Osim's first European game with Željezničar since his return, his team lost 3–1 against the Israeli club Maccabi Haifa in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round on September 9, 2020.
While the team was in the middle of an eight-game streak without a win in the 2020–21 league season, Osim was let go by the club on April 11, 2021.
Managing Velež Mostar
On June 11, 2022, Osim signed a one-year contract with Velež Mostar. On July 15, 2022, he managed his first game for Velež in a Premier League match against Posušje, which ended in a 1–1 draw.
On July 28, Velež was unexpectedly knocked out of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League in the second qualifying round by the Maltese club Ħamrun Spartans. On August 5, 2022, Osim won his first match as Velež manager with a 3–1 victory over his former club, Željezničar.
Osim and Velež Mostar ended his contract by agreement on November 29, 2022.
Amar Osim's Family Life
Amar Osim's father, Ivica Osim, was a very famous player and manager. His mother's name is Asima. Amar has two children and one grandchild. On May 1, 2022, his father passed away in Graz, Austria, where he had lived for many years. He was buried in Sarajevo at the Bare Cemetery on May 14.
Managerial Statistics
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||
| Željezničar | 1 March 2001 | 10 October 2003 | 150 | 93 | 35 | 22 | 259 | 115 | +144 | 62.00 |
| JEF United Chiba | 20 July 2006 | 31 December 2007 | 66 | 25 | 7 | 34 | 101 | 109 | −8 | 37.88 |
| Željezničar | 22 June 2009 | 19 September 2013 | 144 | 85 | 28 | 31 | 245 | 119 | +126 | 59.03 |
| Al Kharaitiyat | 27 December 2014 | 5 November 2016 | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 63 | 72 | −9 | 33.33 |
| Željezničar | 31 December 2018 | 11 April 2021 | 68 | 34 | 16 | 18 | 114 | 63 | +51 | 50.00 |
| Velež Mostar | 11 June 2022 | 29 November 2022 | 21 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 23 | 21 | +2 | 28.57 |
| Total | 491 | 257 | 105 | 129 | 805 | 499 | +306 | 52.34 | ||
Awards and Achievements
As a Manager
Željezničar
- Bosnian Premier League: 2000–01, 2001–02, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13
- Bosnian Cup: 2000–01, 2002–03, 2010–11, 2011–12
- Bosnian Supercup: 2001
JEF United Chiba
- J.League Cup: 2006
Individual Awards
- Bosnia and Herzegovina Manager of the Year: 2002
- Bosnian Premier League Manager of the Season: 2010, 2011–12, 2012–13
- Qatar Stars League Manager of the Month: February 2015
More About Football
- List of FK Željezničar Sarajevo players
- List of FK Željezničar Sarajevo managers
See also
In Spanish: Amar Osim para niños
