Miroslav Blažević facts for kids

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Miroslav Blažević

Blažević as manager of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2009
Personal information
Date of birth	(1935-02-09)9 February 1935
Place of birth	Travnik, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Date of death	8 February 2023(2023-02-08) (aged 87)
Place of death	Zagreb, Croatia
Playing position	Right winger
Youth career
	Travnik
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1954–1955	Dinamo Zagreb	0	(0)
1955–1957	Lokomotiva Zagreb	4	(0)
1957–1959	Sarajevo	14	(0)
1959–1963	Rijeka	48	(4)
1963–1965	Sion
1965–1966	Moutier
Total		66	(4)
Teams managed
1968–1971	Vevey
1971–1976	Sion
1976	Switzerland
1976–1979	Lausanne-Sport
1979–1980	Rijeka
1980–1983	Dinamo Zagreb
1983–1985	Grasshopper
1985	Prishtina
1985–1988	Dinamo Zagreb
1988–1991	Nantes
1991–1992	PAOK
1992–1994	Croatia Zagreb
1994–2000	Croatia
2001	Iran
2002	Osijek
2002–2003	Dinamo Zagreb
2003	Mura
2003–2005	Varteks
2005	Hajduk Split
2005–2006	Neuchâtel Xamax
2006–2008	Zagreb
2008–2009	Bosnia and Herzegovina
2009–2010	Shanghai Shenhua
2010–2011	China U-23
2011–2012	Mes Kerman
2012–2013	Zagreb
2014	Sloboda Tuzla
2014–2015	Zadar
Honours Men's football Representing  Croatia (as manager) FIFA World Cup Bronze 1998 France
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Miroslav "Ćiro" Blažević (born 9 February 1935 – died 8 February 2023) was a famous Bosnian-Croatian football manager and player. He was known for his colorful personality and was often called "trener svih trenera", which means "coach of all coaches" in Croatian.

His playing career lasted from 1954 to 1966. He played for several clubs, including Dinamo Zagreb and Rijeka. After he stopped playing, he became a football manager.

As a manager, his biggest success was with the Croatian national team. He led them to the quarter-finals in the 1996 European Championship. Even more impressively, he guided them to a third-place finish at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He also managed the national teams of Switzerland, Iran, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the China Olympic team.

Blažević also managed many clubs, including Vevey, Sion, Dinamo Zagreb, and Grasshopper Zürich. From 1993 to 1995, he was also the president of Dinamo Zagreb.

Early Life

Miroslav Blažević was born on 9 February 1935, in Travnik, which was then part of Yugoslavia and is now in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was the youngest of eight children in his family. His parents officially registered his birth on February 10th, so that was his official birthday. When he was a teenager, he also trained in skiing.

Playing Career

Blažević started playing football in his hometown for NK Travnik. Later, he moved to Zagreb and joined Dinamo Zagreb. He admitted that his playing career was not extraordinary. Because of this, he started coaching at a young age. He played for clubs like Lokomotiva Zagreb, Rijeka, and Sarajevo. He finished his playing career in Switzerland with Moutier in 1966.

Managerial Career

Coaching in Switzerland

Blažević began his coaching journey in Switzerland, where he had finished his playing days. He first managed FC Vevey from 1968 to 1971. After that, he coached his former team, FC Sion, from 1971 to 1976. He also managed FC Lausanne-Sport from 1976 to 1979. For a short time in 1976, he was the interim coach for the Swiss national team. With Sion, he won the Swiss Cup in 1974, both as a player and as a manager.

NK Rijeka

In 1979, Blažević returned to Yugoslavia to coach Rijeka. In the 1979–80 season, Rijeka finished tenth in the league. However, they had a great run in the 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup. They reached the quarter-finals, which was their best European performance ever. They were eventually defeated by Juventus.

Success with Dinamo Zagreb

Blažević became the coach of Dinamo Zagreb on 11 December 1980. Dinamo Zagreb was one of the four biggest clubs in Yugoslavia. After a decent first season, Blažević became a club legend in 1981–82. He led Dinamo to win their first Yugoslav league title in 24 years.

The next year, Dinamo won the Yugoslav Cup. They also fought hard for the league title with Partizan and Hajduk Split. In 1983, Partizan became champions, and Blažević left Dinamo for the first time.

Grasshopper and Prishtina

Blažević went back to Switzerland and won the Swiss Championship with Grasshopper-Club Zurich in 1984. He then returned to Yugoslavia in 1985 to manage Kosovo's KF Prishtina. Under his leadership, Prishtina was promoted to the First Division. He is still remembered as a club legend there.

Second Time at Dinamo, Nantes, and PAOK

In the same year, 1985, he became Dinamo Zagreb's coach for the second time. During this period, he did not achieve any major successes. He left the club again in 1988. His next team was FC Nantes in France, where he stayed until 1990. After Nantes, he spent a season coaching the Greek club PAOK FC.

Leading the Croatian National Team

In the 1990s, as Croatia became an independent country, Blažević became involved with the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) political party. He was also close to President Franjo Tuđman. For the third time, he became both the coach and president of Dinamo (then called NK Croatia Zagreb). He won the 1993 Croatian Championship and the 1994 Croatian Cup. He then left the club to focus on managing the Croatian national team.

Blažević started managing the national team part-time in 1994. A year later, it became his full-time job. Croatia was trying to qualify for the European Championship for the first time. Croatia surprisingly won their qualifying group, finishing ahead of Italy. This meant they directly qualified for Euro 96 in England, and Blažević started to become famous worldwide.

At Euro 96, Croatia advanced past the group stage. They beat Turkey and the European champions Denmark. They lost to Portugal. In the quarter-finals, they faced Germany, who won 2–1 and went on to win the tournament.

Even greater success came when Croatia tried to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. They finished second in their qualifying group behind Denmark. They then beat Ukraine in a play-off to secure their spot in the tournament.

Blažević's team for the 1998 World Cup included star players like Zvonimir Boban, Davor Šuker, and Slaven Bilić. In France, they achieved one of the biggest surprises in World Cup history by finishing third. In the group stage, Croatia defeated Japan and Jamaica. They had an unimportant loss to Argentina in their final group game.

In the knockout stages, they beat Romania 1–0 with a penalty kick. This led them to a quarter-final match against Germany. Croatia famously beat Germany 3–0. However, the hosts, France, stopped Croatia in the semi-final, winning 2–1. In the match for third place, Croatia won against the Netherlands 2–1, claiming their first bronze medal.

The rest of his time as Croatian manager was less successful. Croatia did not qualify for Euro 2000. After two draws at the start of the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, he resigned in late 2000.

Iran and Return to Croatia

Blažević was well-known after the 1998 World Cup. He accepted an offer to lead the Iranian national team during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. He quickly became popular with Iranian fans. He helped introduce new players to the team. However, Iran lost to Ireland in the play-offs, and Blažević's time in Iran ended. His assistant, Branko Ivanković, took over.

Blažević then returned to Croatia. He first helped NK Osijek avoid relegation. Then, he returned to Dinamo for his fourth time as coach. He won the Croatian Championship in 2003. However, he left again that same year after disagreements with the club's vice president.

Blažević then coached Slovenian club NK Mura for a few months. After that, he became the coach of Croatian side NK Varteks until May 2005.

Short Time at Hajduk Split

In 2005, Blažević made a surprising announcement that he would coach Hajduk Split. He had wanted to coach the club for decades, but some fans were unsure because of his strong connection to Dinamo Zagreb, Hajduk's big rival.

Hajduk Split was quickly eliminated from European competitions under Blažević. They lost 8–0 to Hungarian side Debreceni VSC, with a 5–0 loss in one game. This was one of Hajduk Split's worst losses in Europe. After a series of poor results, Blažević resigned on 18 September 2005.

Neuchâtel and NK Zagreb

In October 2005, he went back to Switzerland to coach Neuchâtel Xamax. He tried to save the club from relegation. Although he achieved some good wins, they finished ninth in the league. They lost in a relegation play-off and were relegated. His time there ended in June 2006.

He returned to Croatia again to coach NK Zagreb. The club had a successful 2006–07 season, finishing third. This earned them a spot in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. However, in the next season, they were eliminated early from the Intertoto Cup. After some key players left, the team had mixed results. Blažević announced his departure from NK Zagreb in May 2008.

Bosnia and Herzegovina National Team

Blažević as Bosnia and Herzegovina manager in 2009

On 10 July 2008, Blažević was named the head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team. He quickly became popular with the media and fans in Sarajevo. He was known for his bold statements and promises.

Under Blažević, Bosnia qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup play-offs. They played against Portugal but lost both games 1–0. Blažević resigned on 11 December 2009. His departure followed criticism from fans and journalists after he blamed a player for the loss against Portugal.

Shanghai Shenhua and China Olympic

One day after resigning from Bosnia, on 12 December 2009, he signed with Shanghai Shenhua in China. He led them to a third-place finish in the 2010 Chinese Super League, which qualified them for the AFC Champions League.

On 30 November 2010, Blažević was appointed manager of the Chinese Olympic team. He resigned in June 2011 after they failed to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Mes Kerman and Final Club Roles

On 28 August 2011, Mes Kerman in Iran announced they would sign Blažević. He returned to Iran after ten years and signed a one-year contract. He started well, but the team later fell into the relegation zone. He was sacked on 14 February 2012 but stayed on as a technical director.

In November 2012, he returned to NK Zagreb to help them avoid relegation. He had some good results, including beating Dinamo Zagreb. However, the team's performance declined. In May 2013, after NK Zagreb was relegated, he announced his retirement from professional football.

In January 2014, Blažević signed with Bosnian club FK Sloboda Tuzla, which was in the second division. He led the club to win their league and get promoted to the top Bosnian league. He won 13 of his 15 matches in charge.

On 2 September 2014, he was named manager of Croatian club NK Zadar. However, he left the club and officially ended his coaching career on 2 January 2015.

Personal Life and Death

Blažević playing chess at a public event in Zagreb, 2016

Blažević married Zdenka Đorđević in 1962. They had three children and five grandchildren. He was a Bosnian Croat and also held Swiss citizenship.

Miroslav Blažević passed away from prostate cancer in Zagreb on 8 February 2023, just one day before his 88th birthday.

Honours

Player

Lokomotiva Zagreb

• Yugoslav Second League: 1955–56

Sarajevo

• Yugoslav Second League: 1957–58

Sion

• Swiss Cup: 1965

Manager

Vevey

• 1. Liga: 1969–70

Sion

• Swiss Cup: 1974

Dinamo Zagreb

• Yugoslav First League: 1981–82
• Yugoslav Cup: 1982–83
• Prva HNL: 1992–93, 2002–03
• Croatian Cup: 1993–94
• Croatian Super Cup: 2002

Grasshopper

• Swiss Super League: 1983–84

Hajduk Split

• Croatian Super Cup: 2005

Sloboda Tuzla

• First League of FBiH: 2013–14

Croatia

• FIFA World Cup third place: 1998

Individual

• Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 1998 (two awards), 2007
• Bosnia and Herzegovina Manager of the Year: 2009

Orders

• Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar (1995)
• Order of Duke Branimir with Necklace (1998)

Film and TV Appearances

Miroslav Blažević also appeared in several films and TV shows, often playing himself.

Film

Television

Music Videos

See Also

In Spanish: Miroslav Blažević para niños