Miroslav Blažević facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
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 ( 9 February 1935 – 8 February 2023) was a Bosnian-Croatian professional football manager and player.

His professional playing career spanned from 1954 to 1966, during which he played for Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva Zagreb, Sarajevo, Rijeka and Swiss clubs Sion and Moutier.

As a manager, his most successful period was with the Croatia national team, which he led to the quarter-finals in the 1996 European Championship and won third place at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He also managed the following national teams: Switzerland, Iran, Bosnia and Herzegovina and China Olympic. Blažević also had successful spells at Vevey, Sion, Lausanne-Sport, Rijeka, Dinamo Zagreb, Grasshopper Zürich, Prishtina, Osijek, Varteks, Zagreb, Shanghai Shenhua and Sloboda Tuzla.

From 29 March 1993 to 23 February 1995 he was president of Dinamo Zagreb.

Blažević maintained a colourful public persona in Croatia, where he was reverently known as "trener svih trenera" (the "coach of all coaches").

Early life

Blažević was born to a Bosnian Croat family in Travnik, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (in present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina) on 9 February 1935. However, his parents did not register his birth until the next day, resulting in his official birthday being listed as the 10th of February. He was the youngest of eight children. In his teens he trained skiing.

Playing career

Blažević began his youth career in local team NK Travnik, after which he moved to Zagreb and joined Dinamo Zagreb. His career as a player was, by his own admission, average; therefore, he began his coaching career at a relatively early age. As a player, he played for Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva Zagreb, Rijeka, Sarajevo, and Sion. He ended his career at Moutier in 1966 after gaining promotion to LNA.

Managerial career

Coaching in Switzerland

Blažević started as a coach where he ended his playing days in Switzerland. He first led FC Vevey (1968–71) then his former team FC Sion (1971–76), FC Lausanne-Sport (1976–79) and finally Switzerland's national team (as interim coach for two games in 1976). With Sion he won the Swiss Cup with club as a player and as manager in 1974.

NK Rijeka

Blažević returned to Yugoslavia in 1979 to coach Rijeka. Rijeka finished tenth in the 1979–80 season. Although not a very good league season the club got to the quarter-finals of 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup where they lost to Juventus. NK Rijeka's best European placement. Blažević also lost the 1979–80 Balkans Cup final to Studențesc București.

Success with Dinamo

Blažević took over Dinamo Zagreb on 11 December 1980, one of Yugoslavia's big four clubs (the other three being Hajduk Split, Red Star Belgrade and Partizan) in 1980. After a mediocre first season, in which Dinamo finished fifth, Blažević became an instant club legend in the 1981–82, winning the first Yugoslav league title for the Zagreb outfit after a 24-year drought.

Next year, Dinamo won the Yugoslav Cup and led a long battle with Partizan and Hajduk Split in the league. Partizan became 1983 champions and Blažević left Dinamo for the first time.

Grasshopper and Prishtina

Blažević went back to Switzerland, winning the Swiss Championship with Grasshopper-Club Zurich in 1984. He advanced to the second round of 1984–85 European Cup where he lost to Juventus. After a less than expected second season Blažević left Grasshopper mid-season.

In 1985, Blažević was once again in Yugoslavia, this time as manager of Kosovo's KF Prishtina. Under Blažević's leadership Prishtina achieved First Division status. To this day he is noted as a club legend.

Second stint at Dinamo, Nantes and PAOK

In the same year he became Dinamo Zagreb's coach for second time; during this period he failed to accomplish any significant results and therefore left again in 1988. His next team was FC Nantes of France; Blažević was there until 1990. After Nantes he spent a season in Greek club PAOK FC.

Croatia tenure

In the 1990s, with Croatia gaining independence, Blažević joined the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and became President Tuđman's admirer and close friend. For the third time he became Dinamo (then named NK Croatia Zagreb) coach and president at the same time. He won the 1993 Croatian Championship and 1994 Croatian Cup, but then left his favorite club once more, citing his reasons for doing so as needing to focus on managing the Croatian national team.

Blažević was national team manager from 1994 on a part-time basis, but only a year later it became a full-time job as Croatia faced its first qualifying cycle for the European Championship. Croatia won the first place in qualifying group, sensationally ahead of Italy and directly entered Euro 96 in England. Blažević was about to gain some worldwide fame.

From January to June 1996 Blažević took up a position as an advisor at HNK Rijeka to help newly appointed coach Nenad Gračan save his former club from relegation.

Croatia passed group stage with wins against Turkey and current European champions Denmark and loss to Portugal, to face Germany in quarter-finals. Germany won 2–1 and eventually went on to win the event.

However, greatest things lay ahead, as Croatia was trying to qualify to the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. They won second place in the qualifying group behind Denmark and ousted Ukraine in a play-off for the tournament.

Blažević's Croatia squad for the 1998 World Cup included the likes of Zvonimir Boban, Davor Šuker and Slaven Bilić. In France they created one of the greatest all-time World Cup sensations by winning the third place play-off. In the group stage, Croatia eliminated Japan and Jamaica, suffering a insignificant loss to Argentina in the final game. In the knockout stages they passed by Romania, winning 1–0 from a penalty kick. This prepared them for a quarter-final against Germany. Croatia beat Germany 3–0. However, Croatia were stopped by the hosts France in the semifinal. Blažević made a critical coaching decision in that semi-final as he failed to insert his most talented player Robert Prosinečki when the game was in the balance at 1–1. Instead he opted for Silvio Marić to replace the injured Boban after half-time and Croatia eventually lost the game 2–1. In the third-place match, Prosinečki started in Boban's stead; his fielding proved fruitful as he scored the opening goal and assisted for the second, becoming man of the match. Croatia won against the Netherlands 2–1 to claim their first bronze.

The rest of his stint as Croatian manager was less successful. Croatia failed to qualify for Euro 2000, after finishing a third in a qualifying group behind FR Yugoslavia and Ireland. Blažević retained his position and began to build a new team, filled with younger players for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. However, after Croatia opened the qualifiers with two draws, he was forced to resign in autumn 2000.

Iran tenure and return to Croatia

Well known throughout the football world for his 1998 World Cup sensation, Blažević accepted an offer to lead the Iranian national team midway through the 2002 World Cup qualification process. Coming in ahead of the final qualifying round, he quickly developed a following among many of the Iranian fans. He kept the 3–5–2 formation that Iran had played with previously in the 96 Asian Cup, in which Iranian national team had won third place. He also introduced new players to Team Melli such as Rahman Rezaei, Javad Nekounam, and Ebrahim Mirzapour. Ireland won 2–1 on aggregate, the defeat that marked the end of Blažević's time in Iran as his assistant Branko Ivanković took over.

Blažević returned to Croatia, first saving NK Osijek from relegation and then again in Dinamo. In his fourth term as Dinamo coach, Blažević won the Croatian Championship in 2003, but left again same year after clashing with his long-time friend, Dinamo's vice president Zdravko Mamić.

Blažević then led Slovenian NK Mura for few months before becoming the coach of Croatian side NK Varteks, a post he held until 31 May 2005. While at Varteks Zlatko Dalić was his assistant coach.

Short stint at Hajduk

Blažević controversially announced that he was going to coach Hajduk Split in 2005–06, having expressed his desire to coach the southern Croatian side for decades; many fans were skeptical due to his association with Hajduk Split's derby rival Dinamo Zagreb. His arrival caused a great deal of media controversy; Hajduk Split fans had differing opinions, with a significant number seeing Blažević as a "miracle worker" that would help Hajduk Split regain its former glory.

Hajduk Split under Blažević's leadership immediately got eliminated from European competitions, following an 8–0 aggregate defeat to Hungarian side Debreceni VSC; the 5–0 second leg loss is considered one of Hajduk Split's worst losses in European competitions. This was followed by a series of losses and unsatisfying results at the beginning of the new league season, which finally forced Blažević to resign on 18 September. He was replaced by Igor Štimac, former Hajduk Split player and one of his main supporters in club administration.

Neuchâtel and NK Zagreb

In October 2005, he went back to Switzerland and coached Neuchâtel Xamax, replacing Alain Geiger in an attempt to save the club from relegation after they had won just one out of their first ten games of the season. Although Blažević achieved some notable victories with Neuchâtel against Swiss powerhouses FC Basel and FC Zurich, they finished the season in ninth place (in a ten-club league) and went to relegation playoff. They were eventually relegated after losing to another Swiss team Blažević had managed 35 years earlier, FC Sion, 3–0 on aggregate, and his tenure there ended in June 2006.

Once again, he returned to Croatia, this time to take over NK Zagreb. The club experienced a successful 2006–07 season which saw them finish third behind Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split and earned them a spot in Intertoto Cup 2007. However, in the following season the team made for an early exit, losing against their first Intertoto opponent Vllaznia on away goals. After Ivica Vrdoljak and Mario Mandžukić were transferred to city rivals Dinamo Zagreb at the beginning of the season, the team saw a string of mediocre results before finishing the season sixth. Immediately after the last game of the season, Blažević announced that his stint at NK Zagreb had come to an end by mutual consent between him and the club's chairman.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Blažević as Bosnia and Herzegovina manager in 2009

On 10 July 2008, Blažević was appointed head coach of Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team replacing Meho Kodro who had been dismissed two months earlier by the Bosnian FA (FSBiH) officials after reportedly refusing to take charge of the national team for a friendly against Iran. Since Kodro's dismissal was seen by many fans as the latest in a series of problematic decisions by the much-maligned FA leadership, Blažević was thus, by proxy, not welcomed with open arms by certain sections of the public upon his arrival. With the national team in complete disarray and many players refusing to even answer call-ups by interim head coach Denijal Pirić, the appointment of Blažević was seen by many fans as FA's desperate makeshift solution designed to appease the public in the wake of the ongoing two-month fiasco by bringing in a fairly established name. However, combining his carefully crafted showman public persona with some decent initial results on the pitch, Blažević quickly managed to charm most of the public into getting behind him. By his own admission, Blažević had already been close to getting the Bosnia-Herzegovina national team job six years earlier in 2002, but ended up not getting hired due to influential FSBiH executive Jusuf Pušina who considered Blažević unsuitable for the job because of the coach's association with the Croatian wartime president Franjo Tuđman and his political party.

Staying true to all the staples of his coaching style from his previous places of employment, seventy-four-year-old Blažević quickly became the media favourite in Sarajevo. Always ready for a sound bite, he gave bombastic interviews, cheekily delivering bold statements and sweeping promises.

Bosnia under Blažević has qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier playoffs, playing a game against Portugal. In Lisbon, Portugal, Bosnia lost 1–0, with a goal scored by Bruno Alves. In Zenica, Bosnia lost 1–0 against Portugal, with a goal scored by Raul Meireles. He was appointed manager to the Bosnia-Herzegovina team on 10 July 2008 and announced on 11 December 2009 his demission. His dismissal was preceded by criticism from Bosnian fans and journalists following Blažević's attack on fan-favorite Zvjezdan Misimović, blaming him for the defeat against Portugal.

Shanghai Shenhua

After his recession as head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team he signed one day later on 12 December 2009 for Shanghai Shenhua. He finished the 2010 Chinese Super League season in a high third-place position qualifying for the AFC Champions League.

China Olympic

Blažević was appointed manager of the Chinese Olympic team on 30 November 2010. He resigned from his position in June 2011 after they failed to qualify to the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Mes Kerman

On 28 August 2011, Iran Pro League side Mes Kerman announced that they will sign a contract with Blažević to replace Samad Marfavi who had resigned two days earlier. On 31 August 2011, he returned to Iran after ten years and signed a one-year contract with Mes. On 9 September 2011, his side plays a match against Damash Gilan with a 1–1 draw. He started his career in the club successfully, but after the weeks, Mes returned to the relegation zone. He was sacked as club's head coach on 14 February 2012 and was appointed technical director of the club.

NK Zagreb

In November 2012 he returned to NK Zagreb to help the club stay in the Prva HNL since they were in the relegation zone. In the beginning he started to have decent results like defeating Dinamo Zagreb on home ground but later his team started to decline in results. In December 2012 he almost left the club because he had a serious argument with the NK Zagreb chairman but he decided to stay. In May 2013 after NK Zagreb failed to secure a place in the Prva HNL and finished at the bottom of the league he announced his retirement from professional football at the end of the season.

Sloboda Tuzla

In January 2014, after refusing to take over the Croatian Second Football League club NK Solin, Blažević signed with the Bosnian Sloboda Tuzla playing in the second level Bosnian League. He took over the club while it was second on the league table and agreed to lead the club until the end of the season with the goal to reach the top level Bosnian league, He succeeded, with Sloboda winning 13 and drawing 1 of his 15 matches in charge to win the First League of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with a record total of 71 points from their 30 league games in the season.

Zadar

On 2 September 2014, after Sloboda Tuzla, he was named the manager of Croatian First Football League club NK Zadar, but he parted ways with the club and finished 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. The couple had three children and five grandchildren.

Blažević was a Bosnian Croat. Apart from Croatian, he also held Swiss citizenship.

Blažević died of prostate cancer in Zagreb on 8 February 2023, one day before his 88th birthday.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Club statistics

*Dates of first and last games under Blažević; not dates of official appointments

National teams statistics

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Source: Miroslav Blazevic IMDb

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)

See also

In Spanish: Miroslav Blažević para niños