Srečko Katanec facts for kids
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Katanec in 2015
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 16 July 1963 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, Yugoslavia |
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| Height | 1.90 m | |||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Defensive midfielder, centre-back |
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| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| 1970–1981 | Ljubljana | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||||||
| 1981–1985 | Olimpija | 81 | (10) | |||||||||||||
| 1985–1986 | Dinamo Zagreb | 21 | (3) | |||||||||||||
| 1986–1988 | Partizan | 58 | (9) | |||||||||||||
| 1988–1989 | VfB Stuttgart | 26 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 1989–1994 | Sampdoria | 87 | (12) | |||||||||||||
| Total | 273 | (35) | ||||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||
| Yugoslavia U21 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1983–1990 | Yugoslavia | 31 | (5) | |||||||||||||
| 1994 | Slovenia | 5 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| Teams managed | ||||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | Gorica | |||||||||||||||
| 1998–2002 | Slovenia | |||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Olympiacos | |||||||||||||||
| 2006–2009 | Macedonia | |||||||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | United Arab Emirates | |||||||||||||||
| 2013–2017 | Slovenia | |||||||||||||||
| 2018–2021 | Iraq | |||||||||||||||
| 2021–2025 | Uzbekistan | |||||||||||||||
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Honours
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Srečko Katanec (born 16 July 1963) is a famous Slovenian football manager and former player. He played for both the Yugoslavia and Slovenia national teams.
Katanec was a midfielder and also played as a defender. Many people think he is one of the best Slovenian footballers ever. He played for Yugoslavia in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics. He also played in the UEFA Euro 1984 and the 1990 FIFA World Cup. After Slovenia became independent, Katanec played five games for the new Slovenian national team before he stopped playing professionally.
During his club career, Katanec won a Yugoslav League championship with FK Partizan. He was also a runner-up in the 1988–89 UEFA Cup with VfB Stuttgart. He played for Sampdoria for five years. There, he won the Serie A championship, the Coppa Italia, and the European Cup Winners' Cup. He also reached the final of the 1992 European Cup final, but his team lost to Barcelona.
As the manager of Slovenia, Katanec led the country to its first big football tournaments. They qualified for the 2000 European Championship and the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Contents
Playing Career: Srečko Katanec's Journey on the Field
Early Club Days: Where Katanec Started Playing Football
Katanec started playing football when he was seven years old. His first club was NK Ljubljana. In 1981, he joined Olimpija. Later, in 1985, he moved to Dinamo Zagreb. The next year, he signed with Partizan and helped them win the Yugoslav championship in 1987.
Playing in Germany and Italy: Success with VfB Stuttgart and Sampdoria
In 1988, Katanec joined VfB Stuttgart in Germany's top league, the Bundesliga. His team reached the 1989 UEFA Cup final, but they lost to Diego Maradona's Napoli. Katanec played only one season for Stuttgart.
In 1989, he moved to Italy to play for Serie A team Sampdoria. In his first season, he won the European Cup Winners' Cup. In 1991, Sampdoria won the Scudetto, which means they were the Serie A champions. The next year, in the 1991–92 season, the club made it to the 1992 European Cup final, but they lost to Barcelona. In 1994, he also won the Coppa Italia with Sampdoria.
International Matches: Representing Yugoslavia and Slovenia
Katanec played for the Yugoslavia national team in the 1984 European Championship in France. He has even better memories of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, where the Yugoslavia team won a bronze medal.
He played very well in the qualifying games for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. He became only the third Slovenian player to play in a FIFA World Cup. He played in three of Yugoslavia's five matches at that World Cup. These were his last three games for Yugoslavia. Overall, he played 31 matches and scored 5 goals for Yugoslavia.
After Slovenia became an independent country, Katanec played five more matches for the new Slovenia national team. He scored one goal for Slovenia. Only one of these was an official game. This was a qualifying match for the 1996 European Championship on 7 September 1994, in Maribor against Italy. Soon after, his contract with Sampdoria ended, and he stopped playing professional football.
Managerial Career: Katanec as a Coach
Leading Slovenia: First Major Tournaments
From 1996 to 1997, Katanec was an assistant coach for the Slovenia under-21 team. In December 1997, he became the head coach of Gorica. In July 1998, he was chosen to manage the Slovenian national team.
As Slovenia's manager, he helped the country qualify for its first major tournament ever, the 2000 UEFA European Championship. They beat Ukraine in the play-offs to get there. At the tournament, Slovenia tied games against FR Yugoslavia and Norway, and lost to Spain.
Slovenia also qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. At this tournament, they lost all three matches against Spain, South Africa, and Paraguay. After the first game, Katanec had a disagreement with the team's star player, Zlatko Zahovič, who was then sent home. Katanec resigned as manager right after the World Cup.
Coaching Other National Teams and Clubs
On 2 November 2002, Katanec became the new manager of Olympiacos, a club team. However, Olympiacos did not play as well as expected under him. On 7 February 2003, the club ended his contract because of poor results and a bad team atmosphere.
In 2004, Katanec was considered for the manager job of Croatia, but Zlatko Kranjčar was chosen instead.
On 17 February 2006, Katanec was named head coach of Macedonia. He managed them during the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers. After mixed results in the qualifying games for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, he resigned on 6 April 2009.
On 23 June 2009, he became the new head coach of the United Arab Emirates national team. He was let go on 6 September 2011 after two losses in the qualifying rounds for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Second Time with Slovenia and Later Roles
On 31 December 2012, Katanec agreed to become the manager of Slovenia for the second time. He officially started on 4 January 2013. He resigned in October 2017 after his team did not qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
On 4 September 2018, Katanec was appointed head coach of the Iraq for three years. His first big competition with Iraq was the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. There, he helped Iraq reach the knockout stages for the first time in a major tournament. They made it to the round of 16 but lost to the eventual champions, Qatar, 1–0.
Under his leadership, Iraq also had a notable 2–1 win over their neighbor Iran in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. He also guided Iraq to the third round of AFC qualifiers. However, due to disagreements with the football federation about unpaid salaries, Katanec left his role as coach in July 2021.
On 27 August 2021, Katanec became the head coach of Uzbekistan with a four-year contract. With Uzbekistan, he reached the quarter-finals of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. His team was eliminated on penalties by the eventual champions, Qatar. Katanec resigned as Uzbekistan head coach in January 2025 due to health problems and announced he was retiring from football.
Personal Life
Srečko Katanec was born in Ljubljana. His parents were Croats from Međimurje. He has two sons named Svit Oliver and Ian Oskar.
Honours and Achievements
Partizan
- Yugoslav First League: 1986–87
VfB Stuttgart
- UEFA Cup runner-up: 1988–89
Sampdoria
- Serie A: 1990–91
- Coppa Italia: 1993–94
- Supercoppa Italiana: 1991
- Cup Winners' Cup: 1989–90
- European Cup runner-up: 1991–92
Images for kids
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Sl-Srečko Katanec.oga
Audio pronunciation of Srečko Katanec
See also
In Spanish: Srečko Katanec para niños
