Born on 26 October 1966, in Livno, then a part of SR Bosnia and Herzegovina within SFR Yugoslavia, today a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dalić comes from a Croat Catholic family of father Ivan and mother Kata Dalić. He holds Croatian citizenship.
In 1992 Dalić married his wife Davorka Propadalo, with whom he has two sons: Toni and Bruno.[3][4] Dalić is a practicing Roman Catholic.[5][6]
Playing career
During his time as a player, Dalić played for a number of clubs.
He started of his youth career at NK Troglav 1918 Livno, before joining Hajduk Split in 1983 and thus starting his senior career. He stayed at Hajduk Split until 1986, after joining Cibalia, which was at that time known as Dinamo Vinkovci. Apart from Hajduk Split and Cibalia, Dalić also played for Budućnost Titograd, Velež Mostar and Varteks. He finished his career in 2000 at Varteks.
Coaching career
Varteks
After ending his playing career in 2000, he became assistant coach at Varteks. From May 2002 to May 2005, Dalić worked as the club's sports director, and during the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons he simultaneously acted as assistant coach for Miroslav Blažević.
In May 2005, he was appointed manager of Varteks and in his first season at the helm he won third place in the Croatian First League and reached the final of the Croatian Football Cup. In the first leg of the final, which was played in Rijeka, Varteks lost 0–4 to HNK Rijeka. In the second leg in Varaždin, Dalić nearly created a sensation leading the team to a 5–1 win, but they were one goal short from lifting the silverware.[7]
Rijeka
In the summer of 2007, after his contract with Varteks ended, he became manager of HNK Rijeka, and finished fourth at the end of the 2007–08 season. After being knocked out of the 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup by FK Renova, Dalić was sacked on 1 July 2008 just before the start of the season.[8]
Dinamo Tirana
In the 2008–09 season, Dalić managed Albanian champions Dinamo Tirana, with whom he won the Albanian Supercup.[9] He resigned in February 2009 after losing two derbies in a row versus fellow capital teams Tirana and Partizani.[10]
Slaven Belupo
After a short stint in Albania, he returned to Croatia in 2009 and took over his third Croatian football club, NK Slaven Belupo.[11]
Al-Faisaly
In the 2010–11 season, he became head coach of Al-Faisaly. At the end of the 2010–11 season under Dalić the club enjoyed the greatest success in its history, qualifying for the King's Cup in the Saudi Professional League.[12] Dalić was named Coach of the Year in the Saudi Professional League for the 2010–11 season by Al Riyadh newspapers.[13] In the selection, he beat other more famous coaches working in Saudi Arabia at the time, such as Gabriel Calderón, Walter Zenga and Eric Gerets.
On 3 May 2012, Dalić signed a contract with Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal to manage their B team. On 30 January, Al-Hilal agreed with Dalić to coach the first club following the sacking of Antoine Kombouaré.[14] On 9 February 2013, he made his managerial debut with Al-Hilal against his old club Al-Faisaly in the semi-final of the 2012–13 Saudi Crown Prince Cup. Dalić eventually led Al-Hilal to the cup title - the team's sixth consecutive win - which was also Dalić's second major title in his coaching career.[15] During the 2013–14 season, he was the main candidate for the position of sports director at Croatian powerhouse Hajduk Split, but turned down the offer from one of the biggest clubs in Croatian football.[16]
On 8 March 2014, Dalić was appointed manager of Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates after the team had sacked Quique Sánchez Flores.[17] In his first season, he led the team to finish top of their group in the 2014 AFC Champions League, which was the first time since 2006 that the club progressed through the group stage.[18] On 30 April 2014, Al-Ain announced that Dalić would remain head coach for the next two seasons.[19] In the round of sixteen of the 2014 AFC Champions League, Al-Ain beat Al-Jazira by 4–2 to advance to the quarter-finals; in the quarter-finals, the team beat Al-Ittihad 5–1 to advance to the semi-finals, ultimately losing 4–2 to Al-Hilal, which was Dalić's former team.[20]
On 18 May 2014, Al-Ain won the final game of UAE President's Cup against league champions Al-Ahli 1–0, which secured Dalić's first trophy as manager of Al-Ain.[21]
Dalić won the title of Best Coach of 2014 for his performances; at the end of the first round of the UAE Pro-League, Al–Ain took the first position with one game in hand.[22] Eventually, Al-Ain won their 12th UAE Pro-League title in the 2014–15 UAE Pro-League.[23] The club finished the season 11 points above runners-up Al Jazira and Al Shabab Dubai, only losing two games throughout the season; in this season, they also achieved several records, namely conceding the fewest goals (19), the longest unbeaten run (15 matches), the longest winning run (8 matches), and the biggest home win against Ajman (7–1).[24]
On 12 July 2015, Dalić received the Coach of the Year accolade during the UAE Pro-League award ceremony for the 2014–15 UAE Pro-League season for guiding his side to winning the league title.[25]
Dalić's first match of the 2015–16 season was a UAE Super Cup match between Al-Ain and Al-Nasr Dubai, played on 15 August and resulted in victory for Al-Ain, who won 4–2.[26] Following a 3–0 win against Al-Ahli Dubai in the 10th round of the UAE Pro-League on 5 December, Dalić became the best coach in the league's history since it turned professional,[27] though Al-Ain ultimately finished second in the league in 2016.[28] The club also reached the 2016 AFC Champions League final, ultimately losing 2–3 to Jeonbuk Motors.[29]
Dalić's tenure as manager of Al-Ain saw the club rise rapidly in the Football Database Ranking; initially, the club was ranked 335th in March 2014, when Dalić arrived, and by the time of his departure, the club was ranked 122nd in the world, also reaching 5th position in Asia, according to the ranking.[30]
Dalić formally departed Al-Ain in January 2017, citing a "need for rest" as his reason for departing.[31]
Croatia
Zlatko Dalić during a Croatia training session; ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
On 7 October 2017, following the sacking of Ante Čačić due to a series of poor results, the Croatian Football Federation named Dalić as the head coach of the Croatia national football team.[32] Upon arriving, Dalić announced that he would only remain head coach if Croatia qualifies for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and that the HNS would decide his future if Croatia miss out on qualifying for the finals.[33]
On 9 October, Dalić led Croatia to a 2–0 win over Ukraine in 2018 World Cup qualifying, which also secured second place in their group, and a place in the play-off round.[34] On 19 October, Dalić named Ivica Olić, former Croatia international player, as his assistant manager. Croatia drew Greece in the play-off round, and on 9 November, Dalić led the team to a 4–1 first-leg triumph over Greece, all but securing a place in the 2018 World Cup.[35] In the return leg, on 12 November, Croatia drew with Greece 0–0, but won 4–1 on aggregate, thus securing a place in the World Cup finals.[36] Following this, Dalić officially signed a contract with the Croatian Football Federation, running until 30 July 2020, and would reportedly earn around €500,000 per year.[37]
Croatia drew a challenging group, with the likes of Nigeria, Argentina and Iceland.[38][39] On 16 June, Croatia won their opening match of the 2018 World Cup, beating Nigeria by a scoreline of 2–0.[40] However, during the game, forward Nikola Kalinić had refused to come on as a late substitute, citing a back injury as his excuse, although he had used this excuse earlier during a friendly match against Brazil, as well as the previous training session.[41] This prompted Dalić to send him home on just the fifth day of the tournament.[42] Dalić stated that he needed "prepared players, while Kalinić did not show up at three occasions".[43] Dalić received praise for his treatment of Kalinić, with some stating that he had cemented his position as a head coach with the decision.[44] On 21 June, Croatia overwhelmed football heavyweights Argentina, winning by a scoreline of 3–0, with Ante Rebić, Luka Modrić and Ivan Rakitić scoring the goals.[45][46] The victory led Croatia to a spot in the knockout stage for the first time since the 1998 FIFA World Cup, in which they finished third place.[47] On 26 June, Croatia topped their group with maximum points following a 2–1 win over Iceland, and drew Denmark in the round of sixteen, advancing after a penalty shootout.[48][49][50] Croatia again won through a penalty shootout against hosts Russia in the quarter-finals, setting up a semi-final tie against England.[51][52] On 11 July, Croatia beat England 2–1, advancing to the final, where they lost 4–2 to France on 15 July.[53][54] For the achievement, he received the Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport Yearly Award.[55]
In the inaugural edition of UEFA Nations League, Croatia was drawn in the same group as Spain and England.[56][57] Croatia opened their Nations League campaign on 11 September with a disastrous 6–0 defeat to Spain in Elche.[58] However, on 15 November, Croatia managed to get revenge with a 3–2 victory in Zagreb.[59] Nevertheless, due to a goalless draw with England in Rijeka on 12 October[60] and a 2–1 defeat in London on 18 November, Croatia were relegated to League B.[61]
Croatia entered their UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying campaign poorly with narrow 2–1 home victories over Azerbaijan and Wales, and an upset 2–1 away defeat to Hungary.[62][63][64] However, Croatia returned to form beating Slovakia 4–0 away in Trnava. On 16 November 2019, in their last qualifying match, Croatia beat Slovakia 3–1 in Rijeka, topping the group and securing their place at the finals.[65][66] Applauded for his successful handling of the national team after the retirement of some prominent internationals such as Mario Mandžukić and Danijel Subašić, successful integration of new names such as Bruno Petković, Josip Brekalo and Nikola Vlašić into the team and successful qualifying campaign, Dalić signed a new contract on 23 July 2020 with Croatian Football Federation that kept him at the position of Croatia manager until the end of 2022, earning an annual salary of €1.6 million.[67][68]
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