Darko Milanič

Darko Milanič
Personal information
Date of birth	18 December 1967 (age 56)
Place of birth	Izola, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
	Izola
Senior career*
Years	Team
1986–1993	Partizan
1993–2000	Sturm Graz
International career
1991–1992	Yugoslavia
1992–2000	Slovenia
Managerial career
2004–2006	Primorje Ajdovščina
2007–2008	Gorica
2008–2013	Maribor
2013–	Sturm Graz
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Darko Milanič (born 18 December 1967) is a retired Slovenian football defender. Since June 2013, he is the coach of Sturm Graz.

Club career

Born in Izola, Milanič began his football career with local side Izola. At 17 he was signed by Partizan, where he became a notable defender. After the 1992–93 season he moved to the Austrian side Sturm Graz. He played there successfully 8 years and won several trophies.

International career

During his spell at Partizan he earned 5 caps for Yugoslavia.^[1] He also earned 42 caps for Slovenia, was the captain of National team and represented his country at the Euro 2000 championship.

Coaching career

After his football career, he turned into coaching. He started his coaching career at his hometown club MNK Izola. After that, he was a coach of Primorje and an assistant coach in SK Sturm Graz. During the 2007–08 season he was head coach of Gorica. On 1 June 2008 he was appointed as the head coach of Maribor.^[2] In May 2010, Maribor won the Slovenian Cup. With this trophy, Darko Milanič became the first coach that have won all three domestic trophies in the Slovenian club football, having won the Slovenian League and the Slovenian Supercup before that.^[3] He has achieved that in only two seasons. In 2012, he was selected as the Slovenian coach of the year, winning the league, cup and supercup.^[4]