Nenad Bjelica
![]() |
![]() Bjelica with Lech Poznań in 2017 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Nenad Bjelica | ||
Date of birth | 20 August 1971 | ||
Place of birth |
Osijek, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Youth career | |||
1989–1990 | Metalac Olt | ||
1990–1991 | Osijek | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1991–1993 | Osijek | 28 | (7) |
1993–1996 | Albacete | 79 | (19) |
1996–1998 | Real Betis | 30 | (2) |
1998–1999 | Las Palmas | 24 | (3) |
1999–2001 | Osijek | 30 | (16) |
2001–2004 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 65 | (5) |
2004–2006 | Admira Wacker Mödling | 5 | (12) |
2006–2008 | Kärnten | 58 | (17) |
Total | 366 | (81) | |
International career | |||
1993 | Croatia U21 | 1 | (0) |
2001 | Croatia B | 1 | (0) |
2001–2004 | Croatia | 9 | (0) |
Managerial career | |||
2007–2008 | Kärnten (caretaker) | ||
2008–2009 | Kärnten | ||
2009–2010 | Lustenau 07 | ||
2010–2013 | WAC St. Andrä | ||
2013–2014 | Austria Wien | ||
2014–2015 | Spezia | ||
2016–2018 | Lech Poznań | ||
2018–2020 | Dinamo Zagreb | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Nenad Bjelica (Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [něnɑːd bjělitsa]; born 20 August 1971) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Croatian First Football League club Dinamo Zagreb.
Club career
Born in Osijek, Bjelica started playing for a small club, Metalac Olt in the 1989–90 season. He quickly moved to NK Osijek and spent almost four seasons there, before moving abroad to Spain.
Bjelica played for Albacete Balompié for four years, during which the team reached the Copa del Rey semi-final in the 1994–95 season. In 1996, he moved to Real Betis and was in the team that was the runner-up in the 1996–97 campaign. The next season, Bjelica spent at UD Las Palmas, but returned to Real Betis a year later. Due to injuries, he played very few games in this period, and would again spend a season at Las Palmas until the end of 1999.
Bjelica then returned home to Osijek for two seasons and recovered his form, playing with the team in three stages of the UEFA Cup. He then moved to 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 2000, where he spent four seasons until semi-retiring top-tier football in 2004. During the 2004–05 season, Bjelica played for VfB Admira Wacker Mödling. After that, he played for the Austrian club FC Kärnten in the Austrian Football First League before retiring on 31 June 2008.
International career
Bjelica represented Croatia nine times from 2001 until 2004.[1] He was part of the UEFA Euro 2004 squad, but retired from the team in that year, at the same time the manager Otto Barić was replaced.
Managerial career
Bjelica began his coaching career on 15 September 2007 at FC Kärnten,[2] as player-caretaker manager. On 1 July 2008, he signed a full managing contract, just a day after ending his playing career.
Bjelica was the head coach of Lustenau 07 from March to December 2009,[3] as well as WAC St. Andrä from May 2010 to June 2013.[3]
Bjelica moved to Austria Wien on 17 June 2013 as their new head coach.[4], and qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage, defeating the Croatian champion Dinamo Zagreb in the last round of qualification, with the club.[5] Bjelica was sacked on 16 February 2014.[6] As Austria Wien failed to qualify for the UEFA Europa League nonetheless at the end of the season, his contract expired.
In June 2014, he was hired by Serie B side Spezia.[7] On 30 August 2016, he was appointed the new head coach of Polish side Lech Poznań. On 10 May 2018, he was released from his contract at Lech.
On 15 May 2018, Bjelica signed a two-year-deal with the Croatian champion Dinamo Zagreb.[8] Four days later, he celebrated winning the Croatian First League, while on 23 May 2018, he won the Croatian Cup. On 8 November 2018, beating Spartak Trnava, Dinamo was qualified to the Europa League knockout phase.[9] On 18 September 2019, Bjelica led Dinamo in its first match in the UEFA Champions League after four years, and won 4–0 against Atalanta.[10] On 16 April 2020, following the dismissal of the entire coaching staff, the club announced the termination of the contract with Bjelica.[11]
Managerial statistics
- As of match updated 8 March 2020
Team | From | To | Record | Ref. | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
Kärnten | 15 September 2007[2] | 29 January 2009[2] | 49 | 17 | 12 | 20 | 34.69 | [12] [13] |
Lustenau 07 | 19 March 2009[14] | 11 December 2009[14] | 32 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 37.50 | [15] [16] |
WAC St. Andrä | 10 May 2010[17] | 17 June 2013[4] | 124 | 55 | 30 | 39 | 44.35 | [18] [19] [20] [21] |
Austria Wien | 17 June 2013[4] | 16 February 2014[6] | 35 | 12 | 10 | 13 | 34.29 | [22] |
Spezia | 22 June 2014[7] | 21 November 2015 | 60 | 24 | 19 | 17 | 40.00 | |
Lech Poznań | 30 August 2016[23] | 10 May 2018[24] | 78 | 41 | 22 | 15 | 52.56 | [25] [26] |
Dinamo Zagreb | 15 May 2018 | 16 April 2020 | 86 | 63 | 12 | 11 | 73.26 | |
Total | 464 | 224 | 113 | 127 | 48.28 | — |
Honours
WAC St. Andrä
Dinamo Zagreb
Individual
References
- ^ Mamrud, Roberto (16 July 2009). "Croatia – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
- ^ a b c "FC Kärnten » Trainerhistorie". Worldfootball. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
- ^ a b "Nenad Bjelica". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ a b c "Bjelica neuer Austria-Coach". Österreich (in German). 17 June 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
- ^ "Kienast the hero as Austria Wien pip Dinamo". UEFA.com. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- ^ a b "Austria trennt sich von Bjelica". kicker (in German). 16 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
- ^ a b "Nenad Bjelica wechselt nach Italien" (in German). ligaportal.at. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ^ "Dinamo potvrdio: Nenad Bjelica novi trener Modrih!". gol.dnevnik.hr (in Croatian). gol.dnevnik.hr. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
- ^ "USPJELI SU KADA NITKO NIJE VJEROVAO U NJIH: Kako je Bjelica stvorio pobjednički Dinamo i začepio usta svim kritičarima". net.hr (in Croatian). 8 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- ^ "Dinamo na krilima Oršića srušio Atalantu". sport.hrt.hr (in Croatian). 18 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
- ^ "Priopćenje GNK Dinamo". gnkdinamo.hr (in Croatian). GNK Dinamo Zagreb. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "FC Kärnten » Dates & results 2007/2008". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ "FC Kärnten » Dates & results 2008/2009". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ a b "FC Lustenau » Trainerhistorie". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ "FC Lustenau » Dates & results 2008/2009". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ "FC Lustenau » Dates & results 2009/2010". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ "Wolfsberger AC » Trainerhistorie". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ "Wolfsberger AC » Dates & results 2009/2010". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ "Wolfsberger AC » Dates & results 2010/2011". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ "Wolfsberger AC » Dates & results 2011/2012". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ "Wolfsberger AC" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ "Austria Wien" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ "Bjelica nowym trenerem Lecha" (in Polish). Lech Poznań. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
- ^ "Bjelica odchodzi z Lecha" (in Polish). Lech Poznań. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
- ^ "Sezon 2016/17". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 31 July 2017.
- ^ "Sezon 2017/18". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 31 July 2017.
External links
- Nenad Bjelica – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Nenad Bjelica at National-Football-Teams.com
- Nenad Bjelica at the Croatian Football Federation
- 1971 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Osijek
- Association football midfielders
- Yugoslav footballers
- Croatian footballers
- Croatian football managers
- Croatian expatriate football managers
- Croatia international footballers
- Croatian expatriate footballers
- Croatian First Football League players
- La Liga players
- Bundesliga players
- Austrian Football Bundesliga players
- Austrian Football Bundesliga managers
- Serie B managers
- Real Betis players
- Albacete Balompié players
- UD Las Palmas players
- NK Osijek players
- 1. FC Kaiserslautern players
- FC Admira Wacker Mödling players
- FC Kärnten players
- UEFA Euro 2004 players
- Expatriate footballers in Spain
- Expatriate footballers in Germany
- Expatriate footballers in Austria
- Expatriate football managers in Austria
- Expatriate football managers in Italy
- Expatriate football managers in Poland
- FC Kärnten managers
- Wolfsberger AC managers
- FK Austria Wien managers
- Spezia Calcio managers
- Lech Poznań managers
- GNK Dinamo Zagreb managers
- Croatian people of Montenegrin descent