Nikola Jurčević

Croatian footballer

Nikola Jurčević (born 14 September 1966) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is head coach of the Lebanon national team.

Nikola Jurčević
Jurčević in training
Personal information
Date of birth (1966-09-14) 14 September 1966 (age 58)
Place of birth Zagreb, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)
Youth career
Dinamo Zagreb
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1986 Dinamo Zagreb 4 (0)
1986–1988 Zagreb
1988–1989 Royal Antwerp 1 (0)
1989–1991 Zagreb 33 (25)
1991–1995 Austria Salzburg 130 (42)
1995–1997 SC Freiburg 45 (5)
1997–1999 Austria Salzburg 31 (4)
Total 211 (51)
National team
1990–1991 Croatia (unoff) 2 (0)
1994–1996 Croatia 17 (2)
Teams managed
2002–2003 Zagreb
2003–2004 Dinamo Zagreb
2005 Austria Salzburg
2005 Slaven Belupo
2006–2012 Croatia (assistant)
2012–2013 Lokomotiv Moscow (assistant)
2013–2015 Beşiktaş (assistant)
2015–2017 West Ham United (assistant)
2018 Dinamo Zagreb
2019 Azerbaijan
2023– Lebanon
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

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Club career

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He started his career at Dinamo Zagreb. There he played alongside with Robert Prosinečki and Zvonko Boban. After a conflict with Dinamo's youth coach Belji he went to Royal Antwerp as an 18-year-old. After one year in Belgium he returned and played for FC Zagreb.

In the summer of 1991he signed with Austrian Bundesliga club SV Austria Salzburg. He was Austrian champion with Salzburg in 1994 and 1995 . In 1994 he scored 14 goals and was together with Heimo Pfeifenberger Austrian top scorer. With Salzburg he reached the UEFA Cup final in the 1993/94 season. Another success was the entry into the UEFA Champions League in the following season. [1]

After his successful years in Austria, he moved to SC Freiburg in the German Bundesliga for two years. There he made 45 appearances and scored 5 goals. After his stay in Germany he went back to Salzburg for a year.

He played 211 matches and scored 51 goals. Most of them he played for SV Austria Salzburg (161 matches-46 goals).

International

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He made his debut for Croatia in a December 1990 against Romania. He came as a 66th-minute substitute for Ivan Cvjetković. He played 19 matches for Craoatia (2 unofficial) and scored 2 goals. Because Croatia was still officially part of Yugoslavia at the time, his first two games were unofficial. His final match was in December 1996 against Morocco.[2]

Managerial career

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He started his coaching career in 2003 at his home club Dinamo Zagreb. In 2005 he became coach of his former club SV Austria Salzburg . After the Red Bull take over he was replaced as coach after just two games by Manfred Linzmaier. Then he coached the Croatian first division club NK Slaven Belupo Koprivnica till 2006.

From 2006 to 2017 Jurčević was an assistant to former Croatian national coach Slaven Bilić . (Croatia national team 2006–2012; Lokomotiv Moscow 2012–2013; Beşiktaş Istanbul 2013–2015 ; West Ham United 2015–2017). 2018 he was head coach at Dinamo Zagreb. 2018/19 he was coach of the Azerbaijan national football team. He was dismissed due to Azerbaijan's poor performance during the qualifiers for the 2021 European Championship.[3]

On 2 October 2023, Jurčević was appointed head coach of the Lebanon national team ahead of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup and 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification.[4]

Honours

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As a player

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NK Zagreb

Austria Salzburg

Individual

As a manager

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Dinamo Zagreb

Other websites

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References

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  1. FC Salzburg Wiki (German)
  2. "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  3. azerbaycan24.com
  4. https://the-lfa.com.lb/news/NT_Coach_JURECEVIC.php
  5. HINA (15 May 2018). "Prvaci ostali bez trenera: Jurčević smijenjen nakon dva mjeseca". Novi List. Retrieved 15 May 2018.