Željko Kopić Explained

Željko Kopić
Birth Date:1977 9, df=yes
Birth Place:Osijek, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Position:Midfielder
Currentclub:Dinamo București (head coach)
Clubs1:Čakovec
Years2:2000–2001
Clubs2:Marsonia
Caps2:17
Goals2:2
Clubs3:Sydney United
Clubs4:Hrvatski Dragovoljac
Manageryears1:2009
Managerclubs1:Zagorec
Manageryears2:2009–2010
Managerclubs2:Segesta
Manageryears3:2011–2012
Managerclubs3:Lučko
Manageryears4:2012
Managerclubs4:Cibalia
Manageryears5:2014–2015
Managerclubs5:NK Zagreb
Manageryears6:2015–2017
Managerclubs6:Slaven Belupo
Manageryears7:2017–2018
Managerclubs7:Hajduk Split
Manageryears8:2018–2019
Managerclubs8:Pafos
Manageryears9:2020–2021
Managerclubs9:Dinamo Zagreb (academy manager)
Manageryears10:2021–2022
Managerclubs10:Dinamo Zagreb
Manageryears11:2022
Managerclubs11:Botev Plovdiv
Manageryears12:2023–
Managerclubs12:Dinamo București

Željko Kopić (born 10 September 1977) is a Croatian football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Liga I club Dinamo București.

Playing career

Club

In his playing days, Željko Kopić played as a midfielder. He played in the younger age categories of NK Osijek and GNK Dinamo Zagreb. In his senior career, he played for Croatian clubs NK Čakovec, NK Marsonia and NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac and an Australian club Sydney United 58 FC.

Managerial career

After his playing career, Željko Kopić became a coach. In 2006, he received the UEFA B coaching diploma, and since 2013 he has the UEFA PRO coaching diploma. At the beginning of his coaching career, he worked at the football school of NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac, and later became an assistant coach of the first team.

His first independent job in senior football was NK Zagorec from Krapina, after which he took over HNK Segesta from Sisak. Then, he worked first as an assistant, and later as the first coach at NK Lučko, which was then playing in the 1st HNL. After that, he worked for a short time in Cibalia. In June 2014, he became the coach of NK Zagreb.

Towards the beginning of the next season, he became the coach of Slaven Belupo from Koprivnica, where he stayed for 96 games and became the longest-serving coach in the 110-year-old history of the club. With Slaven Belupo he played the final of the Croatian Football Cup against GNK Dinamo Zagreb. He left them in October 2017.[1]

On 13 November 2017 he was named as the new Hajduk Split manager.[2] In 34 official matches at Hajduk, he achieved 6 consecutive victories away from home and 6 consecutive victories in the national league and cup.

In October 2018, he was appointed coach of the Cypriot first league side Pafos FC, where he won the Coach of the Month award and achieved significant victories against the big Cypriot clubs such as Apoel, Omonia and AEK.[3]

Upon his return to Croatia, he became the academy director of Dinamo Zagreb's football school, which is known as one of the best football schools in the world. In December 2021, after the departure of Damir Krznar, he was appointed as the coach of the first team and is only the seventh coach to lead the two biggest Croatian clubs, Dinamo and Hajduk.[4] With Dinamo, he achieved 7 consecutive victories in the HNL and European competitions, among which the 0:1 victory against West Ham and the 1:0 victory against Sevilla in the knockout phase of the Europa League stand out the most.

The victory against West Ham was the first victory of a Croatian club against an English side on their home ground in the history of Croatian club football.

In August 2022, Željko Kopić became the coach of the Bulgarian first division side Botev Plovdiv and during his engagement, which lasted four months, he raised the club from the last place in the table to the 10th place.[5] [6]

In December 2023, he became the head coach of Dinamo Bucuresti.[7]

Managerial statistics

Managerial record by team and tenure
TeamNatFromToRecord
Lučko23 August 201131 May 2012
Cibalia30 July 201225 November 2012
NK Zagreb6 June 201410 June 2015
Slaven Belupo10 June 201524 October 2017
Hajduk Split13 November 20176 September 2018
Pafos19 October 20186 November 2019
Dinamo Zagreb2 December 202121 April 2022
Botev Plovdiv3 August 20227 December 2022
Dinamo București1 December 2023present
Career total

Honours

Manager

Hajduk Split

Notes and References

  1. https://epodravina.hr/zeljko-kopic-vise-nije-trener-slaven-belupa-evo-tko-ce-voditi-farmaceute/ Željko Kopić više nije trener Slaven Belupa, evo tko će voditi Farmaceute
  2. Web site: Rogulj. Daniela. Carrilo's Successor Confirmed! Former Slaven Belupo coach Zeljko Kopic to Lead Hajduk. Total Croatian News. 15 November 2017.
  3. Web site: Željko Kopić u novoj misiji spašavanja, preuzeo je Pafos... . 2022-12-04 . www.24sata.hr . hr.
  4. Web site: 2021-12-02 . Željko Kopić postao je sedmi trener koji je u karijeri vodio i Hajduk i Dinamo . 2022-12-04 . Telesport.hr . hr.
  5. Web site: Željko Kopić je novi trener Boteva iz Plovdiva . 2022-12-04 . NACIONAL.HR . hr.
  6. Web site: Желко Копич е новият треньор на Ботев . 2022-12-04 . botevplovdiv.bg . bg.
  7. Web site: Nakon Dinama, opet Dinamo: Željko Kopić sjeda na klupu velikana . 2023-12-29 . Gol.hr . hr.