Damir Milinović

Damir Milinović
Personal information
Date of birth (1972-10-15) 15 October 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth Rijeka, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Dubrava (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1994 Orijent 1919
1994–1997 Rijeka 79 (6)
1997 Croatia Zagreb 3 (0)
1998–2000 Rijeka 68 (6)
2000–2001 VfL Bochum 20 (0)
2001 Rijeka 8 (1)
2002 NK Zagreb 25 (1)
2003–2004 Rijeka 41 (1)
2004 Dinamo Zagreb 14 (0)
2005 Austria Salzburg 10 (0)
2005–2007 Pomorac 37 (4)
Total 305 (19)
International career
1997–1999 Croatia 4 (0)
1999 Croatia B 1 (0)
Managerial career
2007–2010 Pomorac
2010–2012 Grobničan
2012 Gorica
2013–2015 Novigrad
2015 Cibalia
2015–2017 Gorica
2017–2019 Koper
2020–2021 Orijent 1919
2022- Dubrava
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Damir Milinović (born 15 October 1972) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. He was named manager of Dubrava in June 2022.[1]

Club career

Born in Rijeka, Milinović spent most of his career in his local club, Rijeka, before moving to Croatia Zagreb in 1997. He failed to impress in Croatia so he returned to Rijeka in the next season. After an impressive season with Rijeka, during which the club lost the title in last match, Milinović left for Germany in summer of 2000, signing with VfL Bochum.[2] As Bochum finished last in the Bundesliga and were relegated, Milinović returned to Rijeka after only one season. He spent half a season in Rijeka before joining eventual season champions NK Zagreb. In January 2003, Milinović returned to Rijeka for the third and final time, spending there one and a half season before joining Dinamo Zagreb once again. He left Dinamo after only half a season, joining Austria Salzburg just few months before club was rebranded as Red Bull Salzburg. Milinović returned to Croatia after only half a season in Austria, signing for second division side Pomorac Kostrena. After two seasons with Pomorac, Milinović announced his retirement in summer of 2007.

International career

Milinović made his debut for Croatia in a June 1997 Kirin Cup match against Turkey, coming on as a 85th-minute substitute for Tomislav Erceg, and earned a total of 4 caps, scoring no goals.[3] His final international was an April 1999 friendly match against Italy.[4]

Managerial career

A few months after he announced his retirement, Milinović was appointed as a manager of his last club, Pomorac Kostrena. In Pomorac he was quite successful, finishing amongst top clubs in second division and reaching quarterfinals of Croatian Cup. He left Pomorac in 2010 and took over third division side NK Grobničan. With Milinović in charge, Grobničan went from mediocre third division club to one of the best clubs in the league. They were on the edge of promotion to second division two consecutive seasons but were financially incapable to take that step.

In May 2012, Milinović was appointed head coach of HNK Gorica. Milinović spent only six months in Gorica; he resigned in November 2012 after disappointing results in the first half of the season. In January 2013, Milinović took over third division side Novigrad. He signed for Gorica again, on 9 September 2015, but got sacked on 30 March 2017.[5] In August 2017, Milinović became manager of Slovenian club FC Koper.[6]

On 28 August 2020, Milinović was appointed to be second division side Orijent 1919 head coach.[7]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[8][9]
Club Season League National cup[a] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Orijent 1992–93 2. HNL – South 1 0 – –
1993–94 2 0 – –
Total 3 0 3 0
Rijeka 1994–95 Prva HNL 21 1 4 1 – – 25 2
1995–96 32 3 5 1 – – 37 4
1996–97 26 2 2 1 – – 28 3
Total 79 6 11 3 0 0 0 0 90 9
Croatia Zagreb 1997–98 Prva HNL 3 0 1 0 0 0 – 4 0
Rijeka 1997–98 Prva HNL 14 2 – – – 14 2
1998–99 30 1 1 0 – – 31 1
1999–00 24 0 2 0 2 0 – 28 0
Total 68 3 3 0 2 0 0 0 73 3
VfL Bochum 2000–01 Bundesliga 20 0 2 0 – – 22 0
Rijeka 2001–02 Prva HNL 8 1 4 1 – – 12 2
NK Zagreb 2001–02 Prva HNL 11 1 – – – 11 1
2002–03 14 0 1 0 2 1 1[b] 0 18 1
Total 25 1 1 0 2 1 1 0 29 2
Rijeka 2003–04 Prva HNL 29 1 5 0 – – 34 1
Dinamo Zagreb 2004–05 Prva HNL 14 0 2 0 7 0 1[b] 0 24 0
Austria Salzburg 2004–05 Austrian Bundesliga 10 0 1 0 – – 11 0
Pomorac Kostrena 2005–06 2. HNL - South 20 3 0 0 – – 20 3
2006–07 2. HNL 17 1 0 0 – – 17 1
Total 37 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 37 4
Career total 293 16 33 4 11 1 2 0 339 21
  1. ^ Includes Croatian Cup, DFB-Pokal, Austrian Cup
  2. ^ a b Appearance in Croatian Super Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[10]
National team Year Apps Goals
Croatia 1997 1 0
1998 0 0
1999 3 0
Total 4 0

Managerial statistics

As of match played 29 August 2020[11]
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Gorica 1 July 2012 25 November 2012 18 6 4 8 033.33
Cibalia 16 June 2015 7 September 2015 5 2 2 1 040.00
Gorica 9 September 2015 30 March 2017 69 26 21 22 037.68
Orijent 1919 28 August 2020 present 17 7 3 7 041.18
Total 110 41 30 39 037.27

Honours

Player

NK Zagreb

References

  1. ^ Damir Milinović osvojio titulu prvaka, pa preuzeo kormilo novog kluba: “Imam velika očekivanja” - Novilist (in Croatian)
  2. ^ "Damir Milinović: "Ispunio sam svoje snove" - Sportnet". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  3. ^ "Damir Milinović" (in Croatian). Croatian Football Federation. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
  4. ^ "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Damir Milinović novi trener Gorice" (in Croatian). HNK Gorica official web page. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  6. ^ ro (21 August 2017). "NOVO VELIKO PRESENEČENJE: Nekdanji hrvaški reprezentant na klopi Kopra" (in Slovenian). Ekipa24. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  7. ^ "DAMIR MILINOVIĆ NOVI TRENER DRUGOLIGAŠA ORIJENTA 1919". hntv.hr (in Croatian). 28 August 2020. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Damir Milinović statistics". hrnogomet.com. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  9. ^ "HNK Rijeka". nk-rijeka.hr. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  10. ^ "Damir Milinović national team". hns-cff.hr. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  11. ^ "Damir Milinović Managerial statistics in Prva HNL". hrnogomet.com. Retrieved 12 October 2017.