Nikola Jurčević

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) Forward, midfielder
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)
International career
1990–1991 Croatia (unofficial) 2 (0)
1994–1996 Croatia 17 (2)
Managerial career
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
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nikola Jurčević (born 14 September 1966) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player.

Playing career

International

He made his debut for Croatia in a December 1990 friendly match against Romania, coming on as a 66th-minute substitute for Ivan Cvjetković, and earned a total of 19 caps (2 unofficial), scoring 2 goals.[citation needed] Since Croatia was still officially part of Yugoslavia at the time, his first two games were unofficial.[citation needed] His final international was a December 1996 friendly against Morocco.[1]

Managerial career

Jurčević started as a manager of NK Zagreb in 2002,[citation needed] but a year later he became the manager for Dinamo Zagreb.[citation needed] He celebrated the Prva HNL and Croatian Cup in 2004.[citation needed] Later, he managed NK Slaven Belupo.[citation needed] He also worked as an assistant manager for the Croatia national team, assisting his former international teammates Slaven Bilić and Aljoša Asanović.[citation needed]

On 18 September 2015, he was appointed as the assistant manager to Bilić at West Ham United.[2] He left the club along with Bilić's other coaching staff when the manager was sacked on 6 November 2017.[3] On 12 March 2018, he was named the manager of Croatian First Football League club Dinamo Zagreb,[citation needed] but he was sacked by club on 15 May 2018, after poor performance in the club.[citation needed]

On 11 February 2019, he was named the new head coach for the Azerbaijan national team.[4] On 13 December 2019, he was sacked as manager of the Azerbaijan national team due to the team's poor performance in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying, despite managing a respectable 1–1 draw to his home country Croatia at home.[5]

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.[6] However, just two months into the role, Jurčević left the Lebanon national team just a month before the tournament began, by “mutual consent”.[7]

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Croatia 1990 1 0
1991 1 0
1992 0 0
1993 0 0
1994 4 1
1995 4 1
1996 9 0
Total 19 2
Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Jurčević goal.
List of international goals scored by Nikola Jurčević[8]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 17 August 1994 Ramat Gan, Ramat Gan, Israel  Israel 3 – 0 4 – 0 Friendly
2 15 November 1995 Bežigrad, Ljubljana, Slovenia  Slovenia 2 – 1 2 – 1 Euro 1996 Qualifying

Managerial

As of match played 21 November 2023[9]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
P W D L Win %
NK Zagreb 2002 2003 32 8 9 15 025.0
Dinamo Zagreb 2003 2004 54 32 15 7 059.3
Red Bull Salzburg 2005 2005 6 1 0 5 016.7
Slaven Belupo 2005 2005 18 6 4 8 033.3
Dinamo Zagreb 12 March 2018 15 May 2018 12 5 2 5 041.7
Azerbaijan 11 February 2019 13 December 2019 10 1 2 7 010.0
Lebanon 2 October 2023 8 December 2023 4 0 2 2 000.0
Total 136 53 34 49 039.0

Honours

Player

NK Zagreb

Austria Salzburg

Individual

Manager

Dinamo Zagreb

References

  1. ^ "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Hammers appoint Jurcevic as new assistant manager". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Slaven Bilic: West Ham sack manager with team in the relegation zone". BBC Sport. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  4. ^ "Azerbaijan appoint Croatian Nikola Jurčević as new head coach | Croatia Week". 11 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Azerbaijan sacks Nikola Jurcevic after failed Euro 2020 qualifying". 13 December 2019.
  6. ^ "الاتحاد اللبناني ينهي عقد إيليتش بالتراضي ويختار الكرواتي يورسيفيتش كخلفٍ له".
  7. ^ "Coach Jurcevic ends short-lived role with Lebanon a month before Asian Cup". 10 December 2023.
  8. ^ Nikola Jurčević Statistics HNS. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Nikola Jurčević's Managerial statistics". hrnogomet.com. 17 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  10. ^ HINA (15 May 2018). "Prvaci ostali bez trenera: Jurčević smijenjen nakon dva mjeseca". Novi List. Retrieved 15 May 2018.