February 9 – A bronze medal winner at the 1998 World Cup and a fierce motivator as a coach, Miroslav Blazevic passed away at the age of 87 following a prolonged battle with illness.
His name will always be linked to Croatia’s mesmerising run at the 1998 World Cup when a Davor Suker-led team reached the last four and ultimately won bronze in the third place play-off against the Netherlands. It was the manner and ethos which the Croatians played that caught the imagination. They applied plenty of flair to win over hearts.
Two years earlier, Blazevic and the Croatians had reached the quarter-finals of Euro 96. It was the arrival of Croatia’s first golden generation just years after independence. Back home, Blazevic’s achievements earned him the nickname, ‘trener svih trenera’, ‘coach of all coaches’.
Current national team coach Zlatko Dalic said he mourned his “football father… a true inspiration for everything I achieved in my coaching career”.
“Ciro was unique — an unsurpassed motivator and speaker… a man with great style and an even bigger soul and that’s why we all loved and respected him,” said Dalic.
Dalis had also dedicated Croatia’s third place play-off victory against Morocco at the World Cup to Blazevic as he was battling cancer.
Blazevic also coached Switzerland’s national team before spells managing Iran and Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as China’s U-23 team.
He had enjoyed a modest career as a player, featuring for Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiv Zagreb, FK Sarajevo, HNK Rijeka and Swiss teams FC Sion and FC Moutier.
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