Miroslav "Ćiro" Blažević (; 9 February 1935 – 8 February 2023) was a Bosnian and Croatian professional football manager and player. A former right winger, his professional playing career spanned from 1954 to 1966, during which he played for Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva Zagreb, Sarajevo, Rijeka as well as Swiss clubs Sion and Moutier.
As a manager, his most successful period was with the Croatia national team, which he led to the quarter-finals in the 1996 European Championship and won third place at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He went on to manage the following national teams: Switzerland, Iran, Bosnia and Herzegovina and China Olympic. Blažević also had successful spells at Vevey, Sion, Lausanne-Sport, Rijeka, Dinamo Zagreb, Grasshopper Zürich, Priština, Osijek, Varteks, Zagreb, Shanghai Shenhua and Sloboda Tuzla.
From 29 March 1993 to 23 February 1995, he was president of Dinamo Zagreb. Blažević's colourful public persona and extended managerial career has him reverently known as (the "coach of all coaches") within Southeast Europe.
Early life Blažević was born to a Bosnian Croat family in Travnik, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (in present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina) on 9 February 1935. However, his parents did not register his birth until the next day, resulting in his official birthday being listed as 10 February. He was the youngest of eight children. In his teens he trained in skiing.
Playing career Blažević began his youth career in local team NK Travnik, after which he moved to Zagreb and joined Dinamo Zagreb. His career as a player was, by his own admission, average; therefore, he began his coaching career at a relatively early age. As a player, he played for Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva Zagreb, Rijeka, Sarajevo, and Sion. He also played for Moutier, gaining promotion to LNA in 1966.
Managerial career
Coaching in Switzerland Blažević started as a coach when he ended his playing days in Switzerland. He first led FC Vevey (1968–71) then his former team FC Sion (1971–76), FC Lausanne-Sport (1976–79) and finally Switzerland's national team (as interim coach for two games in 1976). With Sion he won the Swiss Cup with club as a player and as manager in 1974.
NK Rijeka Blažević returned to Yugoslavia in 1979 to coach Rijeka. Rijeka finished tenth in the 1979–80 season. Although not a very good league season the club got to the quarter-finals of 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup where they lost to Juventus. NK Rijeka's best European placement. Blažević also lost the 1979–80 Balkans Cup final to Studențesc București.
Success with Dinamo Blažević took over Dinamo Zagreb on 11 December 1980, one of Yugoslavia's big four clubs (the other three being Hajduk Split, Red Star Belgrade and Partizan) in 1980. After a mediocre first season, in which Dinamo finished fifth, Blažević became an instant club legend in the 1981–82, winning the first Yugoslav league title for the Zagreb outfit after a 24-year drought.
Next year, Dinamo won the Yugoslav Cup and led a long battle with Partizan and Hajduk Split in the league. Partizan became 1983 champions and Blažević left Dinamo for the first time.
Grasshopper and Priština Blažević went back to Switzerland, winning the Swiss Championship with Grasshopper-Club Zurich in 1984. He advanced to the second round of 1984–85 European Cup where he lost to Juventus. After a less than expected second season Blažević left Grasshopper mid-season.
In 1985, Blažević was once again in Yugoslavia, this time as manager of Priština. Under Blažević's leadership Priština achieved First Division status. To this day he is noted as a club legend.
Second stint at Dinamo, Nantes and PAOK In the same year he became Dinamo Zagreb's coach for second time; during this period he failed to accomplish any significant results and therefore left again in 1988. His next team was FC Nantes of France; Blažević was there until 1990. After Nantes he spent a season in Greek club PAOK FC.
Croatia tenure In the 1990s, with Croatia gaining independence, Blažević joined the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and became President Tuđman's admirer and close friend. For the third time he became Dinamo (then named NK Croatia Zagreb) coach and president at the same time. He won the 1993 Croatian Championship and 1994 Croatian Cup, but then left his favorite club once more, citing his reasons for doing so as needing to focus on managing the Croatia national team.
Blažević was national team manager from 1994 on a part-time basis, but only a year later it became a full-time job as Croatia faced its first qualifying cycle for the European Championship. Croatia won the first place in qualifying group, sensationally ahead of Italy and directly entered Euro 96 in England. Blažević was about to gain some worldwide fame.
From January to June 1996 Blažević took up a position as an advisor at HNK Rijeka to help newly appointed coach Nenad Gračan save his former club from relegation.
Croatia passed group stage with wins against Turkey and current European champions Denmark and loss to Portugal, to face Germany in quarter-finals. Germany won 2–1 and eventually went on to win the event.
However, greatest things lay ahead, as Croatia was trying to qualify to the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. They won second place in the qualifying group behind Denmark and ousted Ukraine in a play-off for the tournament.
Blažević's Croatia squad for the 1998 World Cup included the likes of Zvonimir Boban, Davor Šuker and Slaven Bilić. In France they created one of the greatest all-time World Cup sensations by winning the third place play-off. In the group stage, Croatia eliminated Japan and Jamaica, suffering a insignificant loss to Argentina in the final game. In the knockout stages they passed by Romania, winning 1–0 from a penalty kick. This prepared them for a quarter-final against Germany. Croatia beat Germany 3–0. However, Croatia were stopped by the hosts France in the semifinal. Blažević made a critical coaching decision in that semi-final as he failed to insert his most talented player Robert Prosinečki when the game was in the balance at 1–1. Instead he opted for Silvio Marić to replace the injured Boban after half-time and Croatia eventually lost the game 2–1. In the third-place match, Prosinečki started in Boban's stead; his fielding proved fruitful as he scored the opening goal and assisted for the second, becoming man of the match. Croatia won against the Netherlands 2–1 to claim their first bronze.
The rest of his stint as Croatian manager was less successful. Croatia failed to qualify for Euro 2000, after finishing a third in a qualifying group behind FR Yugoslavia and Ireland. Blažević retained his position and began to build a new team, filled with younger players for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. However, after Croatia opened the qualifiers with two draws, he was forced to resign in autumn 2000.
Iran tenure and return to Croatia Well known throughout the football world for his 1998 World Cup sensation, Blažević accepted an offer to lead the Iranian national team midway through the 2002 World Cup qualification process. Coming in ahead of the final qualifying round, he quickly developed a following among many of the Iranian fans. He kept the 3–5–2 formation that Iran had played with previously in the 96 Asian Cup, in which Iranian national team had won third place. He also introduced new players to Team Melli such as Rahman Rezaei, Javad Nekounam, and Ebrahim Mirzapour. Known as loudmouth and showman, Blažević stayed true to form by claiming he would hang himself from the goalposts if Iran failed to beat Ireland in the deciding qualification playoff for the 2002 World Cup. Ireland won 2–1 on aggregate, the defeat that marked the end of Blažević's time in Iran as his assistant Branko Ivanković took over.
Blažević returned to Croatia, first saving NK Osijek from relegation and then again in Dinamo. In his fourth term as Dinamo coach, Blažević won the Croatian Championship in 2003, but left again same year after clashing with his long-time friend, Dinamo's vice president Zdravko Mamić.
Blažević then led Slovenian NK Mura for few months before becoming the coach of Croatian side NK Varteks, a post he held until 31 May 2005. While at Varteks Zlatko Dalić was his assistant coach.
Short stint at Hajduk Blažević controversially announced that he was going to coach Hajduk Split in 2005–06, having expressed his desire to coach the southern Croatian side for decades; many fans were skeptical due to his association with Hajduk Split's derby rival Dinamo Zagreb. His arrival caused a great deal of media controversy; Hajduk Split fans had differing opinions, with a significant number seeing Blažević as a "miracle worker" that would help Hajduk Split regain its former glory.
Hajduk Split under Blažević's leadership immediately got eliminated from European competitions, following an 8–0 aggregate defeat to Hungarian side Debreceni VSC; the 5–0 second leg loss is considered one of Hajduk Split's worst losses in European competitions. This was followed by a series of losses and unsatisfying results at the beginning of the new league season, which finally forced Blažević to resign on 18 September. He was replaced by Igor Štimac, former Hajduk Split player and one of his main supporters in club administration.
Neuchâtel and NK Zagreb In October 2005, he went back to Switzerland and coached Neuchâtel Xamax, replacing Alain Geiger in an attempt to save the club from relegation after they had won just one out of their first ten games of the season. Although Blažević achieved some notable victories with Neuchâtel against Swiss powerhouses FC Basel and FC Zurich, they finished the season in ninth place (in a ten-club league) and went to relegation playoff. They were eventually relegated after losing to another Swiss team Blažević had managed 35 years earlier, FC Sion, 3–0 on aggregate, and his tenure there ended in June 2006.
Once again, he returned to Croatia, this time to take over NK Zagreb. The club experienced a successful 2006–07 season which saw them finish third behind Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split and earned them a spot in Intertoto Cup 2007. However, in the following season the team made for an early exit, losing against their first Intertoto opponent Vllaznia on away goals. After Ivica Vrdoljak and Mario Mandžukić were transferred to city rivals Dinamo Zagreb at the beginning of the season, the team saw a string of mediocre results before finishing the season sixth. Immediately after the last game of the season, Blažević announced that his stint at NK Zagreb had come to an end by mutual consent between him and the club's chairman.
Bosnia and Herzegovina