Dražen Brnčić (born 17 July 1971) is a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager and former player who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He also holds

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

citizenship.

Playing career

Brnčić started his youth career in

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Social ...

but left for Belgium after

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

declared its

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

. He joined a local side ACHE (Hemptinne-Eghezée) for a year before transferring to

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

, where he played regularly in the

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

and spotted by European teams. He eventually transferred to Serie B side

Cremonese Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' (Po Valley). It is the capital of the ...

, before moving to

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

to join

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

. He played 37 Serie B matches for Monza as they were relegated; the next season, he was loaned to Serie B club

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

and won promotion to Serie A. In the 2000–01 season he joined

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

, but only played one league matches, three

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

matches and one Champions League match due to injuries. Before the start of the following season, he was signed by

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

as part of the transfer that saw

Andrea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo (; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is head coach of Süper Lig club Fatih Karagümrük. Considered one of the best deep-lying playmakers ever, Pirlo was renowned for his visio ...

move to Milan. He never played for Inter and spent his two years at the club on loan to Serie B sides

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

and

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

. In June 2003, he was released by Inter and went on trial at

Vitesse Arnhem Vitesse may refer to: * Vitesse Models, a diecast model car company * Vitesse (band), Dutch rock band * Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, a car * Rover 216 Vitesse, a car * Rover 3500 Vitesse, a car * Rover 800 Vitesse, a car * Triumph Vites ...

before joining

MVV Maatschappelijke Voetbal Vereniging Maastricht (), commonly known as MVV Maastricht (, ) or simply as MVV, is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Maastricht. Founded on 2 April 1902, MVV Maastricht currently compete in the Eers ...

in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

. In 2007, he joined

Belgian Third Division The Belgian Third Division ( nl, Derde klasse, french: Division III) was the third highest level in Football in Belgium, Belgian football. It had two leagues of 18 teams each (Belgian Third Division A, A and Belgian Third Division B, B) at the sam ...

team

Visé Visé (; nl, Wezet, ; wa, Vizé) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, located on the river Meuse in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Argenteau, Cheratte, Lanaye, Lixhe, Richelle, ...

, where he played as a defender and scored 4 goals.

Managerial career

In 2012, he became the trainer of RSC Verviers (Belgium third division) for 4 month to maintain club in third division. In the 2013–14 season with RSC Vervier, he finished in second place. Because of the club did not receive the division 2 license, the team couldn't play the final round to be promoted in second division. In the 2014–15 season, he was the trainer of Union St Giloise (Belgium third division). He did fantastic work and his team was promoted to the second division. For the 2015 season, he was the trainer of Patro Maasmechelen (Belgium second division). He decided to stop after 4 months because the club had no ambition. Now, he is the trainer of Seraing United (Belgium second division). This club has more ambitions and wants to go to the Belgium first division. Since November 2016 he will take the lead of the fresh reborn RWDM the traditional football club of Molenbeek. The club has a lot of ambition and matches. Under Brnčić leadership the club clinches (easily) two titles a row (2017 and 2018) for climbing from level 5 to level 3 of Belgian football, and knocking on the door of Belgian professional football.

Personal life

Brnčić married a Belgian woman and received Belgian nationality.

References

External links

Profile at Voetbal International

Profile at Visé

Profile at Seraing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brncic, Drazen Yugoslav footballers Belgian footballers Belgian expatriate footballers Belgian Pro League players Serie A players Serie B players Eerste Divisie players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players R. Charleroi S.C. players U.S. Cremonese players AC Monza players AC Milan players Inter Milan players L.R. Vicenza players A.C. Ancona players Venezia F.C. players MVV Maastricht players Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Men's association football midfielders Men's association football defenders Footballers from Zagreb 1971 births Living people HNK Segesta players C.S. Visé players Belgian people of Croatian descent Naturalised citizens of Belgium Naturalised association football players Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Croatian footballers Croatian expatriate footballers Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Croatian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Belgian football managers Royale Union Saint-Gilloise managers