Mario Cvitanović (; born 6 May 1975) is a Croatian professional

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 Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

who played as a defender. He was most recently the manager of

Croatian Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football (soccer), football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, i ...

club

HNK Šibenik Hrvatski nogometni klub Šibenik ( en, Croatian Football Club Šibenik), better known as HNK Šibenik or simply Šibenik (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Šibenik. It competes in the Croatian Football League, and plays their ...

Playing career

Club

In 1995, Cvitanović started his career in the Croatian capital, where he won five consecutive

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

with Dinamo Zagreb (formerly Croatia Zagreb). He then spent four seasons in the Italian league, playing for

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

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 ...

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

and

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

before moving to Belgian side

Germinal Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from 1999–2000 (as Germinal Beerschot) until 2012–13, when they were ...

. Following two seasons in the Belgian league, Cvitanović re-joined Dinamo for their 2006–07 Champions League campaign, before leaving after their early exit on a free transfer to German side Energie Cottbus. Cvitanović played three seasons with Cottbus until being released in 2009.

International

He made his debut for

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 ...

in an October 1998 European Championship qualification match away against

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, coming on as a 88th-minute substitute for

Robert Jarni Robert Jarni (born 26 October 1968) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a left winger or wingback and current manager. Jarni started his professional career with Hajduk Split in 1986, and went on to spend 10 years playin ...

, and earned a total of 9 caps, scoring no goals. His final international was a March 2001

World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

match against

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

Coaching career

Dinamo Zagreb (2015–2018)

From 2015 to 2017, after succeeding

Ivaylo Petev Ivaylo Bogdanov Petev ( bg, Ивайло Богданов Петев; born 9 July 1975) is a Bulgarian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. He spent his whole career ...

as a manager, he trained Dinamo Zagreb II, second team of Dinamo Zagreb, in the

Croatian Second Football League The Druga nogometna liga ( eng, Second football league), commonly Druga NL or 2. NL) is the third tier of the football league system. The league was established in 1991 following the dissolution of the Yugoslav League. It is operated by the Cro ...

. On 13 July 2017 he signed one-year contract as a head coach of

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

, the first team. On 21 September 2017, Cvitanović was severely beaten by two masked assailants in front of his apartment in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

, Croatia, while on 10 March 2018 he finished his contract with Dinamo Zagreb following two successive defeats from fierce rivals

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka ( en, Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as NK Rijeka or simply Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football, football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka compete in Croatia's top ...

and feeder-club

NK Lokomotiva Nogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb ( en, Lokomotiva Zagreb Football Club), commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional association football, football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First ...

, both of which were by a score of 4–1.

Al-Wehda (2019)

On 2 July 2019, he was appointed the new manager of the Pro League club Al-Wehda. In September 2022, Cvitanović was appointed manager of

Šibenik Šibenik () is a historic city in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is a political, educational, transport, industrial and tourist center of Šibenik-Knin County, and is also the ...

, replacing Damir Čanadi, but only to be replaced by the same Damir Čanadi on 31 January 2023.

Honours

Club

Beerschot A.C. *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: 2005 Belgian Cup Final, 2004–05

References

External links

*
Croatian Football Federation: Statistics – Mario Cvitanović
1975 births Living people Footballers from Zagreb Men's association football defenders Croatian footballers Croatia men's international footballers GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Hellas Verona F.C. players Venezia F.C. players Genoa C.F.C. players S.S.C. Napoli players Beerschot A.C. players FC Energie Cottbus players Bundesliga players Serie A players Serie B players Croatian Football League players Belgian Pro League players Croatian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Belgium Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Croatian football managers GNK Dinamo Zagreb managers Al Wehda FC managers HNK Šibenik managers Saudi Professional League managers Croatian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia {{Croatia-footy-defender-stub