Rusmir Cviko (born 2 January 1972) is a

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

n 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. He is the current manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Orobah. Cviko is a former player of the

Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team The Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team ( bs, Nogometna/Fudbalska reprezentacija Bosne i Hercegovine; sr, Фудбалска репрезентација Боснe и Херцеговинe, Fudbalska reprezentacija Bosne i Hercegovi ...

and coach of numerous national teams of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

Club career

Cviko started his youth playing career at

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

. After finishing his youth career, he played for the senior team of Sarajevo 1993. In 1995, he moved to

Belgian First Division A 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 ...

club

Royal Antwerp Royal Antwerp Football Club, often referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Antwerp. Founded around 1880 as ''Antwerp Cricket Club'' by English students residing in Antwerp, 15 years before ...

where he played until 1997 but did not feature in any league game. In 1997, Cviko came back to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and moved to

First League of Bosnia and Herzegovina The First League of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( bs, Prva liga Bosne i Hercegovine / Прва лига Босне и Херцеговине) operated by the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina (abbreviation: ''N/FSBiH'') was the top tier ...

club Željezničar, where he won the league title in the 1997–98 season and the

Bosnian Supercup The Supercup of Bosnia and Hezegovina is a discontinued football competition. It was contested between the league champion and the cup winner of the previous season. It was first contested in the 1996–97 season and has not been held since the ...

in 1998. In 1999, Cviko moved to Čelik Zenica, before ending his career at

UAE Pro-League The UAE Pro League ( ar, دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al O ...

club Al Wahda in 2000.

International career

Between 1993 and 1996, Cviko played for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. During his youth national team playing career Cviko played for the U15, U17 and U19 national teams of

Managerial career

Bosnia and Herzegovina national teams

From 2004 until 2008, Cviko was a youth National Team coach in the FA of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2007, he became one of the coaches of the U21 National Team of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He remained in that position until 2009. During his tenure at the Bosnian FA, he also served as the head scout of the A National Team of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2014, Cviko held the position of coach and scout with the youth National Team in the FA.

Željezničar (team manager)

In 2009, Cviko accepted the position of team manager at the Bosnian powerhouse Željezničar on suggestion of club manager at the time

Amar Osim Amar Osim (born 18 July 1967) is a Bosnian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He is regarded as one of the most successful Bosnian football managers. Osim was a talented player during ...

. During Cviko's tenure as team manager, the Željezničar team coached by Osim had much success. The club was crowned Champions in the seasons 2009–10, 2011–12 and

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. Željezničar also won 2

Bosnian cup The Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kup Bosne i Hercegovine, Куп Босне и Херцеговине) is a knock-out football competition contested annually by clubs from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The winner ...

titles in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

and 2011–12 seasons. In the 2009–10 and the

seasons, the club was the runner-up in the National Cup competition. Cviko finished his tenure at the club after leaving in June 2013.

Dalian Transcendence

On 21 April 2016, Cviko began to work as the manager of Dalian Transcendence. In August 2016, Cviko was named interim-manager of the team, and he successfully saved the team from relegation. On 18 December 2016, Dalian Transcendence officially signed Cviko as their manager. He took the club over when it was in danger of relegation and kept it in

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

. In the next season, Cviko ended his time at Dalian Transcendence and upon his departure the club was in 9th position. He completed his tenure at Dalian in December 2017.

Meizhou Hakka

Cviko's great reputation and great work in Dalian Transcendence did not go unnoticed and on 16 December 2017, he became the new manager of

club

Meizhou Hakka F.C. Meizhou Hakka Football Club (; Hakka language: Mòi-Chû Hag-Ga chuk-khiù khî-lo̍k-phu) is a professional China, Chinese association football, football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese ...

Cviko took the team into the new season in January 2018. In the 2018 China League One season, he managed to get the club to its highest position in history. In April 2018, he was declared as the Coach of the Month in the

. Only in April 2018, Meizhou Hakka won 5 games in China League One which was hailed as a phenomenal success as the club's goal at the beginning of the season was to avoid relegation. The club's league position lead it in the next season to the

China Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

and that had attracted a lot of attention from some Chinese Super League clubs for Cviko. He resigned from the position of Meizhou Hakka manager on 28 August 2018, but left the club at friendly terms with its management. While at Hakka, Cviko once again proved what a great hire he was for the club. When he took over the team in December 2017, the club's first team was ranked 13th out of 16 teams in the

based on team value. At the time of Cviko's departure the team was ranked 3rd out of 16 teams. This was due to the team's great results throughout the season and the fact that during Cviko's tenure at the club, the team spent most of its time ranked somewhere between the 1st and 3rd place in the

rankings. Cviko also broke some records as well while at the club. The team was unbeaten for 11 games in a row on its home field and won 5 in a row which is the club's best result in history.

Return to Bosnia and Herzegovina national team

On 25 January 2020, Cviko returned to the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team, being named as an assistant of head coach

Dušan Bajević Dušan "Duško" Bajević ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Бајевић, ; gr, Ντούσαν Μπάγεβιτς, ''Doúsan Báyevits''; born 10 December 1948) is a Bosnian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former player. H ...

Al-Orobah

On 20 June 2023, Cviko was appointed as manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Orobah.

Honours

Player

Željezničar *

: 1997–98 *

: 1998

Manager

Al-Arabi SC

Kuwait Crown Prince Cup The Crown Prince Cup ( ar, كأس ولي العهد) is a Kuwaiti domestic annual football competition created in 1994. Previous winners *1994 : Kuwait SC *1995 : Kazma SC *1996 : Al Arabi SC *1997 : Al Arabi SC *1998 : Qadsia SC *1999 : Al Ar ...

: 2022–23

Individual

Manager of the Month: April 2018

References

External links