Zoran Marić (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Зоран Mapић; born 21 February 1960) is a Serbian professional

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

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 ...

Club career

Born in Boka,

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

, Marić represented local clubs

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

and

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

in his country. In January 1988, aged almost 29, he was allowed to leave the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

nation and move to Spain, where he would remain until his retirement five years later, with Galician clubs

Celta Celta is Galician, Portuguese and Spanish for the Celts. It may also refer to: * Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA), an English teaching certificate * Celta (train), an international train service connecting Vigo and Port ...

and Compostela. Marić competed in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

with Celta and Compostela, amassing totals of 71 matches and 13 goals, before finishing his playing career in 1993.

International career

Marić earned two

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, both in 1983. He made his debut on 30 March in a 2–0 friendly win against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Managerial career

Marić became a manager in 1999, notably working with former sides Compostela and

. On 19 May 2010, he won the 2009–10 Bosnian Cup while in charge of

Bosnian Premier League The m:tel Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( bs, m:tel Premijer liga Bosne i Hercegovine / м:тел Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), also known as Liga 12, is the top tier football league in Bosnia and He ...

club

Borac Banja Luka Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Бopaц Бања Лука, ) is a Bosnian professional association football club, based in the city of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is the major part of th ...

, who he led from January to August 2010. After Borac, he worked as the head coach of the Serbia U19 national team from 2011 to 2012, then managed Spartak Subotica, Proleter Novi Sad, Vojvodina again and

Novi Pazar Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар, lit. "New Bazaar"; ) is a city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2011 census, the urban area has 66,527 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 100,410 inhabita ...

. On 21 June 2019, Marić became the new manager of, at the time, First League of RS club Krupa. On 8 May 2020, the 2019–20 First League of RS season ended abruptly due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina The COVID-19 pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Bosnia and Herzegovina on ...

and by default, Krupa, led by Marić, were crowned league champions and got promoted back to the Bosnian Premier League. On 15 September 2020, he left Krupa due to poor results.

Personal life

Marić's son, Goran, was also a footballer and a striker. He too spent many years working in Spain, mainly with Celta B.

Honours

Manager

Borac Banja Luka *

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 ...

: 2009–10 Krupa * First League of RS: 2019–20

References

External links

* * *
National team data
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maric, Zoran 1960 births Living people People from Sečanj Yugoslav footballers Serbian footballers Association football forwards Yugoslav First League players RFK Novi Sad 1921 players FK Vojvodina players La Liga players Segunda División players RC Celta de Vigo players SD Compostela footballers Yugoslavia international footballers Serbian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbian football managers Serbian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Spain Expatriate football managers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Segunda División managers Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina managers SD Compostela managers FK Vojvodina managers FK Borac Banja Luka managers FK Krupa managers