Željko Sopić (born 26 July 1974) is a Croatian 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 i ...

who is currently in charge of

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

club

Widzew Łódź RTS Widzew Łódź () is a Polish football (soccer), football club based in Łódź. The club was founded in 1910. Its official colours are red and white, hence their nicknames ''Czerwona Armia'' (Red Army) and ''Czerwono-biało-czerwoni'' (Red-wh ...

Club career

Sopić started his professional career with

NK Zagreb Nogometni klub Zagreb (''Zagreb Football Club''), commonly known as NK Zagreb or simply Zagreb (), is a Croatian football club based in the capital city of Zagreb. It currently competes in the fifth tier league competition of Croatian footbal ...

in 1994 and spent four years with the club's first team before leaving for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

side

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

in 1998. He made 23 appearances and scored two goals in his only season in the German top flight. He went on to spend another season with Mönchengladbach in the 2. Bundesliga, following their relegation from the first division in 1999, before moving to league rivals

LR Ahlen Rot Weiss Ahlen is a football in Germany, German football club based in Ahlen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Until 2006 the club was known as ''LR Ahlen'' for its major sponsor, but underwent a name change when the sponsor withdrew its support after th ...

in the summer of 2000. He played for Ahlen until 2005, bringing his record in the 2. Bundesliga to a total of 155 appearances and 21 goals. He then returned to NK Zagreb for the 2005–06 season, before joining to

NK Slaven Belupo Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo (), often referred to as Slaven Belupo, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city of Koprivnica in the north of Croatia. They play their home matches at Gradski stadion in Koprivnica. They play in ...

, in the summer of 2006. In 2008 he came back to Zagreb but he has played for

NK Lokomotiva Zagreb Nogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb (), commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First Football League, the country's top division. Founded in 19 ...

in the

Croatian First Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establishe ...

International career

He also won two international caps for the Croatian B national team, against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

in 1998 and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1999.

Managerial career

Sopić started as a manager with

NK Rudeš Nogometni Klub Rudeš (), commonly referred to as NK Rudeš, is a Croatian football club founded in 1957 in Zagreb's neighbourhood of Rudeš. The club competes in Prva NL. History Being a lower league club through most of its history, Rudeš ...

in 2012. He managed a club to 2015, and in 2016 he was named the caretaker manager for

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

, after

Zoran Mamić Zoran Mamić (; born 30 September 1971) is a Croatian former professional football manager and player. He is most known for his successful time as a player and later manager of Dinamo Zagreb. Mamić represented the Croatia national team 6 tim ...

had left. Before that, Sopić worked as the manager for Dinamo Zagreb II in the

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

, and after as the assistant manager for Ivaylo Petev in Dinamo Zagreb. On 30 January 2017, Sopić became the assistant for Zoran Mamić in

Al-Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al Ain is the largest inland city in ...

, but two years later, on 30 January 2019, Mamić left Al-Ain and Sopić became the manager for club. On 26 November 2019,

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

announced the appointment of Sopić on an 18-month contract. He was named manager of Gorica in November 2022, replacing Igor Angelovski. On 17 March 2025, Sopić was announced as the new manager of Polish

team

on a deal until June 2027.

Personal life

Sopić is the father of the German-born footballer Leon Sopić.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sopic, Zeljko 1974 births Living people Footballers from Zagreb Men's association football midfielders Croatian men's footballers NK Zagreb players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Rot Weiss Ahlen players NK Slaven Belupo players NK Lokomotiva Zagreb players Croatian Football League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players First Football League (Croatia) players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Croatian football managers NK Rudeš managers GNK Dinamo Zagreb non-playing staff GNK Dinamo Zagreb managers Al Ain FC managers HNK Gorica managers HNK Rijeka managers Widzew Łódź managers Croatian Football League managers UAE Pro League managers Azerbaijan Premier League managers Ekstraklasa managers Croatian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in the United Arab Emirates Croatian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate football managers in Azerbaijan Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Expatriate football managers in Poland Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Poland