Boris Pandža (born 15 December 1986) is a Bosnian

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

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who is currently working as an assistant manager at

Bosnian Premier League The Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ; sr-Cyrl, Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), officially known as the Wwin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina for sponsorship purposes, is the top tier football leagu ...

club

Široki Brijeg Široki Brijeg () is a city and the regional capital of West Herzegovina Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. the town itself had a population of 6,149 and the municipality of 28,929. Name ...

Club career

Early career

Pandža, who played solely in defense, started his youth career at hometown club

Zrinjski Mostar Zrinjski Mostar is a sports association from the city of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was formed in 1905. Member clubs *Football: **HŠK Zrinjski Mostar *Basketball: **HKK Zrinjski Mostar (men's) ** ŽKK Zrinjski Mostar (women's) *H ...

before moving to

, where he started his professional career.

Hajduk Split

After two-years at Široki Brijeg, Pandža joined

Croatian First 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. Establish ...

club

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

in January 2006, but the move was completed in late-2006 and the fee was worth about €200,000 on a four-and-a-half-year contract. After spending two season limited in the first team, he started to be used more regularly under the management of

Ante Miše Ante Miše (born 14 June 1967) is a Croatian football manager and former professional football player who played as a midfielder. As a player, he earned 7 caps in friendlies for Croatia in the period from 1992 to 1994. Playing career Club In ...

. On 17 May 2009, Pandža scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–0 victory against

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

. After an impressive display at the club, he attracted interests from

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

. Upon his departure from Hajduk, Pandža said he wasn't sorry for leaving the club.

Mechelen

In July 2010, Pandža joined Belgian side

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

as a replacement for Jonas Ivens on a three-year contract, with a €350,000 transfer fee. He made his debut for the opening game of the season, in a 2–0 win over

Lokeren Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...

on 31 July 2010 and then scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–1 win over Zulte Waregem one week after his debut. He then scored his second goal, in a 1–0 win over

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

on 17 September 2010 and a third goal came on 1 October 2010, in a 2–2 draw against

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

. In his first full season at the club, Pandža scored four goals in thirty-seven appearances in all competitions. His second season was more enjoyable, scoring the club's first goal of the season, as they beat Sint-Truidense 2–1 on 30 July 2011. He then scored another on 25 January 2012, in a 3–2 win over Genk. In his second season at the club, Pandža scored two goals in thirty-one appearances in all competitions. His last season with the club saw him stay at the club after his scheduled move to

Arsenal Kyiv Football Club Arsenal Kyiv () is a Ukrainian football club based in Kyiv. In 2019, the club's professional team was dissolved, but its junior teams continue to compete in city competitions. The club claims to be a successor of Kyiv Arsenal fac ...

collapsed following a failure to meet Pandža's requirements. However, it went appalling for Pandža when he sustained a knee injury, in a 2–0 loss against

Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen (), or simply Beerschot, is a Belgian professional football club located in Antwerp, that competes in the top tier Pro League after promotion from second tier in 2023–24 season. In 2013, KFCO Wil ...

on 1 September 2012 and was out for four weeks. However, it was announced furthermore that he was to be out for 6 months with an injury that could miss the rest of the season. His knee surgery was a success. After three years at the club, Pandža left the club upon after his contract expired. Upon leaving Mechelen, he expressed "disappointment" for leaving the club. In July 2013, Pandža was linked with a move to

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...

side

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

. He then began talks with the club over possibly joining Rangers. He himself pleaded to Rangers, quoting: ''"come and get him"'' and even willing to risk his wages. Despite the expected agreement which lasted for two months, the move appeared to be stalled. The move was stalled, which was believed to put on hold by the club's chief executive Craig Mather and Pandža would later accuse the club of lacking professionalism for shattering his move to Rangers.

Górnik Zabrze

Despite a shattered move to Rangers, Pandža joined Polish side

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish association football, football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning ...

on a one-year contract with an option to extend it. However, after making only thirteen appearances in all competitions, he was released by the club after one season.

Later stage of career

Pandža then returned to Široki Brijeg for the 2014–15 season, making 17 appearances as the club finished in 4th place. The following season, he managed just 9 league appearances. After Široki Brijeg, he also played at Čelik Zenica and Croatian club Šibenik. He finished his career at the end of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season at Šibenik.

International career

Pandža was part of the Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 national team together with players like

Edin Džeko Edin Džeko (; born 17 March 1986) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a striker for and captains both Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. He is the all-time top goalscorer and most capped ...

Vedad Ibišević Vedad Ibišević (; born 6 August 1984) is a Bosnian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is a currently assistant coach of the New York Red Bulls. Ibišević started his professional career at Paris Saint-Germain. He had ...

and

Sejad Salihović Sejad Salihović (; born 8 October 1984) is a Bosnian professional manager and a former player who currently serves as the assistant coach for 1899 Hoffenheim II. He spent most of his career playing for 1899 Hoffenheim in the German Bundesliga ...

. He captained the team on a few occasions. He received his first

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

call up for a game against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

on 18 March 2007. He made his international debut on 2 June 2007 against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in a 3–2 win. He then became a regular member of the squad. In May 2014, Pandža was left out of the final squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. On 5 September 2014, he announced his retirement from the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.

Managerial career

On 12 May 2024, Pandža was appointed as

's caretaker manager for the remainder of the 2023–24 Bosnian Premier League season.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Široki Brijeg *

: 2005–06 *

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 ...

: 2016–17 Hajduk Split *

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup *Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup The Croatian Water Polo C ...

: 2009–10 Šibenik * Croatian Second League: 2019–20

References

External links