Dražen Brnčić (born 17 July 1971) is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He has been manager of Tubize-Braine since November 2023.

Playing career

Brnčić started his youth career in

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a ...

but left for Belgium after

declared its

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

. He joined a local side ACHE (Hemptinne-Eghezée) for a year before transferring to

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

, where he played regularly in the

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

and spotted by European teams. He eventually transferred to Serie B side

Cremonese Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

, before moving to

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

to join

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

. He played 37 Serie B matches for Monza as they were relegated; the next season, he was loaned to Serie B club

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

and won promotion to Serie A. In the 2000–01 season he joined

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

, but only played one league matches, three

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

matches and one Champions League match due to injuries. Before the start of the following season, he was signed by

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

as part of the transfer that saw

Andrea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo (; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian association football, football manager (association football), manager and former professional player. Considered one of the greatest Midfielder (association football)#Deep-lying playmaker, mi ...

move to Milan. He never played for Inter and spent his two years at the club on loan to Serie B sides

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

and

Venezia Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. In June 2003, he was released by Inter and went on trial at

Vitesse Arnhem SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse Arnhem, Eng: Professional Football Foundation Vitesse Arnhem''), widely known as Vitesse () or internationally known as Vitesse Arnhem, is a Dutch professional association football, footba ...

before joining

MVV MVV may refer to: Groups, organizations, companies *Malaysia Vision Valley (MVV), an economic corridor, see Malaysian National Projects * (MVV GmbH; ), German city works of Mannheim * Militaire Voetbal Vereniging (M. V. V.), a military soccer team ...

in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

. In 2007, he joined

Belgian Third Division The Belgian Third Division (, ) was the third highest level in Football in Belgium, Belgian football. It had two leagues of 18 teams each (Belgian Third Division A, A and Belgian Third Division B, B) at the same level. This competition, originall ...

team

Visé Visé (; , ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, located on the river Meuse in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Argenteau, Cheratte, Lanaye, Lixhe, Richelle, and Visé. In the ...

, where he played as a defender and scored 4 goals.

Managerial career

In 2012, he became the trainer of RSC Verviers (Belgium third division) for 4 month to maintain club in third division. In the 2013–14 season with RSC Vervier, he finished in second place. Because of the club did not receive the division 2 license, the team could not play the final round to be promoted in second division. In the 2014–15 season, he was the trainer of Union St-Gilloise (Belgium third division). He did fantastic work and his team was promoted to the second division. For the 2015 season, he was the trainer of Patro Maasmechelen (Belgium second division). He decided to stop after 4 months because the club had no ambition. Now, he is the trainer of Seraing United (Belgium second division). This club has more ambitions and wants to go to the Belgium first division. Since November 2016 he will take the lead of the fresh reborn RWDM the traditional football club of Molenbeek. The club has a lot of ambition and matches. Under Brnčić leadership the club clinches (easily) two titles a row (2017 and 2018) for climbing from level 5 to level 3 of Belgian football, and knocking on the door of Belgian professional football. In November 2023, Brnčić took charge of RUTB.

Personal life

Brnčić married a Belgian woman and received Belgian nationality.

References

External links

Dražen Brnčić
at Voetbal International
Profile at Visé

Profile at Seraing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brncic, Drazen 1971 births Living people Footballers from Zagreb Belgian people of Croatian descent Naturalised citizens of Belgium Men's association football midfielders Men's association football defenders Croatian men's footballers Belgian men's footballers Naturalised association football players Royal Charleroi S.C. players US Cremonese players AC Monza players AC Milan players LR Vicenza players Inter Milan players AC Ancona players Venezia FC players MVV Maastricht players C.S. Visé players R.F.C. Seraing (1922) players Belgian Pro League players Serie B players Serie A players Eerste Divisie players Belgian Third Division players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Belgian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Croatian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Belgian football managers Royale Union Saint-Gilloise managers K. Patro Eisden Maasmechelen managers R.F.C. Seraing (1922) managers RFC Liège managers Royale Union Tubize-Braine managers