Mauro Ravnić (born 29 November 1959) 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 ...

n retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He spent his 17-year professional career with

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

in his homeland, and

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

and

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

in Spain. Subsequently, he worked as a goalkeeper coach and manager in the latter country.

Playing career

Club

Born in

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

, Ravnić started playing with hometown's NK Rijeka, making his professional debuts at the age of 18 and eventually appearing in over 200 official games. He moved abroad in 1988, signing with

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

at the same time as compatriot Janko Janković – his teammate at Rijeka – and was an essential unit in his first year, as the

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

team finished sixth and reached the final of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. In the following seasons, Ravnić alternated between the bench and the posts, notably competing with René Higuita in the 1991–92 campaign, which ended in relegation. Aged 32, he signed with UE Lleida in the second division, helping it return to the top level after a 43-year absence whilst winning the Ricardo Zamora Trophy (only 20 goals conceded in all 38 matches).

International

During roughly one year, Ravnić earned six

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 the Yugoslavia national team. His debut came on 29 October 1986, in a 4–0 win over

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 ...

for the

UEFA Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. France national football team, Fr ...

qualifiers. Ravnić last appearance was on 11 November 1987, for the same competition: he allowed four goals before half-time against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, being replaced by Vladan Radača in an eventual 1–4 loss.

Managerial career

After the

Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...

were immediately relegated back, Ravnić chose to retire, later working with Valladolid as a goalkeeper coach and returning to Lleida as a youth coordinator. His first head coaching experience would arrive in the following decade, with amateurs AE Prat and FC Benavent. In 2010, Ravnić was appointed manager at newly formed FC Ascó, who competed in the Spanish fourth division. He also worked at

's youth academy and was their sports director for three years.

Personal life

While manager of Benavent, Ravnić was diagnosed with leukemia and needed to undergo chemotherapy.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Rijeka *

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...

: 1977–78, 1978–79 * Balkans Cup: 1977–78 Valladolid *

runner-up: 1988–89 Lleida *

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

: 1992–93 Individual * Ricardo Zamora Trophy (Segunda División): 1992–93

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ravnic, Mauro 1959 births Living people Footballers from Rijeka Men's association football goalkeepers Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Croatian men's footballers HNK Rijeka players Yugoslav First League players Real Valladolid players UE Lleida players La Liga players Segunda División players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Spain Croatian expatriate men's footballers Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Croatian football managers AE Prat managers Croatian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Spain