Nikola Kavazović ( sr-cyr, Никола Кавазовић; born 29 July 1975) is a Serbian professional football coach who is the current manager of Vipers. Kavazović is the former

Tajikistan national football team The Tajikistan national football team represents Tajikistan in international football and is controlled by the Tajikistan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Tajikistan. Tajikistan's home ground is the Pamir Stadium in Dus ...

head coach (2012 - 2013), and also former head coach of Tajikistan champions

FC Istiklol Football Club Istiklol () is a Tajik professional football club owned by Maldivian Conglomerate Maziya. Founded in 2007, the club competes in the Ligai Olii Tojikiston, the top flight of Tajik football league system. It was founded to commemo ...

. As head coach of Istiklol, Kavazović won AFC Presidents Cup 2012. Kavazović successfully completed UEFA "A" license, and enrolled on UEFA "PRO" license in Football Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina. In July 2012, he was the youngest national team head coach in the world, aged 36.

Career

Serbia

Kavazović started coaching job in 1996. in BASK, as youth coach. Besides BASK, Kavazović worked as youth and senior coach in BSK, Zarkovo, Borac and Resnik. In 1998, Kavazović graduated from Belgrade Sports University as youngest high educated football coach in FR Yugoslavia.

FC Istiklol

In January 2012, Kavazović moved to Asia, Tajikistan, and become FC Istiklol head coach. In his first season, Istiklol won Tajikistan Supercup and AFC Presidents Cup. Also, they won silver medal in Tajikistan elite league, and lost Tajikistan Cup finals against Regar Tad Az after penalty series (8:7). In his second season, Istiklol finished first part of season with record of 8 wins, 0 draws and one defeat. After 8 straight wins, Istiklol lost away game to Champions Ravshan Kulob (1:0), and Kavazović was sacked day after, on 17 June 2013.

Tajikistan

In July 2012, Kavazović got offer to become Tajikistan national head coach. On his debut, Tajikistan beat Qatar in Munich (Germany) 2:1. Also, under him, Tajikistan won Pakistan (1:0), Macau (3:0), Afghanistan (3:2) and India (3:0), and lost to Iran (6:1) and Kyrgyzstan (1:0).

Sri Lanka

On 5 June 2014, Kavazović was appointed as the head coach of the

Sri Lanka national football team The Sri Lanka national football team ( ''Shri Lanka Papandu Kandayama'', ''Ilaṅkai Tēciya Kālpantu Aṇi'') represents Sri Lanka in Association football and is administered by Football Federation of Sri Lanka, the governing body of footba ...

. On his debut, on 24 August 2014, Sri Lanka beat the Seychelles national team in Mahé, by two goals to one. This was the first away victory for Sri Lanka after 15 years.

New Radiant SC

On 12 September 2015, Kavazović was appointed head coach of the Maldivian champions

New Radiant SC New Radiant Sports Club is a Maldivian professional football club based in Henveiru – Malé, Maldives. The club was founded on 19 August 1979 by Ahmed Waheed and his friend Ahammadhanik. New Radiant has won all domestic competitions bein ...

. Kavazović took over the team after Maldives Cup finals, which New Radiant SC lost to biggest rivals Mazia. In 12 games under Kavazović,

won 9 games, 2 draw and lost one game, and won fifth champions title in club's history.

Lanexang United

After Champions title in Maldives

Dhivehi Premier League The Dhivehi Premier League, known as the MWSC Dhivehi Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a Maldives, Maldivian men's professional association football, football league. At the top of the Football in Maldives, Maldives football league sys ...

and securing

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

group stage participation for

, Kavazović decided not to extend contract. Attracted with great new project of Laos football, Kavazović accepted offer from

Lanexang United F.C. Lanexang United Football Club (Lao alphabet, Laos ສະໂມສອນລ້ານຊ້າງຢູໄນເຕັດ) was a Laotian professional football (soccer), football club based in Vientiane, Laos. They were the champions of the 2016 Lao ...

and become their Head coach on 2 January 2016. After 7 consecutive wins on beginning of season, Kavazović was appointed as Laos national team head coach for friendly game against Cambodia. Under mysterious circumstances, Kavazović left Cambodia night before game and resign on both posts. He and his family left Laos on 2 April 2016, just 3 days after arrival from Cambodia.

Saif Sporting Club

On 21 September, Kavazović was appointed as new head coach of Saif Sporting Club. During preparations for the new season, in India, Kavazović resigned after the decision was made to join Township Rollers from Botswana.

Township Rollers

Ahead of the 2017-18 season, Kavazović was appointed as the new manager of Township Rollers in Botswana. In first season in Africa, Kavazović won "double", both and

Botswana Premier League The Botswana Premier League is the highest level Association football, football league in Botswana. Organised by the Botswana Football Association, the league was formed in 1978 to replace the pre-independence Bechuanaland Union African Soccer L ...

and Mascom Top 8 Cup in Botswana. Besides local achievements, under Kavazović, Township Rollers became first ever club from Botswana who qualified for group stages of

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...

. In first half of 2017-18 campaign, Kavazović broke two all time records: 1) 8 consecutive wins and maximal 24 points after 8 opening games - all time

record. 2) 33 points (10W, 3D, 0L) after 13 opening games - all time Township Rollers record. Also, Kavazović finished 2017. with personal record, unbeaten run of 42 consecutive games as a head coach of New Radiant SC, Lanexang United, Saif SC and Township Rollers. On 3 March 2018, Township Rollers won Mascom Top 8 Cup, and that was their first trophy under Kavazović. Botswana Champion defeated Orapa United 4:2 (2:0), and that was their first won Mascom Top 8 Cup since 2012. On 21 February, Township Rollers qualified to 2nd round of qualifications for

, and they became first team in history of Botswana football who reached last qualification round for elite African clubs competition. Under Kavazović, Botswana champion won Al-Merreikh from Sudan, at that moment officially 5th ranked club in Africa - 4:2 in aggregate (3:0. 1:2). On 11 March 2018, Township Rollers became first ever club from Botswana in

group stage. Kavazović's team won Young Africans SC from Tanzania - 2:1 in aggregate (2:1, 0:0), and on 21 March in Cairo (Egypt) they were drawn in Group A with Al-Ahly (Egypt), Esperance de Tunis and KCCA (Uganda). On 4 May 2018, in their first ever game of

group stage, Township Rollers won KCCA from Uganda 1:0. Kavazović resigned from post of head coach in Township Rollers on 16 October 2018, leaving them as log leaders with record 6W, 1D, 0L, and goal difference 15:2.

A.F.C. Leopards

Ahead of the 2018-19 season, Kavazović was appointed as the new manager of A.F.C. Leopards in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Managerial statistics

References

External links