Tomislav Ivković (born 11 August 1960) 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 ...

, executive 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 ...

. During his playing career, which spanned two decades, he competed mostly in Portugal, appearing for five clubs including

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

. Ivković was also a Yugoslavian international in the late 1980s and early 1990s, representing the nation in one

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

and one

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

. In 2010, he started working as a manager. During his managerial career, Ivković managed Međimurje, Lokomotiva, Al Faisaly, Slaven Belupo, Rudeš, Inter Zaprešić, Željezničar and Borac Banja Luka. Before becoming its manager, from January until April 2022, he worked as sporting director of Borac.

Club career

Ivković was born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

PR 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 ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. He started his professional career playing for hometown club

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 ...

in 1978. In January 1983, following a fight with Dinamo's head coach

Ćiro Blažević Ćiro is a predominantly Croats, Croatian and occasionally Serbs, Serbian name. It is within the 2,000 most common first names in Croatia. The name is more common in southern Croatia. Its first known mention was in a 1749 tax census. Notable peopl ...

, Ivković was transferred on loan to Dinamo Vinkovci. During the summer 1983 offseason, Ivković returned from the loan and was back in Zagreb. However, the row with coach Blažević persisted and he was immediately sold to

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

during the summer transfer window, ahead of the 1983-84 season. In 1985, Ivković transferred to his first foreign club as he joined Tirol Innsbruck from

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, where he played until 1988. After short spells with

Wiener Sport-Club The Wiener Sport-Club, sometimes abbreviated as WSC, was established in 1883 in Vienna, Austria and is one of the country's oldest athletics clubs. Their traditional home is in the Dornbach quarter of the city ( 17th district). History At vari ...

and

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 ...

, he moved to

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

in 1989, and remained there for the following four seasons, rarely missing a game, although he did not collect any silverware. Ivković's final years were also spent in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, with

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...

, Vitória Setúbal,

Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses (), commonly known as Os Belenenses or simply Belenenses, is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 19,856 ...

and Estrela Amadora, before retiring in 1998. Prior to Estrela, he contributed with six matches for

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

's 1997 promotion to the

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 ...

, retiring finally at 38.

International career

Ivković earned 38

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, between 1983 and 1991. His first major tournament was

UEFA Euro 1984 The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. At the time, only eight countries ...

in France, where he was second-choice behind Zoran Simović: the nation lost all of its three group matches at the tournament, and his only appearance came in the second game, a 5–0 defeat to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

; during the same year, he also won the bronze medal at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Ivković went on to start for Yugoslavia at the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

in Italy, appearing in all of the team's five games before they were defeated by

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

on penalties in the quarter-finals: in that match, he became famous for saving

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

's kick during the penalty shootout (mere months earlier, he had already saved a penalty from the same player in UEFA Cup action, when Sporting played

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

, and the two allegedly had a bet on the possible outcome of another penalty before their World Cup match, which the Yugoslav won). His final international was a September 1991

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

away against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Managerial career

Starting in 2004, Ivković was the goalkeeping coach of the Croatia national team, during

Zlatko Kranjčar Zlatko "Cico" Kranjčar (; 15 November 1956 – 1 March 2021) was a Croatian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. Kranjčar started his career as a player with GNK Dinam ...

's time as head coach. He left the post in July 2006, as the contracts of the entire coaching staff were not renewed after the national team failed to reach the knock-out stages of the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams represe ...

. In 2007, Ivković began his sole managerial career, first as an assistant manager at United Arab Emirates' Al-Shaab. Two years later, he had his first bench experience, serving as assistant manager at

Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

. In April 2010, Ivković got his first job as manager at Međimurje, in the 1. HNL. During his short one-month spell, the team recorded two wins, one draw and four defeats, eventually ranking in 15th position, out of 16 teams, with the subsequent relegation. After Međimurje, Ivković worked as a manager at Lokomotiva, Al Faisaly, Slaven Belupo, Rudeš and Inter Zaprešić. On 18 June 2021, he became the new manager of

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 Željezničar. In his first game as Željezničar manager, Ivković's team drew against Borac Banja Luka in a league match on 17 July 2021. Ivković's first loss as the club's manager was against Tuzla City in a league game a week later, on 24 July. He guided the team to his first win as manager in a league game against

Posušje Posušje () is a town and municipality in the West Herzegovina Canton, a federal unit of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Name The name Posušje is derived from ''suša'' ( Croatian for drought). Th ...

on 31 July 2021. In his first ever

Sarajevo derby The Sarajevo derby (, ), also known as the Eternal derby (), is the name given to any football match between rival clubs Željezničar and Sarajevo, the two primary clubs in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the most viewed annual sporting ...

, Ivković's Željezničar lost to fierce city rivals

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

in a league match on 22 September 2021. On 24 December 2021, he terminated his contract with Željezničar and left the club. Three months after becoming its sporting director, on 4 April 2022, Ivković was named as Borac Banja Luka's new manager following

Nemanja Miljanović Nemanja Miljanović (born 4 August 1971) is a Swedish football coach and former player who last worked as manager of Krumovgrad. He played as a midfielder for Elfsborg, Hércules and Salamanca. Playing career Miljanović arrived in Sweden at ...

's resignation. Ivković's debut was a 1–1 home draw with Zrinjski Mostar on 9 April 2022. He won his first game on 23 April, defeating Radnik Bijeljina 1–0 at home. Ivković lost his first game on 15 May 2022, with a 2–1 away defeat against Sloboda Tuzla. He left Borac in June 2022.

Executive career

On 10 January 2022, Ivković became sporting director of

club Borac Banja Luka. He left the post on 4 April 2022 to become Borac's manager.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Dinamo Zagreb *

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

: 1981–82 *

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 ...

: 1979–80 Red Star Belgrade *

: 1983–84 *

: 1984–85 Salamanca *

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 ...

: 1996–97 Yugoslavia *

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fi ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

Bronze Medal:

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Manager

Lokomotiva * 1. HNL runner-up: 2012–13 * Croatian Cup runner-up: 2012–13 * Football Oscar Best Prva HNL manager: 2013

References

External links

* * *
archive
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivkovic, Tomislav 1960 births Living people Footballers from Zagreb Men's association football goalkeepers Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Competitors at the 1979 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in football Footballers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Yugoslavia Olympic bronze medalists for Yugoslavia Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics UEFA Euro 1984 players 1990 FIFA World Cup players Croatian men's footballers GNK Dinamo Zagreb players HNK Cibalia players Red Star Belgrade footballers FC Wacker Innsbruck players Wiener Sport-Club players K.R.C. Genk players Sporting CP footballers G.D. Estoril Praia players Vitória F.C. players C.F. Os Belenenses players UD Salamanca players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players Yugoslav First League players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Belgian Pro League players Primeira Liga players Segunda División players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Croatian expatriate men's footballers Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Croatian football managers NK Međimurje managers NK Lokomotiva Zagreb managers Al Faisaly FC managers NK Slaven Belupo managers NK Rudeš managers NK Inter Zaprešić managers FK Željezničar Sarajevo managers FK Borac Banja Luka managers Croatian Football League managers Saudi Pro League managers Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina managers Croatian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina Persepolis F.C. non-playing staff Expatriate football managers in Iran