Vinko Marinović (born 3 March 1971) is a Bosnian 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 ...

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 ...

who is the manager of the Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 national team.

Club career

Marinović started playing football at nine years of age with the youth teams of Kozara Gradiška. In 1988, he was included in the senior team that competed in those days, still in

SFR 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 ...

in lower tier leagues. His good exhibitions called the attention of the biggest regional club Borac Banja Luka. With the beginning of the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

in 1992, Marinović's club was moved to Serbia, and continued, under the same name, to play in the

First League of FR Yugoslavia The First League of Serbia and Montenegro () was the top football league of Serbia and Montenegro, before the country's dissolution in 2006. The league was formed as the First League of FR Yugoslavia following the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, ef ...

, composed of clubs from Serbia, Montenegro and Borac Banja Luka from Bosnia and Herzegovina. In many statistical football websites, his club, since in those years was playing in the territory of Serbia, is confused with another Serbian top league club, with the same name, Borac, but from another town,

Čačak Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Moravica District in central Serbia. It is located in the West Morava Valley. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population ...

. In 1995, he moved alongside his teammate Darko Ljubojević to

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

European and

World champions A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

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 ...

. Marinović soon started playing in the initial squad, and his solid exhibitions and strong character made him the team captain in the next years. After four seasons, he and the club made the decision that was time for him to move abroad, so in the summer of 1999, Marinović signed with

Belgian First Division A 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– ...

club Beerschot from

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, where his initial success was stopped by a terrible injury. After four seasons in Belgium, Marinović decided to return to Bosnia and Herzegovina where he signed with

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

Laktaši Laktaši ( sr-cyrl, Лакташи) is a city in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality had a population of 34,966 inhabitants, while the town has a population of 5,879 inhabitants. Geography Physical geogra ...

, where he did get his physical condition back, assuming the lead as the captain of the team and playing an impressive 108 league games in four seasons, having scored his best 17 goals. In 2008, Marinović decided to return to his youth years club Kozara Gradiška where he finished his playing career.

International career

Marinović decided to represent the FR Yugoslavia national team (Serbia and Montenegro), for which he played one match. It was on 23 December 1998 in a friendly match in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

against, the home side,

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. He entered as a substitute for Slobodan Komljenović late in the match.

Managerial career

Early career

After retiring, Marinović graduated in the Managerial Academy in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

and became the manager of his previous club Kozara, with whom he succeeded the promotion to the

after winning the 2010–11 First League of RS season. After getting sacked at Kozara, he was for a short period the manager of

Serbian First League The Serbian First League (), referred to as the Mozzart Bet First League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier in professional Serbia's football league. The league was formed in 2005, following a reshuffle of the second tier Serbo-Montenegr ...

club Kolubara in 2012, but a year later became an assistant manager at Borac Banja Luka. Afterwards, he was the manager of Borac from 2014 to 2015.

Zrinjski Mostar

After a fairly good season as Borac manager, Marinović became the new manager of Zrinjski Mostar. In his second season with Zrinjski, he won the league title one round before the end of the season and was subsequently awarded the Bosnian Premier League Manager of the Season award. In December 2016, during the league's winter break, Marinović left Zrinjski. At the time Zrinjski were first on the league table.

Bosnia and Herzegovina U21

In March 2017, Marinović was named the new head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 national team. After the ending of the 2019 UEFA Euro U21 qualification in 2018, Marinović made one of the best results in the qualification finishing third in the group. Four points less than second placed

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 ...

and six less than first placed

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. On 26 December 2018, he signed a new contract which was due to last until October 2022. However, on 26 December 2019, Marinović left the national team to become the new manager of

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 ...

. He officially left the team a day later, on 27 December, terminating his contract with the Bosnia and Herzegovina FA.

Sarajevo

2019–20 season

On 26 December 2019, Marinović came back to club management after three years and became the new manager of Sarajevo. He was officially announced as the new Sarajevo manager four days later, on 30 December, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract. In his first game as Sarajevo manager, Marinović's team beat Tula City 6–2 in a league match on 22 February 2020. On 1 June 2020, the 2019–20 Bosnian Premier League season ended abruptly due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina and by default, Sarajevo, led by Marinović, were crowned league champions for a second consecutive time. This also marked a historic moment for the league as Marinović became the first manager to win the Bosnian Premier League since its formation in 2000 with two different clubs, the first one being Zrinjski and their 2015–16 title win.

2020–21 season

Marinović suffered his first loss as Sarajevo manager on 26 August 2020, in a 2020–21 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round match against Dynamo Brest. Ultimately, he would qualify the club to the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League play-off round, where they would get eliminated by Scottish club

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and miss out on a chance to play in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

. Marinović made a new Bosnian Premier League record with the club on 30 October 2020, after a league game against Mladost Doboj Kakanj, in which Sarajevo ended the game unbeaten and continued their 12-game unbeaten run in the league since the beginning of the season, surpassing the one of fierce city rivals Željezničar, which was an 11 league game unbeaten run since the start of the 2019–20 Bosnian Premier League season. In his first ever Sarajevo derby, Marinović's side drew against Željezničar at home in a league match on 4 November 2020, but still continuing their 13-game unbeaten run in the league. He made a new record with Sarajevo by not losing any competitive domestic game in the year 2020, winning 19 and drawing only 6 of their 25 games that year. Marinović oversaw his first competitive domestic game loss as Sarajevo manager in a league match against his former club Zrinjski, played on 6 March 2021. His first Sarajevo derby win as Sarajevo manager came on 1 May 2021 against Željezničar. On 12 May 2021, a day after Sarajevo's disappointing home draw against Sloboda Tuzla, Marinović and the club agreed to terminate his contract by mutual agreement due to poor results in the last few games and after losing first place in the 2020–21 season to Marinović's former club Borac Banja Luka.

Return to Borac Banja Luka

On 28 August 2022, Borac Banja Luka appointed Marinović as manager for the second time, replacing Nenad Lalatović who resigned two days prior. His first competitive game back in charge of Borac ended in a 1–0 home win against Zrinjski Mostar on 31 August. On 4 September 2022, Marinović suffered his first defeat as Borac manager in a 2–0 loss to

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 ...

. On 18 February 2023, Borac was knocked out by Rudar Prijedor in the

second round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

of the Bosnian Cup following a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

, with Marinović taking the blame for the elimination. He finished the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

with the side in second place, securing a place in the 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round. Marinović guided Borac to a league title in the 2023–24 season, becoming the only manager to win a Bosnian championship title with three different clubs. On 23 May 2024, Borac suffered a 2–0 defeat on aggregate to Zrinjski in the Bosnian Cup final, losing out on a chance to win their first

domestic double The Double, in association football, is the achievement of winning a country's top tier division and its primary domestic cup competition in the same season. The lists in this article examine this definition of a double, while derivative sectio ...

. On 11 June 2024, it was announced by Borac that Marinović had left the club by mutual consent.

Return to Bosnia and Herzegovina U21

On 17 July 2024, the Bosnian FA appointed Marinović as head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 national team for the second time.

Personal life

Marinović was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria, but was brought up in Gradiška. During the

, he played for Borac Banja Luka, until his move to

. He was in

during the

NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Serbia and Montenegro, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombing ...

, after which he moved to Belgium, where he stayed until 2003, returning to Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is married to Klaudija Marinović, with whom he has two daughters.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Borac Banja Luka *

Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called Coupe de l'Europe Centrale, Mitteleuropäischer Pokal or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European association football, football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the suc ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Mitropa Cup
at rsssf.org Red Star Belgrade *

: 1994–95 * FR Yugoslav Cup: 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97 Laktaši * First League of RS: 2006–07

Manager

Kozara Gradiška *First League of RS: 2010–11 Zrinjski Mostar *

: 2015–16 Sarajevo *Bosnian Premier League: 2019–20 Borac Banja Luka *Bosnian Premier League: 2023–24 Individual * Bosnian Premier League Manager of the Season: 2015–16

References

External links