Vladimir Petković (; born 15 August 1963) is a Bosnian professional

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 Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

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 ...

. He is currently the coach of the Algeria national team. He was previously the head coach of French side

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, the Switzerland national team, a string of Swiss clubs, Turkish club

Samsunspor Samsunspor Kulübü, officially known as Samsunspor Football Club Joint Stock Company, or as Reeder Samsunspor due to sponsorship agreements, is a Turkey, Turkish Football club (association football), professional football club that competes in t ...

, and Italian club

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

. Petković is from

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 ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Apart from his Bosnian one, he also holds

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

and Croatian passports.

Early life

Petković was born 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 ...

, modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1963 to a Bosnian Croat family. He is a naturalized

and holds Bosnian,

and Croatian passports. His parents worked in education and due to the family's frequent moving, Petković changed schools several times. They first lived in

Vrelo Bosne Vrelo Bosne (; ) is a public park and a protected Nature Monument established around the source of the Bosna river, featuring the system of numerous springs at the foothills of Mount Igman, in the municipality of Ilidža, on the outskirts of Sa ...

and then when he was five years old, in

Hadžići Hadžići is a town and municipality located in Sarajevo Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located south west of the city of Sarajevo. According to the 2013 population census in Bosni ...

near Sarajevo.

Playing career

A midfielder with good technique, Petković started playing football in

Ilidža Ilidža ( sr-cyrl, Илиџа, ) is a spa town and a municipality located in Sarajevo Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has a total population of 66,730 with 63,528 in Ilidža itself, and i ...

as an eleven-year-old before joining the youth sector of his hometown side

FK Sarajevo Fudbalski klub Sarajevo ( sh-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Сарајево; , English language, English: Sarajevo Football Club), is a professional Association football, football Sports club, club based in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosn ...

as a fifteen-year-old. He remained at FK Sarajevo and began his professional career there in the early 1980s. Petković made only a handful of appearances in a strong Sarajevo side led on the pitch by Bosnian

Safet Sušić Safet "Pape" Sušić (; born 13 April 1955) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He was a gifted midfielder known for his dribbling skills and technical ability, and is strongly reputed to have been one of the finest Eur ...

. Petković was a part of the Sarajevo side that won the 1984–85 Yugoslav First League, but made only two league appearances for them. His time at Sarajevo was interrupted by two brief stints elsewhere: first, a successful time with Rudar Prijedor where Petković showed good scoring ability; and then a less successful season in the

Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav Second League ( Bosnian: ''Druga savezna liga,'' Croatian: ''Druga savezna liga'', Serbian: ''Друга савезна лига'', Slovenian: ''Druga zvezna liga'', Macedonian: ''Втора сојузна лига'', ''Vtora sojuzna l ...

with a poor NK Koper side which was relegated after finishing last. Petković emigrated from

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 ...

in 1987, leaving FK Sarajevo and moving permanently to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where he joined second division club Chur 97. After a season with Chur, Petković moved to the Swiss top division, joining a strong Sion side. Sion achieved a third-place finish in the Nationalliga but Petković left the club at the end of the season after only making six league appearances. After leaving Sion, Petković moved back into the lower tiers, first joining Martigny-Sports before returning to his first Swiss club, Chur 97. Petković enjoyed a career as a regular goalscoring midfielder in the Swiss second division, which included two more stints at

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , ; ; is a municipality, a List of towns in Switzerland, historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its Three Castles of Bellinzona, three castles (Castelgrande, Montebello, Sa ...

and

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

. Petković completed his playing career as a player-manager with Bellinzona and Malcantone Agno, the latter having later merged with financially stricken Lugano.

Managerial career

Coaching in Switzerland

After his retirement from playing, Petković became a coach and his first job was player-manager at Bellinzona in 1997. In 2004, he took over the reins at Lugano before returning to Bellinzona for the fourth time in his career, where he led the club to the 2008 Swiss Cup final, only to lose out to

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, and promotion to the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

. At the beginning of the 2008–09 season, he was appointed as manager of Young Boys. After taking charge at the club, Petković installed a 3–4–3 formation and took the

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

side to a second-placed league finish. After two more seasons with Young Boys, he was sacked after a 1–1 draw against

Luzern Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

on 7 May 2011. The club finished in third place in the league behind their rivals

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and Basel.

Samsunspor in Turkey and return to Switzerland

In 2011, he became the new manager of Turkish side

. He resigned from that position in January 2012 with the club in the relegation zone. On 15 May 2012, he was named the new temporary manager of Sion until the end of the 2011–12 season.

Lazio

On 2 June 2012, Petković became the new manager of Italian side

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

. With the club, he won the

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 ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, thanks to a goal from Senad Lulić.

Switzerland national team

On 23 December 2013, it was announced that Petković was to succeed

Ottmar Hitzfeld Ottmar Hitzfeld (; born 12 January 1949) is a German former professional football player and a former manager. He accumulated a total of 18 major titles, mostly in his tenures with Grasshopper Club Zürich, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. ...

as the manager of the Switzerland national team after the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. As a result, Claudio Lotito fired Petković claiming a breach of the contract due to not having been duly informed by Petković about the latter's ongoing negotiations with the

Swiss Football Association The Swiss Football Association (, , , ) is the governing body of football in Switzerland. It organizes the football league, the Swiss Football League and the Switzerland national football team. It is based in Bern. It was formed in 1895, was a ...

. Petković was sacked as Lazio manager on 4 January 2014 and was replaced by Edy Reja, which resulted in a legal dispute concerning the contract termination. Since his appointment to the national team spot in July 2014, Petković has guided the Swiss to the Round of 16 stages of both the

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

and the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

, along with the quarter-finals of

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

. They also reached the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals. At the UEFA Euro 2020, he led Switzerland to defeat world champions

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

5–4 on penalties in the

Round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

, after a 3–3 draw, to qualify to the

quarter-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the European Championship for the first time in their history.

Bordeaux

In late July 2021, Petković became the manager of French club

. In February 2022, he was sacked as the team was struggling in the relegation positions in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

Algeria

On 29 February 2024, Petković became the head coach of the Algerian national team. Later that year, on 6 June, he lost his first competitive match 2–1 at home against

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

during the

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will decide the 45 teams that will join hosts Canada men's national soccer team, Canada, Mexico national football team, Mexico, and the United States men's national soccer team, United States at the 2026 FIFA ...

. Four days later, he achieved his first win in a 2–1 victory over

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Charitable work

While living in Switzerland, Petković worked for Caritas Ticino, a Catholic relief development and social service organisation, for five years.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Sarajevo *

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) ...

: 1984–85

Manager

Malcantone Agno * 1. Liga: 2002–03 Lazio *

: 2012–13

References

External links