Vladimír Weiss (footballer, Born 1964)

Vladimír Weiss (born 22 September 1964) is a Slovak football coach and former player who serves as the coach of Slovan Bratislava. He is one of a small number of people to have appeared as a player and a coach at a FIFA World Cup.

Weiss played in the Czechoslovak First League during the 1980s and start of the 1990s until its dissolution, making over 100 league appearances for Inter Bratislava. During this period, he played for Czechoslovakia, making 19 appearances and scoring one goal whilst participating at the 1990 FIFA World Cup as well. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, Weiss played for Petra Drnovice in the Czech First League, then returned to Slovakia, playing for Košice, Dunajská Streda, and Petržalka. He made 12 further national team appearances, this time for Slovakia, scoring one goal.

Weiss moved into management at the turn of the century, and won the Slovak league title in 2005 with Artmedia Petržalka before taking them to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, a feat only achieved by the manager of one Slovak club before. He spent a year managing Russian side Saturn Moscow Oblast before returning to Petržalka, where he won another national title in the 2007–08 season, as well as the 2007–08 Slovak Cup for a double.

In 2008, Weiss was named as the manager for the Slovakia national team. He subsequently took Slovakia to 2010 FIFA World Cup, their first World Cup as an independent nation, where they progressed from the group stage to the knockout stage of the tournament. He stepped down in 2012 having failed to qualify for the next major tournament, and managed Slovak club side Slovan Bratislava before moving to Kazakhstan, where he led Kairat for three years. During his time at Kairat, Weiss won the Kazakhstan Cup twice. Weiss subsequently led the Georgia national team between 2016 and 2020, narrowly missing out on qualification for UEFA Euro 2020. He returned to managing in the Slovak First Football League, signing a long-term contract with Slovan Bratislava in 2021, where he won four league titles in a row.

Early life

The oldest of two siblings, Weiss' mother died when he was 15 years old, and he and his sister Zuzana were solely raised by their father. As a young man in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Weiss completed his compulsory military service in Komárno.

Playing career

Weiss began his career with Agro Hurbanovo and Rapid Bratislava. He played in the Czechoslovak First League for Inter Bratislava between the 1983–84 and 1992–93 seasons. After his final season for the club, Weiss played for AC Sparta Prague, who won the league title that season. He played for Petra Drnovice at the start of the 1993–94 season, the first season of the independent Czech league after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Weiss next returned to Slovakia, playing for Košice, Dunajská Streda, and Petržalka in the newly-established Slovak First League.

Weiss made 19 appearances for Czechoslovakia between 1988 and 1990, debuting in a 2–0 friendly loss against Bulgaria in March 1988. His first goal came against Norway in a November 1988 friendly match at Bratislava's Tehelné pole stadium, scoring Czechoslovakia's second goal in a 3–2 win. He played at the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, Weiss played for Slovakia. He scored Slovakia's first goal after independence in a 1–0 friendly victory against United Arab Emirates on 2 February 1994, going on to represent Slovakia a total of 12 times.

Managerial career

Artmedia Bratislava

As the coach of Artmedia Bratislava, Weiss won the Slovak First League in 2005. He then took the club through three qualifying rounds of the 2005–06 season of the UEFA Champions League and reached the group stage, becoming just the second Slovak team to qualify for the Champions League group stage after Košice in 1997. He moved to Russia and managed FC Saturn Moscow Oblast from February 2006 to June 2007. He then led Artmedia to another Slovak league title and cup double in 2008.

Slovakia

In July 2008, Weiss was appointed head coach of the Slovakia national team, taking over from Ján Kocian. On 14 October 2009, he led the team to the historic success of Slovakia's first-ever qualification for a major tournament as an independent nation, winning the qualifying group for the 2010 FIFA World Cup after a 1–0 away victory against Poland in the final qualifying match. This led to him being awarded in the Sport category of the 2009 Crystal Wing Awards.

On 24 June 2010, Weiss led Slovakia to the round of 16 after a 3–2 victory against Italy. In late January 2012, he resigned with Slovakia following the team's failure to qualify for UEFA Euro 2012.

Weiss continued as coach of Slovan Bratislava, having started that job alongside that of the Slovakia national team in August 2011. In July 2012, he signed a new one-year contract to continue. However, by the end of the month, Slovan had won just one of three league matches and been eliminated from the preliminary rounds of the UEFA Europa League. Weiss announced his resignation on 29 July.

Kazakhstan and Georgia

Weiss became coach of Almaty-based Kazakh football club FC Kairat in 2012, but resigned at the end of November 2015, having won the Kazakhstan Cup twice during his tenure. He became coach of the Georgia national team in March 2016. Weiss announced his resignation in November 2020 after Georgia lost the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs to North Macedonia.

Return to Slovan Bratislava

Weiss returned to Slovakia, signing a five-year contract with former club Slovan Bratislava in May 2021. Slovan won the 2020–21 league title in his first game after a 4–0 away victory against Zlaté Moravce. Under Weiss, Slovan won the league again in 2021–22 and 2022–23 for three league titles in a row.

In April 2024, Slovan Bratislava won their sixth consecutive league title, and a fourth for Weiss. On 28 August, during the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League play-off round, he led the club to their first final tournament in an eventual 4–3 aggregrate victory against FC Midtjylland.

Personal life

Weiss is married to Marta Weiss and have a son named Vladimír, who plays for numerous football clubs, including Slovan Bratislava. His father, also named Vladimír Weiss, was a footballer who represented Czechoslovakia and won the silver medal from 1964 Summer Olympics.

Honours and awards

Artmedia
* Slovak First Football League (2): 2004–05, 2007–08
*Slovak Cup (1): 2008

Slovan
*Slovak First Football League (4): 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24

Kairat
* Kazakhstan Cup (2): 2014, 2015

Individual
* Crystal Wing Awards, Sport category: 2009
* Slovak Footballer of the Year Awards, Jozef Vengloš Award (6): 2009, 2010, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Vladimir
1964 births
Footballers from Bratislava
Slovak men's footballers
Czechoslovak men's footballers
Slovak football managers
Slovakia national football team managers
2010 FIFA World Cup managers
Living people
1990 FIFA World Cup players
Slovakia men's international footballers
Czechoslovakia men's international footballers
AC Sparta Prague players
FK Inter Bratislava players
FC VSS Košice players
FC Petržalka players
Slovak First Football League players
FC Saturn Ramenskoye managers
Russian Premier League managers
Dual internationalists (men's football)
Å K Slovan Bratislava managers
Slovak First Football League managers
Expatriate football managers in Russia
1. FK Drnovice players
FC Petržalka managers
FC Kairat managers
Expatriate football managers in Kazakhstan
Expatriate football managers in Georgia (country)
Georgia national football team managers
Slovak expatriate football managers
Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Russia
Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan
Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Georgia (country)
Men's association football midfielders
Vladimir