Zlatko "Cico" Kranjčar (; 15 November 1956 – 1 March 2021) was a Croatian 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 and

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 ...

. Kranjčar started his career as a player with Dinamo Zagreb where he won the Yugoslav First League in 1981–82, then

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 ...

twice in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

and

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

. He later became the manager of the club which is now part of independent Croatia and went on to win Croatian First League in 1995–96 and 1997–98 and the Croatian Cup twice in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. Kranjčar also played for Rapid Wien where he had success winning the

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

twice in 1986–87 and 1987–88; the Austrian Cup in 1984, 1985 and 1987; and the Austrian Supercup in 1986, 1987 and 1988. Kranjčar was appointed manager of the Croatia national team and took them to the 2006 World Cup. He also had a short spell with the Montenegro national team. In 2009 he went to Iran and managed Persepolis. While there he had two spells with Sepahan where he went on to win the Iran Pro League in 2011–12 and the Hazfi Cup in 2012–13.

Playing career

Club

Kranjčar started to play for Dinamo Zagreb at the age of 10 in 1966 and stayed at the club until 1983. He debuted for the first team on 3 March 1974, aged 17, in a match against Hajduk Split. He played as a striker and quickly became one of the most popular players of the club. He appeared in a total of 556 matches for Dinamo, including friendlies, and scored a total of 256 goals, of which 98 were in the Yugoslav First League. With Dinamo, Kranjčar won the

1981–82 Yugoslav First League The 1981–82 Yugoslav First League season was the 36th season of the First Federal League (), the top level association football competition of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946. The season began on 26 July 1981 and ended on 2 Ma ...

, the first one for the club in 24 years, and two

s in

and

. He then transferred to Austrian club Rapid Wien for which he played until 1990. With the club he won the Austrian Championship twice and even made it to the Cup Winners’ Cup final in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

. The last club in his playing career was VSE St. Pölten for which he played for two months in late 1990.

International

Kranjčar made his debut for

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 a January 1977

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

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, coming on as a 60th-minute substitute for Vladimir Petrović, and earned a total of 11 caps, scoring 3 goals. His final international was a November 1983 friendly against

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 ...

. He was also capped twice and scored one goal for the Croatia national team and is notable as the first team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the Croatian team in their first international match against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on 17 October 1990 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 ...

. Both games were unofficial however, since Croatia was still part of Yugoslavia at the time.

Managerial career

Early years

Kranjčar started his coaching career in 1991 as an advisor at Austria Klagenfurt. From 1992 until 1994 he coached Croatian club Segesta and in 1994 he transferred to Croatia Zagreb, where he won the Croatian Championship and

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

in his first season. In 1996 he returned to Austria to coach FC Linz. A year later he was back in Croatia where he coached the clubs Slaven Belupo, Segesta (again) and

Samobor Samobor () is a town in Zagreb County, Croatia. It is part of the Zagreb metropolitan area. Administratively it is a part of Zagreb County. Geography Samobor is located west of Zagreb, between the eastern slopes of the Samobor hills (), the eas ...

. In 1998 he came back to Croatia Zagreb and led the club to another win in both the Croatian Championship and Cup as well as to an appearance in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. In 1999 he started to coach Egyptian club Al-Masry and in 2000 he went on to coach Slovenian club NK Mura, where he also stayed for one season. In 2002, he became the Croatian championship winner with NK Zagreb.

Croatia

After

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

failed to advance through the group stage at the

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

, Kranjčar was chosen to replace Otto Barić as the national team's coach for the next two years. He went on to lead Croatia in a total of 25 international matches between August 2004 and June 2006. Under his guidance, the team finished top of their group in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying, staying undefeated by recording seven wins and three draws in their ten qualifying matches. At the

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

finals, however, they failed to reach the knock-out stages after losing once and drawing twice in their three group matches. Due to this, the

Croatian Football Federation The Croatian Football Federation (, HNS) is the national governing body of football in Croatia. It was originally formed in 1912 and is based in the capital city of Zagreb. The organisation is a member of both FIFA and UEFA, and is responsible f ...

decided not to renew Kranjčar's expiring contract on 14 July 2006. In June 2007, Kranjčar took over a coaching position with the United Arab Emirates team Al-Shaab, but was sacked in December after a dispute with the board about player selection. On 22 April 2009, he was named as the new head coach of DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda.

Persepolis

On 1 July 2009, he was appointed head coach of Iran Pro League side Persepolis after he signed a two-year contract.24sata
Dubravko Miličić: Cico Kranjčar dobio otkaz već nakon prvoga poraza, 26 September 2009 Despite having good players such as

Karim Bagheri Karim Bagheri (; born 20 February 1974) is an Iranian professional association football, football coach and former midfielder who most notably played for the Iran national football team, Iranian national team and Persian Gulf Pro League club Pers ...

, Misagh Memarzadeh, Sepehr Heidari, Shpejtim Arifi and Sheys Rezaei, Persepolis was unsuccessful in the first weeks of 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 ...

. He was sacked by the club chairman Habib Kashani on 25 September 2009 after his loss against Paykan but he was returned to the club after the support of the technical committee five days later.
Kranjcar is sacked temporary, 25 September 2009 His contract was renewed until the end of half season. He was replaced by Ali Daei on 28 December 2009 after his contract expired.

Montenegro

In February 2010 he took over the Montenegro national team from Zoran Filipović, having a very poor start with two defeats in two friendly matches against Macedonia away and

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

at home and third defeat against

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with which Filipović had a stunning 3–1 home victory. He was dismissed on 8 September 2011, following Montenegro's defeat to

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier six days earlier. The Montenegro Football Federation said he was sacked due to alcohol addiction.

Sepahan

Kranjčar signed a two-year contract with Iran Pro League three-time champion, Sepahan on 28 October 2011 replacing his compatriot Luka Bonačić.Goal
Kranjcar becomes new Sepahan head coach, 28 October 2011 In his first match as Sepahan head coach, Sepahan had a 0–0 draw with Persepolis which Kranjčar coached in 2009. On 11 May 2012, Sepahan clinched the title for the fourth time (three in a row) and first under Kranjčar with a draw against Mes Sarcheshmeh. They also defeated Esteghlal in the Round of 16 of the ACL and reached the Quarter-finals. Kranjčar's side faced Foolad in the Round of 32 of the Hazfi Cup on 13 December 2012 which defeated them 2–1 at

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

. They defeated Mes Rafsanjan, Sanat Naft and Esteghlal in next matches to reach the final. In

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, his side won against Persepolis 4–2 on penalties to crown their 4th domestic cup title in last ten years. In his second season as Sepahan head coach, his side finished in third place, three points behind winner, Esteghlal. Zlatko Kranjcar in press conference as Sepahan manager 02

Zlatko Kranjcar in press conference as Sepahan manager 02

On 8 September 2014, Kranjčar resigned as Sepahan manager for an unannounced reason. He was replaced by Hossein Faraki.

Al-Ahli

On 7 February 2015, Kranjčar was named as the new manager of

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

-based club Al-Ahli, signing a two-year contract. He was sacked in February 2016 after a run of poor results.

Return to Sepahan

On 17 March 2017, Kranjčar returned to Iranian club Sepahan signing a two-year contract. However, on 20 January 2018 after a series of bad results, Kranjčar parted ways with them by mutual consent to leave Isfahan.

Iran U23

On 29 April 2018, Kranjčar became the head coach of the Iran national under-23 team, signing a contract until 2020.

Personal life

Kranjčar was married in 1983 and had a son, Niko, who is also a professional footballer. He was fluent in German. On 1 March 2021, Kranjčar died at the age of 64 after a short but severe illness. His health deteriorated in

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

, where he ended up in hospital. He was urgently transferred to

but doctors were unable to save his life.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Yugoslavia's and Croatia's goal tally first.''

Managerial statistics

Source
hrnogomet.com

Honours

Persepolis Sepahan - 2013 Hazfi Cup Final 03

Player

Dinamo Zagreb * Yugoslav First League: 1981–82 *

* Yugoslav Youth Cup:

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

Rapid Wien *

: 1986–87, 1987–88 * Austrian Cup: 1984, 1985, 1987 * Austrian Supercup: 1986, 1987, 1988 Individual * Dinamo Zagreb all time XI

Manager

Dinamo Zagreb * Croatian First League: 1995–96, 1997–98 * Croatian Cup:

NK Zagreb *Croatian First League: 2001–02 Sepahan * Iran Pro League: 2011–12 * Hazfi Cup: 2012–13

Individual

* Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 2005 * Iranian Manager of the Year: 2012 * Iran Football Federation Award Coach of the Season: 2012–13

References

External links