Former Croatian soccer coach Miroslav Blazevic, who led the team to third place in the 1998 World Cup in France, died this Wednesday at the age of 87, the victim of a prolonged illness, the local federation announced on social networks.
“The football family today lost the ‘coach of all coaches,'” the nickname Blazevic was known by, the Croatian FA said on social media. According to the family, the technician died in a Zagreb hospital after a long battle with prostate cancer.
After a career as a player in which he played for various clubs in the Balkans and in Switzerland, Blazevic began his coaching career at Swiss side Sion, later going through various clubs in countries such as Switzerland, Croatia, Greece, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina. , China or Iran.
The coach trained, among others, the Swiss from Grasshoppers and Neuchatel Xamax, the Croatians from Dinamo Zagreb, Hadjuk Split or NK Zagreb, the French from Nantes, the Greeks from PAOK, the Chinese from Shanghai Shenhua or the Iranians from Mes Kerman.
Their first major victory was the former Yugoslav champion title, won by Dinamo Zagreb in 1982.
As a coach, he led Switzerland, Croatia, Iran, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Chinese Olympic team. In the 1998 World Cup he led the Croatian team to third place, after losing to France (2-1) in the semifinals and beating the Netherlands (2-1) in the game for third place.
Source: TSF
