MADRID, 8 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Croatian Miroslav Blazevic, the coach who led Croatia to third place in the 1998 World Cup in France, has died at the age of 87, his country’s national federation confirmed on Wednesday.
“Miroslav ‘Ciro’ Blazevic, the legendary coach who led the ‘Vatreni’ to the bronze medal at the 1998 World Cup in France, has passed away after a long illness,” the Croatian Federation (HNS) said on its website. , where he noted that “he will always be remembered” as the coach who introduced the Croatian team “to the world scene” and who began their “enduring success story”.
Born in the Bosnian town of Travnik, Blazevic led clubs such as Croatian Dinamo Zagreb, with whom he won the Yugoslav league in 1982, French Nantes, Greek PAOK, Swiss Sion and Lausanne, and Chinese Shanghai Shenhua. In 1994, he was appointed coach of Croatia and, supported by the generation of Davor Suker, Zvonimir Boban or Robert Prosinecki, made it a protagonist on the international scene since its independence in the early 1990s from Yugoslavia.
Thus, he qualified it for its first major international tournament, the 1996 European Championship, where it was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Germany (2-1), while in its debut in a World Cup it was able to finish third and after having against the ropes in the semifinals to hosts France. However, she was unable to qualify for EURO 2000 and left her position. Later, among other positions, he was the national coach of Iran and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
“On behalf of the Croatian Federation, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family of Miroslav Blazevic for this immense loss. As a coach, he was behind two legendary successes that made him ‘the coach of all coaches’ such as the medal bronze medal for Croatia in the World Cup in France and Dinamo’s league title in 1982”, said president Marijan Kustic, who considers the late “one of the best coaches in the history of Croatian football”.
For his part, the current Croatian coach, Zlatko Dalic, also offered his condolences to the family of an “inimitable” person. “He was an unsurpassed speaker and motivator, transitioning seamlessly from casual charm to impressive authority. I will remember him as a man with great style and an even greater soul, he made his mark on every team he coached and was a great impact on me in Varazdin,” he said.
“I can confidently say that Ciro was my ‘football father’ and the true inspiration behind everything I have achieved in my coaching career. I will always be grateful to him for that, and he and his family are in my prayers. Rest in peace, ‘Coach of all Trainers'”, he sentenced.