The legendary Croatian coach Miroslav “Ciro” Blazevic, who won the bronze medal at the World Cup in 1998 with the checkered selection, died on Wednesday February 8, two days before his 88th birthday, announced the Croatian Football Federation.
“The football family today lost the ‘coach of all coaches'”, nickname by which Miroslav Blazevic was known in the Balkans, the federation tweeted. He died after a long battle with cancer diagnosed in 2011.
Born in Bosnia on February 10, 1935, Miroslav Blazevic had led, at 63, Croatia to the semi-final stage of the World Cup played in France. It was the tricolor selection that put an end to the Croats’ dreams of victory (2-1), before winning the competition at the expense of Brazil (3-0).
Champion of Yugoslavia with Dinamo Zagreb, in 1982
During the World Cup, he made himself famous by wearing a kepi to pay tribute to the French gendarme Daniel Nivel, seriously injured by German hooligans before the quarter-final Germany-Croatia.
This medal, won by beating the Netherlands (2-1), represented a great victory for the very young independent country since 1991, only three years after a war (1991-1995) which had left around 20,000 dead.
After a career as a player in Yugoslavia and Switzerland, “Ciro” began coaching in Switzerland in 1968, notably at FC Sion, the team with which he won the Swiss Cup in 1974. His first major victory had been the title of champion of Yugoslavia won with Dinamo Zagreb in 1982, which had made him very popular.
He has also trained in France (Nantes), Greece, China, Iran, Slovenia and Bosnia. He was coach of Switzerland, Iran, Bosnia and the Chinese Olympic football team.
Miroslav “Ciro” Blazevic, to whom Croatian coach Zlatko Dalic dedicated third place at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, was best known for his motivational skills, a coach “able to completely change the mentality of clubs in a matter of seconds. long,” according to Croatian newspaper Vecernji List.