Dragan Skočić

Dragan Skočić (born 3 September 1968) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Croatia national under-21 team.

Dragan Skočić
Skočić in 2020
Personal information
Date of birth (1968-09-03) 3 September 1968
Place of birth Rijeka, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Croatia U21 (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1991 Rijeka 20 (2)
1991–1993 Las Palmas 41 (6)
1993–1996 Compostela 12 (0)
1996 Rijeka 2 (0)
2001–2004 Novalja
2004 Al-Ittihad Kalba
Managerial career
2005–2006 Rijeka
2007–2008 Interblock
2009–2010 Al-Arabi
2011 Al Nassr
2012 Rijeka
2013–2014 Malavan
2014–2016 Foolad
2018 Khooneh be Khooneh
2019–2020 Sanat Naft
2020–2022 Iran
2023– Croatia U21
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Skočić played as a midfielder in Croatia, Spain and the UAE for Rijeka, Las Palmas, Compostela, Novalja and Al-Ittihad Kalba.

Playing career

Skočić, a midfielder, played professional club football in Croatia for Rijeka and NK Novalja,[1] in Spain for Las Palmas and Compostela,[2][3][4] and in the UAE for Al-Ittihad Kalba.[5] He was the first player from the Croatian football league who went abroad to play professionally.[6]

Coaching career

Early career

After his playing career, Skočić went on to complete the Football Academy at the Croatian Football Academy and the Coach Education and Training Department at the Zagreb Faculty of Kinesiology, receiving an UEFA-PRO Coach diploma and a Professional Bachelor of the Coaching Profession.[7]

Rijeka

He became manager of his hometown club, Rijeka, in 2005. Skočić secured one trophy for the club, winning the Croatian Cup for the 2005–06 season.[8]

Interblock Ljubljana
Skočić with Interblock

In 2007, he became the head coach of the Slovenian club Interblock Ljubljana, while the club was in a difficult situation on the league scale. Only two years after the club was founded and under the management of Skočić, the club achieved outstanding results in the Slovenian PrvaLiga. Not only did they manage to stay in the first league, but they also won two trophies in the 2007–08 season, the Slovenian Cup[9] and a Super Cup.[10]

Al Arabi

Skočić took a year long sabbatical from coaching following his time at Interblock,[11] and in the 2009–10 season, he took over the management of the Al-Arabi club in Kuwait. Under his leadership as head coach, the club played in two finals, the Crown Prince Cup and the Federation Cup. Also under Skočić, Al-Arabi played in the AFC Cup quarter-finals.[12]

Al Nassr

Following Kuwait, in the 2010–11 season, Skočić was engaged by the Al Nassr football club from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, one of the most prominent football clubs in the Arab world. Under Skočić, Al Nassr qualified for the third round of the AFC Champions League, after having played a successful season of competitions within the group. On 25 May 2011, he was sacked after a disappointing 4–1 loss to 2010 AFC Champions League finalists Zob Ahan, and was replaced by Portuguese boss Eurico Gomes.[13]

Return to Rijeka

In March 2012 Skočić returned to take over the management of his hometown club Rijeka by replacing Ivo Ištuk as head coach, and became the third coach to take charge of the club in the 2011–12 Prva HNL season.[14] Skočić inherited a defensively frail side that was 2 points off the relegation zone and was tasked with saving the team from relegation.[15] Upon a 2-0 defeat to Cibalia, the club fell to the 12th place in the league.[16] After just 43 days in charge,[17] Skočić was relieved of his position, following a series of poor results, and was replaced by his assistant, Mladen Ivančić.[18][19][20]

Malavan

On 26 May 2013, Skočić was announced as head coach of Malavan for the upcoming season. He signed a two year contract with the club.[21] He led the club to the seventh place, their best league finish since 2005.[22]

Foolad
Skočić with Foolad in 2014

On 23 May 2014, Skočić was named as new head coach of Iran Pro League title-holders Foolad,[23] on a one-year contract, replacing Hossein Faraki who resigned on the following day.[24] In May 2015, Skočić received the award for coach of the month and signed a two-year contract extension to keep him at the club until July 2017.[25] In November 2015 after poor scores with the club, Skočić was linked with the vacant head coach position at Sepahan F.C. but the job went to his compatriot, Igor Štimac.[26] After an unsuccessful transfer to Sepahan, he remained as Foolad's head coach according to his contract.[27][28] He left the club on 1 June 2016.[29]

Khooneh be Khooneh Babol

On 16 January 2018 he became manager of F.C. Khooneh be Khooneh (Rayka Babol) replacing formerly resigned Javad Nekounam.[30] He soon went on a streak by getting 13 points out of his first 5 games and also leading the second tier team into Hazfi Cup's final.[31][32]

Sanat Naft

In July 2019 he became manager of Sanat Naft.[33]

Skočić in November 2019

Iran national team

On 6 February 2020, Skočić was named head coach of the Iran national team.[34] He managed to take Iran to the 2022 World Cup as the winner of Group A by scoring 25 points out of 10 matches in the third round of the World Cup qualifiers and set the best performance of the Iran national football team in the World Cup qualifiers.[35][36]

He was replaced as the Iranian national team manager on 7 September 2022.[37]

Croatia national under-21 team

On 14 April 2023, Dragan Skočić was appointed as the manager of the Croatia national under-21 team.[38][39]

Career statistics

[40] [41]

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Yugoslavia League Yugoslav Cup League Cup Europe Total
1987–88RijekaYugoslav First League0000––--00
1988–890000––--00
1989–901000––--10
1990–9119240––--232
Spain League Copa del Rey Supercopa de España Europe Total
1991–92Las PalmasSegunda División7000––--70
1992–93Segunda División B346--––--346
1993–94SD CompostelaSegunda División9010––--90
1994–95La Liga2000––--20
1995–961020––--30
Croatia League Croatian Cup Super Cup Europe Total
1995–96RijekaPrva HNL2010––--30
Total 758800000838

Managerial statistics
As of 12 June 2022[42][43]
Team From To Record
GWDLWin %
HNK Rijeka 1 October 2005 30 September 2006 36 20 5 11 055.56
NK Interblock 3 March 2007 1 June 2008 49 20 11 18 040.82
Al-Arabi SC 1 August 2009 30 June 2010 36 23 9 4 063.89
Al-Nassr FC 11 January 2011 26 May 2011 18 8 4 6 044.44
HNK Rijeka 19 March 2012 30 April 2012 7 1 2 4 014.29
Malavan 28 May 2013 19 April 2014 29 13 6 10 044.83
Foolad 23 May 2014 30 June 2016 69 27 18 24 039.13
Khooneh be Khooneh 17 January 2018 12 October 2018 23 11 6 6 047.83
Sanat Naft 2 July 2019 3 February 2020 19 10 6 3 052.63
Iran 6 February 2020 7 September 2022 18 15 1 2 083.33
Croatia U21 14 April 2023 Present 0 0 0 0 !—
Total 304 148 68 88 048.68

Honours
Skočić winning the Croatian Cup with Rijeka in 2006

Player
Las Palmas
Compostela

Manager
Rijeka[44]
Interblock Ljubljana[44]
Khoone be Khoone

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dragan Skočić.
  1. "Footballdatabase.eu profile". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  2. Borrego, Manuel (8 December 2010). ".: DRAGAN SKOCIC: "MI META ES ESPAÑA"". '.
  3. "Dragan Skocic". globalsportagency.com.
  4. "Skocic, Dragan Skocic - Footballer". bdfutbol.com.
  5. Alaric Gomes. "Al Arabi coach is a relieved man after 2-0 win". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  6. "Cijeli HNL izvan Hrvatske: od 1992. otišlo je preko dvije tisuće igrača! - Sportske novosti". Sportske.jutarnji.hr. 14 January 2009. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  7. "Trofeji i diplome" (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 29 September 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  8. "Rijeka na korak do obrane Rabuzinovog sunca, a Vugrinec do reprezentacije". index.hr. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  9. Tina Pertoci. "Skočić: Osvojeni pokal smo si nadvse zaslužili". Planet Siol.net. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  10. "Skočić, Zahora, Jukan i Rendulić nakon penala sretniji od Domžala!". jutarnji.hr. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  11. "Nekdanji trener Interblocka Dragan Skočić se seli v Kuvajt". Dnevnik.
  12. "Shootout saved us says relieved Kwid". Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  13. "Al Nassr sack coach Dragan Skocic after AFC Champions League defeat". Goal.com.
  14. Tomislav Ćuto. "Nikad nisam bio kukavica, uvjeren sam u bolje dane". sportcom.hr.
  15. "Dragan Skočić smijenjen – Moja Rijeka". Moja Rijeka.
  16. "Nova smjena trenera u Rijeci: I Dragan Skočić dobio je otkaz". www.24sata.hr.
  17. "SKOČIĆ SMIJENJEN Kantrida traži četvrtog trenera ove sezone, Mladen Ivančić v.d. - Sportske Novosti". sportske.jutarnji.hr.
  18. sp. "Skočić novi trener Rijeke!". rijekadanas.com. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  19. "HNK Rijeka - Smijenjen Dragan Skočić". nk-rijeka.hr.
  20. "Skočić više nije trener Rijeke, momčad će voditi Ivančić". Večernji.hr.
  21. "Latest Football News, Transfer Rumours & More". Goal.com. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  22. "Iranski izbornik ima 4 mil. € plaću, a momčadi su pečat dali i Hrvati". Večernji.hr.
  23. "Iran Sports Press - Dragan Skocic Replaces Foolad's Faraki". Iran Sports Press. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  25. "Tinta Amarilla - El ex amarillo Dragan Skocic dirigirá dos años más al Foolad iraní". tintaamarilla.es.
  26. "Dragan Skocic parts company with Foolad". tehran times. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  27. "خبرورزشی: اسکوچیچ بیخ ریش فولاد!". Khuzestan Sport. 6 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  28. "اسکوچیچ در فولاد ماند / سپاهان کماکان بدون سرمربی". ISNA news agency. 6 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  29. "اسکوچیچ قراردادش را فسخ کرد". ورزش سه.
  30. "دراگان اسكوچیچ سرمربی جدید تیم فوتبال خونه به خونه مازندران شد - ایرنا".
  31. "ادامه روزهای شیرین اسکو در سرزمین شمالی (عکس)". ورزش سه.
  32. "گزارش بازی استقلال خوزستان- خونه به خونه بابل 18/12/96 نیمه نهایی جام حذفی". ورزش سه.
  33. "Dragan Skocic Appointed as Iran's Sanat Naft Coach - Sports news". Tasnim News Agency.
  34. "IR Iran appoint Dragan Skocic as new national team head coach". FOX Sports Asia. 6 February 2020.
  35. "Iran becomes the first Asian country to Qualify for FIFA World Cup 2022". Sport Star. 27 January 2022.
  36. "2022 WCQ: Iran Ends Group A as Winner". Tasnim News Agency. 30 March 2022.
  37. "Carlos Queiroz named Iran football coach". Tehran Times. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  38. "Dragan Skočić preuzima U-21 reprezentaciju!" [Dragan Skočić takes over the under-21 team]. Dalmacija News (in Croatian). Split. 14 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  39. Antolić, Dražen (15 April 2023). "Doživio je veliku nepravdu pa postao novi izbornik mladih vatrenih: 'Jedna stvar neka bude svima jasna'" [He was served with a great injustice, and then became a manager of the young blazers]. Sportske novosti (in Croatian). Zagreb. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  40. "Dragan Skočić statistics". bdfutbol.com. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  41. "HNK Rijeka". nk-rijeka.hr. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  42. "Dragan Skočić Managerial statistics". hrnogomet.com. 17 December 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  43. "Khooneh be Khooneh FC Results on its official website". fckhoonehbekhooneh.com. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  44. "Noticias EL DIARIO - Primera página". eldiario.net.
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