Velimir Zajec

Velimir Zajec (born 12 February 1956) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who last managed Dinamo Zagreb.

Velimir Zajec
Zajec with Dinamo Zagreb in 2010
Personal information
Full name Velimir Zajec[1]
Date of birth (1956-02-12) 12 February 1956
Place of birth Zagreb, PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)
Youth career
Dinamo Zagreb
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1974–1984 Dinamo Zagreb 238 (13)
1984–1988 Panathinaikos 67 (11)
Total 305 (24)
International career
1977–1985 Yugoslavia 36 (1)
Managerial career
1996–1997 Panathinaikos
1998–1999 Dinamo Zagreb
2004–2005 Portsmouth
2010 Dinamo Zagreb
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Yugoslavia
Gold medal – first place UEFA U-21 Euro1978
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Zajec began his career at Dinamo Zagreb in 1974, aged 18.[2] In ten years at the club, he helped them to two domestic cup wins, as well as the league title, their first title honour in 24 years.[2] In 1979 and 1984, he was named the Yugoslav Footballer of the Year.

He then transferred to Greek club Panathinaikos, where he played over 100 games.

International career

Zajec made his debut for Yugoslavia in a March 1977 friendly match against the Soviet Union and earned a total of 36 caps, scoring 1 goal.[3] He captained them at both the 1982 World Cup and the 1984 European Championship. His final international was an October 1985 friendly away against Austria.[4]

Coaching career

Following retirement, he spent two years (1989–1991) as Director of Football at former club Dinamo Zagreb before returning to Panathinaikos to run their academy. Before long, he was promoted to head coach of the club. After a period he again, he returned to Zagreb, this time as head coach, before moving once more back to Panathinaikos in 2002 to become Director of Football.

In late October 1998, Zajec replaced Zlatko Kranjčar as manager at Dinamo Zagreb (then known as Croatia Zagreb), following Kranjčar's poor record in the UEFA Champions League group stage, where the team only managed to grab a single point in three matches (drawing with Ajax at home, before losing to both Olympiacos and Porto on the road). The team's performance in the UEFA Champions League improved under Zajec, as they managed to stay undefeated in the remaining three group matches, beating Porto and Ajax and drawing with Olympiacos. Dinamo nevertheless did not manage to go through to the quarter-finals after finishing second in their group, behind Olympiacos (at the time, only the first-place finishers and the two best second-place finishers went through).

In 2004, he moved to English club Portsmouth to take up a position as executive director. He took over as temporary team manager following the resignation of Harry Redknapp in November 2004 and was confirmed as the new manager on 21 December 2004 making him the first Croatian to manage in the Premier league.[5] Five months later, he reverted to his intended director's role, following the arrival of Alain Perrin. He resigned from his position at Fratton Park on 10 October 2005 due to personal reasons.[6]

On 25 May 2010, Zajec was appointed new coach at Dinamo Zagreb, returning to the club as coach after 11 years.[7] However, Zajec was sacked on 9 August 2010, after leading Dinamo in just 8 competitive matches, winning the 2010 Croatian Supercup, exiting the 2010–11 Champions League in the third qualifying round, and picking up four points in the first three matches in the 2010–11 Prva HNL.[8]

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb

Panathinaikos

References
  1. "Zajec: Velimir Zajec: Manager". BDFutbol. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  2. "Velimir Zajec - Povijest Dinama". povijest.gnkdinamo.hr (in Croatian). GNK Dinamo Zagreb. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  3. "Appearances for Yugoslavia/Serbia National Team". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  4. "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  5. Zajec named as Pompey boss, BBC Sport, 21 December 2004
  6. Zajec resigns from Portsmouth job, BBC Sport, 10 October 2005
  7. Zajec: Želim Ligu prvaka, ali ne obećavam ništa, tportal.hr, 25 May 2010 (in Croatian)
  8. Attias, Vedran (9 August 2010). "Dinamo smijenio Velimira Zajeca!". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 9 August 2010.
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