GNK Dinamo Zagreb Academy explained

Clubname:Dinamo Zagreb II
Fullname:Građanski nogometni klub
Dinamo Zagreb II
Ground:Stadion Hitrec-Kacian
Capacity:5,000
Chairman:Mirko Barišić
Season:2020–21
Position:Druga HNL, 13th
Website:https://www.gnkdinamo.hr

GNK Dinamo Zagreb Academy, also known as Hitrec-Kacian (pronounced as /hr/), are the youth team of Dinamo Zagreb. The academy was founded on 27 December 1967. There are a total of ten age categories within the academy, the oldest being the Junior Team (under-19) and youngest being the Zagići II Team (under-8). They have produced many of the Croatia national team stars including Luka Modrić, Vedran Ćorluka, Eduardo, Robert Prosinečki and Zvonimir Boban.[1]

History

The first junior team was formed in 1945 and the coach was the famous Građanski Zagreb goalkeeper Maks Mihelčić. Soon after that, Márton Bukovi joined the youth squad as an expert coach, but left after two years following his disappointment with the disbanding of Građanski. The junior team won a treble in 1950 (Zagreb's, Croatian and Yugoslav championships) under the leadership of Mirko Kokotović.

In 1952 Branko Horvatek started training one of the best junior generations the club ever had. Some of the famous players that played in that generation were Dražan Jerković, Mladen Košćak, Marijan Kolonić and Mladen Klobučar. The decision to form the youth academy Hitrec-Kacian was brought on 27 December 1967 with Horvatek being elected as its first director.[2] Apart from him, many other famous Croatian coaches worked with the generation that was very successful in the period of 1972-1974 in Yugoslav junior competitions. Some of them include: Zorislav Srebrić, Marko Jurić, Pero Dujmović, Vladimir Čonč, Ivan Đalma Marković, Mirko Belić, Rudolf Cvek and Zdenko Kobešćak.[2]

Honours

Domestics

Croatian football league system
Yugoslav football league system

Internationals

Modern times

After the formation of HNL in 1991. Dinamo youth teams play important role with 6 U19 and 9 U17 titles (as of 2010).[3] Since the mid-2000s Dinamo's youth academy is considered one of the best in Europe with their teams winning notable international tournaments.[4] Some of the former Dinamo youth players include Croatian internationals Vedran Ćorluka, Luka Modrić, Eduardo da Silva, Niko Kranjčar, Dejan Lovren, Milan Badelj, Ivan Kelava, Mateo Kovačić and Šime Vrsaljko.

Notable academy graduates

UEFA Youth League record

SeasonStageRoundOpponentHomeAwayAgg.
Champions League Path Arsenal0–22–11st out of 4
Bayern Munich0–12–1
Olympiacos2–23–1
Knockout stage Anderlecht2–0
2016–17Champions League Path Juventus2–11–04th out of 4
Lyon1–20–2
Sevilla2–41–1
2018–19 Viitorul Constanța2–01–03–0
Astana3–11–14–2
Knockout stage
Liverpool1–1 (4–3 p)
Chelsea
2019–20Champions League Path Atalanta1–00–2
Manchester City1–02–2
Shakhtar Donetsk1–01–1
Knockout stage Dynamo Kyiv0–0 (4–3 p)
Bayern Munich2–2 (6–5 p)
Benfica1–3
2020–21Knockout stage RosenborgTournament cancelled
2022–23Champions League Path Chelsea4–20–4
Milan1–20–3
Red Bull Salzburg2–10–2
2023–24 İstanbul Başakşehir2–13–15–2
Basel0–00–20–2

Players

GNK Dinamo Zagreb II

[5]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Natjecanja po uzrastima. hr. Dinamo Zagreb. 2010-07-24.
  2. Web site: Football school info. Dinamo Zagreb. 2010-07-24.
  3. Web site: prvaci. HNL. hr. 3 February 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20130811115450/http://prva-hnl.hr/blog/prva-hnl-juniorikadeti/pobjednici-u-obje-kategorije-do-sada-2/. 11 August 2013. dead.
  4. Web site: news. Dinamo Zagreb. hr. 3 February 2011.
  5. Web site: Druga Momčad Dinamo Zagreb. hr. 20 August 2022. GNK Dinamo.