Igor Jovićević Explained

Igor Jovićević
Full Name:Igor Jovićević
Birth Date:30 November 1973
Birth Place:Zagreb, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Position:Forward
Youthyears1:1988–1991
Youthclubs1:Dinamo Zagreb
Years1:1991–1995
Clubs1:Real Madrid Castilla
Caps1:79
Goals1:15
Years2:1996–1999
Clubs2:NK Zagreb
Caps2:10
Goals2:0
Years3:1999
Clubs3:Yokohama F. Marinos
Caps3:1
Goals3:0
Years4:2000
Clubs4:Guarani
Caps4:4
Goals4:0
Years5:2000–2001
Clubs5:NK Zagreb
Caps5:0
Goals5:0
Years6:2001–2002
Clubs6:Metz
Caps6:0
Goals6:0
Years7:2002
Clubs7:Shenyang Dongjin
Caps7:24
Goals7:2
Years8:2003
Clubs8:Karpaty Lviv
Caps8:26
Goals8:2
Years9:2003
Clubs9:Karpaty-2 Lviv
Caps9:1
Goals9:0
Years10:2004
Clubs10:Zhuhai
Totalcaps:145
Totalgoals:19
Nationalyears1:1994–1995
Nationalteam1:Croatia U21
Nationalcaps1:8
Nationalgoals1:0
Manageryears1:2014–2015
Managerclubs1:Karpaty Lviv (caretaker)
Manageryears2:2015–2016
Managerclubs2:Karpaty Lviv
Manageryears3:2016–2017
Managerclubs3:Celje
Manageryears4:2017–2020
Managerclubs4:Dinamo Zagreb II
Manageryears5:2018–2020
Managerclubs5:Dinamo Zagreb U19
Manageryears6:2020
Managerclubs6:Dinamo Zagreb
Manageryears7:2020–2022
Managerclubs7:Dnipro-1
Manageryears8:2022–2023
Managerclubs8:Shakhtar Donetsk
Manageryears9:2023–2024
Managerclubs9:Al-Raed

Igor Jovićević (pronounced as /hr/; born 30 November 1973) is a Croatian football manager and former professional footballer.

Playing career

After being labeled as the new Zvonimir Boban while playing in the youth team of the most successful Croatian club, Dinamo Zagreb, with only 17 years he signed, in summer of 1991, a contract with Real Madrid. His transfer cost was one million dollars, however, the contract was based on the fact that the Merengues, in case of lining him in the first team, would have to pay a total of five million, being that the probable cause of having him playing in the B squad. There, he was trained by Rafael Benítez, among others, and had an opportunity of playing along some youngsters, like Raúl and Guti.

On 11 June 1995, he gets injured while playing against Ukraine with the Croatia national under-21 team. After having a one-year pause due to injury, he returned to Croatia to play with another club from the Croatian capital, NK Zagreb. After that, he played with J. League Division 1 club Yokohama F. Marinos, Brazilian club Guarani Futebol Clube and a short spell in France with FC Metz before moving to China to play with Shenyang Dongjin, a discrete passage in Ukraine with Karpaty Lviv before finishing his career in China, again, with a new knee ligaments injury, aged 32. After retiring, he returned to Spain, this time to Marbella, where he owns a bar.[1]

Managerial career

Karpaty Lviv

In 2010, Jovićević was named the transfer director of Karpaty Lviv. In the 2012–13 season, he managed the U21 squad, and in the 2013–14 season, he led the U19 squad. Following the dismissal of Oleksandr Sevidov in the summer of 2014, he was appointed, initially as caretaker manager, of the senior squad of the club, while in 2015, he was named the head coach.

Celje

On 10 October 2016, Jovićević took over Slovenian PrvaLiga club Celje.[2] On 19 June 2017, he terminated the contract.

Dinamo Zagreb

On 20 July 2017, Jovićević took over Dinamo Zagreb II as the head coach, while on 1 July 2018, he was named the head coach of Dinamo Zagreb U19.[3] Managing the U19 squad, he won two Croatian league championships, the FIFA Youth Cup, and led the team in the final of the Premier League International Cup, which they lost to Bayern Munich. He also led the team to the quarter-finals in the UEFA Youth League twice.

On 22 April 2020, following the dismissal of Nenad Bjelica, Jovićević was announced as the new head coach of Dinamo Zagreb.[4] He debuted as Dinamo manager in the 3–1 away win against Varaždin.[5] On 6 July 2020, following the 0–2 away defeat against Rijeka, Jovićević and Dinamo came to a mutual agreement on the early termination of his contract.[6]

Dnipro-1

On 22 September 2020, following the dismissal of Dmytro Mykhailenko, Jovićević was announced as the new head coach of Dnipro-1.[7] He debuted as manager in the 4-1 defeat away against FC Oleksandriya.[8]

Shakhtar Donetsk

On 14 July 2022, Jovićević was announced as the new head coach of Shakhtar Donetsk.[9]

Al-Raed

On 9 July 2023, Jovićević was appointed as the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Raed.[10]

Personal life

His father, Čedomir "Čedo" Jovićević (1952–2020) born in Žabljak, Montenegro, was the famous defender of Dinamo Zagreb, playing ten years with the most successful Croatian club. His mother, Sanja, is from Zagreb.[11] [12]

Igor is married and has two sons: Filip and Marcos, both players of the Dinamo Zagreb Academy.

Career statistics

[13]

Club performanceLeagueCupLeague CupTotal
SeasonClubLeagueApps GoalsApps GoalsApps GoalsApps Goals
JapanLeagueEmperor's CupJ.League CupTotal
1999Yokohama F. MarinosJ1 League10000010
Total10000010

Managerial statistics

Managerial record by team and tenure
TeamFromToRecord
Karpaty Lviv18 June 201431 December 2015
NK Celje10 October 201619 June 2017
Dinamo Zagreb II20 July 201722 April 2020
Dinamo Zagreb U191 July 201822 April 2020
22 April 20206 July 2020
22 September 202014 July 2022
Shakhtar Donetsk14 July 202230 June 2023
Al Raed1 July 20231 June 2024
Total

Honours

Manager

Shakhtar Donetsk

2022–23

Dinamo Zagreb U19

2017–18, 2018–19

2018

2019

Individual

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303204848/http://www.jutarnji.hr/tri-tamne-price/241092/ Interview and short career story
  2. News: Jovičević preuzeo Celje: Ne poznajem nogomet u Sloveniji . www.goal.com . 10 October 2016 . 22 April 2020.
  3. News: Igor Jovičević novi trener Dinama II . gnkdinamo.hr . 20 July 2017 . 13 April 2020.
  4. News: Igor Jovićević - novi trener GNK Dinamo . gnkdinamo.hr . 22 April 2020 . 22 April 2020.
  5. News: FOTO Varaždin dobro odigrao drugo poluvrijeme ali Dinamo odnosi bodove . evarazdin.hr . Damir Ivančić . 6 June 2020 . 6 June 2020 . hr.
  6. News: Dinamo i Igor Jovićević sporazumno raskinuli ugovor . gnkdinamo.hr . 6 July 2020 . 6 July 2020 . hr.
  7. Web site: 22 September 2020 . ІГОР ЙОВІЧЕВІЧ ОЧОЛИВ "ДНІПРО-1" . 14 July 2022 . SC Dnipro-1 . Ukrainian.
  8. Web site: 26 September 2020 . ВАЖКИЙ ДЕБЮТ . 14 July 2022 . SC Dnipro-1 . Ukrainian.
  9. Web site: 14 July 2022 . Igor Jovicevic is Shakhtar's new head coach . 14 July 2022 . Shakhtar Donetsk.
  10. Web site: إيغور جوفيتشفتش مدرباً للرائد السعودي.
  11. News: Tempo (Serbia magazine) . Tempo magazine #1338, pgs. 2-3 . 16 October 1991 . sh.
  12. News: TUŽNA VELIKA SUBOTA ZA DINAMOVU OBITELJ Preminuo je legendarni bivši branič 'Modrih', čovjek koji je za zagrebački klub odigrao 390 utakmica . sportske.jutarnji.hr . 11 April 2020 . 13 April 2020.
  13. Web site: 横浜F・マリノス外国人選手名鑑. www1.odn.ne.jp. 22 October 2018.