Nenad Bjelica
Bjelica in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth (1971-08-20) 20 August 1971 (age 52)
Place of birth Osijek, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Union Berlin (manager)
Youth career
1989–1990 Metalac Olt
1990–1991 Osijek
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1993 Osijek 28 (7)
1993–1996 Albacete 79 (19)
1996–1998 Real Betis 30 (2)
1998–1999 Las Palmas 24 (3)
1999–2001 Osijek 30 (16)
2001–2004 1. FC Kaiserslautern 65 (5)
2002–2003 1. FC Kaiserslautern II 6 (0)
2004–2006 Admira Wacker 52 (12)
2006–2008 Kärnten 58 (17)
Total 372 (81)
International career
1993 Croatia U21 1 (0)
2001 Croatia B 1 (0)
2001–2004 Croatia 9 (0)
Managerial career
2007–2008 Kärnten (caretaker)
2008–2009 Kärnten
2009–2010 Lustenau 07
2010–2013 WAC St. Andrä
2013–2014 Austria Wien
2014–2015 Spezia
2016–2018 Lech Poznań
2018–2020 Dinamo Zagreb
2020–2022 Osijek
2023 Trabzonspor
2023– Union Berlin
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nenad Bjelica (Croatian pronunciation: [něnaːd bjělitsa]; born 20 August 1971) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. He works as the manager of Bundesliga club Union Berlin.

Club career

Born in Osijek, Bjelica started playing for a local club, Metalac Olt, in the 1989–90 season. He quickly moved to Osijek and spent almost four seasons there, before moving abroad to Spain.

Bjelica played for Albacete for four years, during which the team reached the Copa del Rey semi-final in the 1994–95 season. In 1996 he moved to Real Betis and was in the team that was the runner-up in the 1996–97 campaign. The next season, Bjelica spent at Las Palmas, but returned to Real Betis a year later. Due to injuries, he played very few games in this period, and would again spend a season at Las Palmas until the end of 1999.

Bjelica then returned home to Osijek for two seasons and recovered his form, playing with the team in three stages of the UEFA Cup. He then moved to 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 2000, where he spent four seasons until semi-retiring top-tier football in 2004. During the 2004–05 season, Bjelica played for VfB Admira Wacker Mödling. After that, he played for the Austrian club Kärnten in the Second League before retiring on 30 June 2008.

International career

Bjelica made his debut for Croatia in a February 2001 friendly match against Austria and earned a total of nine caps.[1] His final international was a June 2004 European Championship match against France in Portugal.[2] He retired from the team in that year, at the same time the manager Otto Barić was replaced.

Managerial career

Bjelica with Austria Wien in October 2013

Bjelica began his coaching career on 15 September 2007 at Kärnten,[3] as player-caretaker manager. On 1 July 2008, he signed a full managing contract, just a day after ending his playing career.

Bjelica was the head coach of Lustenau 07 from March to December 2009,[4] as well as of WAC St. Andrä from May 2010 to June 2013.[4] Bjelica moved to Austria Wien on 17 June 2013 as their new head coach,[5] and qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage, defeating the Croatian champion Dinamo Zagreb in the last round of qualification, with the club.[6] Bjelica was sacked on 16 February 2014.[7] As Austria Wien failed to qualify for the UEFA Europa League at the end of the season, his contract expired.

In June 2014, he was hired by Serie B side Spezia.[8] On 30 August 2016, he was appointed head coach at Polish side Lech Poznań.[9] On 10 May 2018, he was released from his contract at Lech.[10]

On 15 May 2018, Bjelica signed a two-year contract with the Croatian champion Dinamo Zagreb, being appointed as their head coach.[11] Four days later, he celebrated winning the league title, while on 23 May he won the Croatian Cup. On 8 November, Dinamo managed to qualify for the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League knockout phase, defeating Spartak Trnava.[12] On 18 September 2019, Bjelica led Dinamo in the club's inaugural match in the UEFA Champions League after two seasons, with a 4–0 home win against Atalanta.[13] On 16 April 2020, following the sacking of the entire coaching staff by the club, it was announced that Dinamo terminated the contract with Bjelica.[14]

In September 2020, after failing to win three opening games of their season, Croatian club Osijek sacked their head coach Ivica Kulešević and appointed Bjelica instead.[15]

He was named the new head coach of Union Berlin on 26 November 2023.[16]

Personal life

Bjelica is of paternal Montenegrin and maternal Croatian descent.[17][18] In 1997, he married his wife Senka. The couple have two sons: Luka and Luan.[19]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 4 February 2024
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref.
P W D L Win %
Kärnten 15 September 2007[3] 29 January 2009[3] 41 17 11 13 041.46 [20][21]
Lustenau 07 19 March 2009[22] 11 December 2009[22] 31 12 8 11 038.71 [23][24]
WAC St. Andrä 10 May 2010[25] 17 June 2013[5] 124 56 29 39 045.16 [26][27][28][29]
Austria Wien 17 June 2013[5] 16 February 2014[7] 35 12 10 13 034.29 [30]
Spezia 22 June 2014[8] 21 November 2015 61 25 18 18 040.98
Lech Poznań 30 August 2016[9] 10 May 2018[10] 78 41 21 16 052.56 [31][32]
Dinamo Zagreb 15 May 2018 16 April 2020 99 71 15 13 071.72
Osijek 5 September 2020 29 August 2022 87 49 23 15 056.32
Trabzonspor 18 April 2023 12 October 2023 16 8 0 8 050.00
Union Berlin 26 November 2023 present 9 3 2 4 033.33
Total 581 294 137 150 050.60 —

Honours

Manager

WAC St. Andrä

Dinamo Zagreb

Individual

References

  1. ^ Mamrud, Roberto (16 July 2009). "Croatia – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  2. ^ "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "FC Kärnten » Trainerhistorie". Worldfootball. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Nenad Bjelica". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "Bjelica neuer Austria-Coach". Österreich (in German). 17 June 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  6. ^ "Kienast the hero as Austria Wien pip Dinamo". UEFA.com. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Austria trennt sich von Bjelica". kicker (in German). 16 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Nenad Bjelica wechselt nach Italien" (in German). ligaportal.at. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Bjelica nowym trenerem Lecha" (in Polish). Lech Poznań. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  10. ^ a b "Bjelica odchodzi z Lecha" (in Polish). Lech Poznań. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Dinamo potvrdio: Nenad Bjelica novi trener Modrih!". Gol.hr (in Croatian). 15 May 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  12. ^ "USPJELI SU KADA NITKO NIJE VJEROVAO U NJIH: Kako je Bjelica stvorio pobjednički Dinamo i začepio usta svim kritičarima". Net.hr (in Croatian). 8 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Dinamo na krilima Oršića srušio Atalantu". sport.hrt.hr (in Croatian). 18 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  14. ^ "Priopćenje GNK Dinamo". gnkdinamo.hr. GNK Dinamo Zagreb. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  15. ^ "Nenad Bjelica novi trener Osijeka!". NK Osijek. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  16. ^ "Nenad Bjelica ist neuer Cheftrainer des 1. FC Union Berlin" [Nenad Bjelica is the new head coach of 1. FC Union Berlin] (in German). 1. FC Union Berlin. 26 November 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  17. ^ Nikolić, Nikola (6 October 2013). "Bjelica: Sramota me je što nisam bio u Crnoj Gori". Vijesti.me (in Montenegrin). Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  18. ^ "Torcida Bjelici: "Bjelko Srbine, čakija ti ne gine", on dodao: "Da znate, pola sam Hrvat, a pola Crnogorac"". Gol.hr (in Croatian). 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  19. ^ Belošević, Nikolina (8 March 2019). "Ljubav koja traje skoro četvrt stoljeća: Evo tko je jedina žena u životu Nenada Bjelice". tportal.hr (in Croatian). Tportal. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  20. ^ "FC Kärnten » Dates & results 2007/2008". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  21. ^ "FC Kärnten » Dates & results 2008/2009". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  22. ^ a b "FC Lustenau » Trainerhistorie". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  23. ^ "FC Lustenau » Dates & results 2008/2009". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  24. ^ "FC Lustenau » Dates & results 2009/2010". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  25. ^ "Wolfsberger AC » Trainerhistorie". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  26. ^ "Wolfsberger AC » Dates & results 2009/2010". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  27. ^ "Wolfsberger AC » Dates & results 2010/2011". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  28. ^ "Wolfsberger AC » Dates & results 2011/2012". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  29. ^ "Wolfsberger AC" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  30. ^ "Austria Wien" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  31. ^ "Sezon 2016/17". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  32. ^ "Sezon 2017/18". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 31 July 2017.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nenad Bjelica.
1. FC Union Berlin – current squad
2023–24 Bundesliga managers
Croatian Footballer of the Year
Croatia squad – UEFA Euro 2004
Nenad Bjelica managerial positions
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