Mirza Varešanović (born 31 May 1972) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player.
Personal information | |||
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Date of birth | (1972-05-31) 31 May 1972 (age 50) | ||
Place of birth | Sarajevo, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
Position(s) | Defender | ||
Youth career | |||
0000–1991 | Sarajevo | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1991–1995 | Sarajevo | 14 | (1) |
1995–1996 | Bordeaux | 13 | (0) |
1996–1998 | Olympiacos | 67 | (2) |
1998–2000 | Bursaspor | 54 | (2) |
2000–2001 | Austria Wien | 19 | (0) |
2001–2002 | Sarajevo | 16 | (1) |
2002–2003 | Bursaspor | 22 | (1) |
2003–2004 | Sarajevo | 11 | (0) |
Total | 216 | (7) | |
National team | |||
1996–2001 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 24 | (0) |
Teams managed | |||
2010–2011 | Sarajevo | ||
2011–2012 | Velež Mostar | ||
2014–2015 | Olimpik | ||
2017 | Olimpik | ||
2018 | Bosnia and Herzegovina U18 | ||
2019 | Tuzla City | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
During his playing career, which spanned nearly 15 years, he competed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Greece, Turkey and Austria, playing in France for Bordeaux and in Greece for Olympiacos among others. Varešanović also played for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
In 2010, he started working as a manager. During his managerial career, Varešanović managed Sarajevo, Velež Mostar, Olimpik, the Bosnia and Herzegovina U18 national team and Tuzla City.
Varešanović started his career with hometown club Sarajevo, breaking into the first team in 1991, but getting only limited playing time. With the start of the Bosnian War, competitive football in the country halted and Sarajevo became a touring club. During one of these tours, Varešanović was spotted by Bordeaux scouts, and he quickly joined the French team.[1]
A year later he made a move to Olympiacos, spending two seasons with the Greek outfit. With Olympiacos, he won the Superleague Greece in the seasons 1996–97 and 1997–98. He next moved to Turkish Süper Lig side Bursaspor, who he would go on to represent on two separate occasions.[2]
In 2002 while back at Sarajevo, Varešanović won the 2001–02 Bosnian Cup. He concluded his playing career with Sarajevo in 2004.
Varešanović made his debut for Bosnia and Herzegovina in an April 1996 friendly match against Albania and has earned a total of 24 caps, scoring no goals.[3] He played in the UEFA Euro 2000 and the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaigns. His final international was a July 2001 friendly against Iran.[4]
After concluding his playing career, Varešanović was named Sarajevo sporting director, and held the position for two years.[5] In 2010, he was named Sarajevo manager and led the team for one season and finished second in the 2010–11 Bosnian Premier League season.[6]
In the summer of 2011, he was approached by Velež Mostar, and went on to lead the Herzegovina outfit for also one season.[7]
On 5 May 2014, Varešanović accepted an offer from Olimpik.[8] In his second season, he won the Bosnian Cup trophy and made historic achievement with Olimpik by winning the first trophy for the youngest football club in the Bosnian Premier League.[9]
Varešanović left the club on 21 November 2015.[10]
Varešanović once again came back to Olimpik in June 2017, but again left the club the very same year in November.[11][12]
In 2018, Varešanović became the head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina U18 national team. He led the national team to 8th place at the 2018 Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, Spain.[13][14]
On 26 February 2019, Varešanović signed a half-a-year contract with Bosnian Premier League club Tuzla City.[15] His first win as Tuzla City's manager came on 9 March 2019, in 0–2 away win against Krupa.[16]
On 25 May 2019, after the end of the last game of the 2018–19 Bosnian Premier League season in which Tuzla City lost against Željezničar at home 0–3, Varešanović decided to leave Tuzla, stating "I've been here for about three months, we have achieved what we had planned, but I will not be the manager of the club next season. I'm just too tired for this time, and some other things have also happened which have added to the decision of my deparutre."[17] He officially left the club a day later on 26 May.
Varešanović's son Mak is also a professional footballer who played for Serie A club Udinese.[18][19][20] His younger son, Dal, currently plays in the Bosnian Premier League for Sarajevo.[21]
Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||
Sarajevo | 7 April 2010 | 20 June 2011 | 44 | 24 | 11 | 9 | 79 | 37 | +42 | 054.55 |
Velež Mostar | 6 July 2011 | 18 April 2012 | 29 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 31 | 28 | +3 | 034.48 |
Olimpik | 5 May 2014 | 21 November 2015 | 58 | 22 | 16 | 20 | 83 | 75 | +8 | 037.93 |
Olimpik | 8 June 2017 | 23 November 2017 | 18 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 26 | 11 | +15 | 061.11 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina U18 | 2018 | June 2018 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 000.00 |
Tuzla City | 26 February 2019 | 26 May 2019 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 17 | −3 | 030.77 |
Total | 158 | 67 | 43 | 48 | 236 | 176 | +60 | 042.41 |
Bordeaux
Olympiacos
Sarajevo
Olimpik
Managerial positions | |||||||||||||
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