Željko Kopić (born 10 September 1977) is a Croatian football manager and former player.
Personal information | |||
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Date of birth | (1977-09-10) 10 September 1977 (age 45) | ||
Place of birth | Osijek, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Botev Plovdiv (manager) | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
Čakovec | |||
2000-2001 | Marsonia | 17 | (2) |
Sydney United | |||
Hrvatski Dragovoljac | |||
Teams managed | |||
2009 | Zagorec | ||
2009–2010 | Segesta | ||
2011–2012 | Lučko | ||
2012 | Cibalia | ||
2014–2015 | NK Zagreb | ||
2015–2017 | Slaven Belupo | ||
2017–2018 | Hajduk Split | ||
2018–2019 | Pafos | ||
2021–2022 | Dinamo Zagreb | ||
2022– | Botev Plovdiv | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
In his playing days, Željko Kopić played for Croatian clubs NK Čakovec, NK Marsonia and NK Hrvatski Dragovoljac and Australian club Sydney United 58 FC.
In October 2009, Kopić was appointed as manager of Zagorec in the fourth tier of Croatian league system.[1]
After two months in charge, he was signed by Druga HNL team Segesta.[2] After winning only three points in first five matches, he was sacked in March 2010 leaving Segesta in relegation zone.[3]
In August 2011, he succeeded Dražen Biškup at the helm of Lučko in the first division.[4] Lučko finished 2011–12 Prva HNL season in 13th place and was relegated to the second division.
At the start of the following season, Kopić signed a two-year contract with Cibalia.[5] In November 2012, he resigned as manager after winning only one match in last seven rounds.[6]
In June 2014, he took over the helm of NK Zagreb after the club achieved promotion to 2014–15 Prva HNL.[7] After finishing the season in fifth place, he left the club in June 2015 and joined Slaven Belupo.[8]
On 13 November 2017 he was named as the new Hajduk Split manager.[9] On 5 September 2018 he left the club after poor results, six matches without win.[10]
On 19 October 2018, a month after he was sacked in Hajduk Split, he was named a new manager of Cypriot club Pafos.[11]
On 2 December 2021 after defeat of Dinamo Zagreb against HNK Rijeka in the quarterfinals of the Croatian Football Cup Damir Krznar has resigned and Kopić was appointed interim coach. On 22 December, Kopić was named the long-term coach and sporting director. However, he was sacked in April, a month before the end of the 2021–22 season, with Dinamo topping the table.
PFC Botev Plovdiv – current squad | |
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Current First Professional Football League managers | |
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Željko Kopić managerial positions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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