Zlatko Dalić

Zlatko Dalić
Dalić with Croatia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Date of birth (1966-10-26) 26 October 1966
Place of birth Livno, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Croatia (manager)
Youth career
NK Troglav 1918 Livno
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1986 Hajduk Split 4 (0)
1986–1987 Dinamo Vinkovci
1987–1988 Hajduk Split 5 (0)
1988–1989 Budućnost Titograd 7 (0)
1989–1991 Velež 36 (1)
1992–1996 Varteks 108 (13)
1996–1998 Hajduk Split 28 (1)
1998 → Varteks (loan) 11 (1)
1998–2000 Varteks 36 (3)
Total 235 (19)
Teams managed
2005–2007 Varteks
2007–2008 Rijeka
2008–2009 Dinamo Tirana
2009–2010 Slaven Belupo
2010–2012 Al-Faisaly
2012–2013 Al-Hilal B
2013 Al-Hilal
2014–2017 Al-Ain
2017– Croatia
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Zlatko Dalić (Croatian pronunciation: [zlâtko dǎːlitɕ];[1][2] born 26 October 1966) is a Croatian football manager and former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He currently manages the Croatia national team. He led the national team to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final wherein they reached their highest-ever Elo ranking (1,973 points) and highest-ever positioning in the history of Croatia, securing second place to France.

Coaching career

Varteks

After ending his playing career in 2000 he became assistant coach at Varteks. From May 2002 to May 2005 Dalić worked as club's sports director, and during the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons he simultaneously acted as assistant coach for Miroslav Blažević.

In May 2005 he was appointed manager of Varteks and in his first season at the helm he won third place in the Croatian First League and reached the final of the Croatian Football Cup. In the first leg of the final, which was played in Rijeka, Varteks lost 0–4 to HNK Rijeka. In the second leg in Varaždin, Dalić nearly created a sensation leading the team to a 5–1 win, but they were one goal short from lifting the silverware.[3]

Rijeka

In the summer of 2007, after his contract with Varteks ended, he became manager of HNK Rijeka, and finished fourth at the end of the 2007–08 season.

Dinamo Tirana

In the 2008–09 season Dalić managed Albanian champions Dinamo Tirana, with whom he won the Albanian Supercup.[4] He resigned in February 2009 after losing two derbies in a row versus fellow capital teams Tirana and Partizani.[5]

Slaven Belupo

After a short stint in Albania he returned to Croatia in 2009 and took over his third Croatian football club, NK Slaven Belupo.[6]

Al-Faisaly

In the 2010–11 season he became coach of Al-Faisaly (Harmah), a new team in the Saudi Professional League. At the end of the 2010–11 season under Dalić the club enjoyed the greatest success in its history, qualifying for the King's Cup in Saudi Professional League.[7] He was named Coach of the Year in the Saudi Professional League for the 2010–11 season by Al Riyadh newspapers.[8] In the selection, he beat other more famous coaches working in Saudi Arabia at the time, such as Gabriel Calderón, Walter Zenga and Eric Gerets.

Al-Hilal

On 3 May 2012 Dalić signed a contract with Al-Hilal to manage Al-Hilal B. On 30 January Al-Hilal agreed with Dalić to coach the first club following the sacking of Antoine Kombouaré. On 9 February 2013 he made his managerial debut with Al-Hilal against his old club Al-Faisaly in the semi-final of the 2012–13 Saudi Crown Prince Cup. Dalić eventually led Al-Hilal to the cup title - the club's sixth consecutive win - which was also Dalić's second major title in his coaching career. As manager of Al-Hilal, he was ranked 13th best coach in the world, in March 2013 for that month.[9] During the 2013–14 season, he was the main candidate for the position of sports director at Croatian powerhouse HNK Hajduk Split, but turned down the offer from one of the biggest club in Croatian football.[10]

Al-Ain

Dalić managing Al-Ain in AFC Champions League match against Esteghlal.

On 8 March 2014, Dalić was appointed as head coach of Al Ain FC in the United Arab Emirates after the club had sacked Quique Flores.[11] Later on, he led Al Ain to finish top of their group in the AFC Champions League 2014, which was the first time since 2006 that the club progressed through the group stage. On 30 April 2014, Al Ain announced that Dalić would be their head coach for the next two seasons.[12] At the Round of 16 stage of the AFC Champions League 2014, Al-Ain played versus Emirati side Al Jazira Club led by Walter Zenga, and won both games with 4–2 on aggregate to reach the quarter-finals of the competition.

On 18 May 2014, Al-Ain won the final game of UAE President's Cup against league champions Al Ahli 1–0, which was played at the Zayed Sports City Stadium. This was Dalić's second trophy in two years in the Middle East and the third major honour in his coaching career. This game marked the end of the season, and it was Al-Ain's 12th match in a row without defeat since Dalić's arrival.

At the start of the second season in charge of Al-Ain, Dalić's team won both games in the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League 2014 with results 2–0 and 3–1 against Al Ittihad FC. In the semi-finals Al-Ain lost the first match versus Dalić's former club Al-Hilal at the King Fahd International Stadium with a 0–3 result. In the second leg of the semi-finals the result was 2–1, and Al-Ain was knocked out.

At the end of the year Dalić won the title of Best Coach of 2014 by the analyist and pundits of all major local Emirati newspapers. At the end of the first round of the UAE Pro-League, Al–Ain took the first position with one game in hand.[13]

On 6 May 2015 Al–Ain ended the 2015 AFC Champions League group phase topping Group B with 12 points, four points more than runners-up Naft Tehran F.C. without losing a single game. This was Dalić's third consecutive year in the AFC Champions League, and in all three seasons his team proceeded to the play-off phase of the competition.

Al-Ain won their 12th UAE Pro-League title in the 2014–15 UAE Pro-League, which they secured three rounds before the end of the season. At the official end of the league, on 11 May they had 11 points more than runners-up Al Jazira Club and Al Shabab (Dubai). They lost only two games in the whole season, which meant they had been unbeaten 23 league matches in a row with an impressive goal difference of +43. In this season they achieved several records of the season - they conceded fewest goals, they had the longest unbeaten run counting 15 matches, the longest winning run counting 8 matches, and the biggest home win versus Ajman Club, 7-1.

On 12 July 2015 Dalić was crowned with the "Coach of the Year" title during the UAE Pro-League Award ceremony for the 2014–15 UAE Pro-League season. Award ceremony was held at the St. Regis Abu Dhabi Corniche.

As a part of the pre-season preparation, Al-Ain on 8 August 2015 played a match versus Wydad Casablanca in a sold-out Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca, Morocco. Match was part of the UAE-Morocco Supercup (also in Arabic media it was named Friendship Cup). Al-Ain won the game after a penalty shoot-out, after regular time ended with a score of 3-3. Winners of the trophy received US$700,000 while runner-up received US$300,000.

First match of the new 2015–16 season was played on 15 August at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. It was a UAE Supercup match between last year's league champions,Al-Ain, and winners of the UAE President Cup, Al Nassr from Dubai. Al-Ain won the match with the result 4–2. This was Dalić's fourth trophy in Al-Ain in two years as their coach.

With the 3–0 win against Al-Ahli Dubai F.C. in the 10th round of the UAE Pro-League on 5 December, Dalić became the best coach in league's history since it turned professional.[14] After 12 rounds in the 2015–16 season, Dalić's Al-Ain won 47 out of 70 matches under his leadership, drawing 15 and losing 8, which meant that he was unbeated in 88% of the matches.

In the Football Database ranking,[15] Al Ain FC was ranked 335th club in the world with 1468 points in March 2014, but then, since Dalić arrived, the club continuously climbed the rankings and in December 2015 reached 122nd place in the world with 1575 points. In less than two years, club climbed more than 200 places on the rankings and reached 5th best position in Asia according to the rankings.

Croatia

Zlatko Dalić during a Croatia training session; ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

On 7 October 2017, following the sacking of Ante Čačić due to a series of poor results, the Croatian Football Federation named Dalić as the head coach of the Croatia national football team.[16] Upon arriving, Dalić announced that he would only remain head coach if Croatia qualifies for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and that the HNS would be deciding his future if Croatia miss out on qualifying for the finals.[17]

2018 FIFA World Cup

On 9 October, Dalić led Croatia to a 2–0 win over Ukraine in 2018 World Cup qualifying, which also secured second place in their group, and a place in the play-off round.[18] On 19 October, Dalić named Ivica Olić, former Croatia international player, as his assistant manager. Croatia drew Greece in the play-off round, and on 9 November, Dalić led the team to a 4–1 first-leg triumph over Greece, all but securing a place in the 2018 World Cup.[19] In the return leg, on 12 November, Croatia drew with Greece 0–0, and won 4–1 on aggregate, thus securing a place in the World Cup finals.[20] Following this, Dalić officially signed a contract with the Croatian Football Federation, running until 30 July 2020, and would reportedly earn around €500k per year.[21]

Croatia drew a challenging group, with the likes of Nigeria, Argentina and Iceland.[22][23] On 16 June 2018, Croatia won their opening match of the 2018 World Cup, beating Nigeria by a scoreline of 2–0.[24] However, during the game, Nikola Kalinić had refused to come on as a late substitute, citing a back injury as his excuse, although he had used this excuse earlier during a friendly match against Brazil, as well as the previous training session.[25] This prompted Dalić to send him home on just the fifth day of the tournament.[26] Dalić stated that he needed "prepared players, while Kalinić didn't show up at three occasions."[27] Dalić received praise for his treatment of Kalinić, with some stating that he had "cemented his position" as head coach with this decision.[28] On 21 June, Croatia overwhelmed football heavyweights Argentina, beating them by a scoreline of 3–0, with Ante Rebić, Luka Modrić and Ivan Rakitić scoring the goals.[29][30] The victory led Croatia to a spot in the knockout stage for the first time since the 1998 FIFA World Cup, in which they finished third place.[31] On 26 June, Croatia topped their group with maximum points following a 2–1 win over Iceland, and drew Denmark in the round of sixteen, advancing after a penalty shootout.[32][33][34] Croatia again won through a penalty shootout against hosts Russia in the quarter-finals, setting up a semi-final tie against England.[35][36] On 11 July, Croatia beat England 2–1, advancing to the final, where they lost 4–2 to France on 15 July 2018.[37][38]

Personal life

Dalić was born in Livno, SFR Yugoslavia, to Ivan and Kata Dalić, but he lives and works in Croatia, and has Croatian citizenship. In 1992, he married Davorka Propadalo, with whom he has two sons, Toni and Bruno.[39][40] Dalić is a practising Roman Catholic.[41][42]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 12 October 2018
Team From To Record
GWDLWin %GFGA+/-
Varteks May 2005 May 2007 80 34 12 34 042.50134135-1
Rijeka Jun 2007 Jun 2008 37 15 12 10 040.545747+10
Al-Hilal February 2013 May 2013 18 11 3 4 061.113019+11
Al-Ain March 2014 January 2017 107 67 25 15 062.6221599+116
Croatia 7 October 2017 Present 17 8 5 4 047.062422+2
Total 259 135 57 67 052.12460322+138

Honours

As manager

Varteks

Dinamo Tirana

  • Albanian Supercup: 2008

Al-Hilal

Al-Ain

Croatia

References

  1. ↑ "zlȃto". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Croatian). Retrieved 17 March 2018. Zlȁtko
  2. ↑ "dȃlj". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Croatian). Retrieved 17 March 2018. Dálić
  3. ↑ "NK Varteks 5 - 1 HNK Rijeka [Finale Kupa - 3.05.2006". YouTube. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Dinamo fiton Superkupen e Shqiperise" [Dinamo wins Albanian Supercup] (in Albanian). Arkiva Shqiptare e Lajmeve. 18 August 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  5. ↑ "Dinamo, Dalic falenderon lojtaret" [Dinamo, Dalić thank the players] (in Albanian). Top-Channel.tv. 5 February 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  6. ↑ Dalić preuzeo Slaven Belupo (in Croatian)
  7. ↑ "Zlatko Dalić u pustinji, nogomet na "pijesku" - Nogomet - Sport". Dalje.com. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  8. ↑ جريدة الرياض (20 September 2011). "الهلال يكتسح وزلاتكو الفيصلي يتفوق على العالميين - جريدة الرياض". Alriyadh.com. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "Soccer Rankings | Football Coach World Ranking". Coachworldranking.com. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "Novo ime na listi nasljednika Anderssona: Zlatko Dalić kandidat za sportskog direktora' - Sportske novosti". Sportske.jutarnji.hr. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "Al Ain confirm Quique departure, Dalic takes the reins - Arabian Gulf League". Sport360.com. 8 March 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "Al Ain FC on Twitter: " #alainfcae رسمياً المدرب زلاتكو مدرباً للعين لمدة موسمين"". Twitter.com. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "Al Ain FC". Alainfc.ae. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  14. ↑ "Footynions on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "Al-Ain, Ranking and Statistics - FootballDatabase". footballdatabase.com. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  16. ↑ "Zlatko Dalić novi je izbornik reprezentacije Hrvatske!". Gol.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  17. ↑ Komunikacije, Neomedia. "Dalić: 'Ne treba mi ugovor, ostajem samo ako odemo u Rusiju' / Novi list". www.novilist.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  18. ↑ UEFA.com. "European Qualifiers - Ukraine-Croatia". UEFA.com. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  19. ↑ UEFA.com. "European Qualifiers - Croatia-Greece". UEFA.com. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  20. ↑ UEFA.com. "European Qualifiers - Greece-Croatia". UEFA.com. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  21. ↑ "Službeno je! Dalić dobio ugovor do 2020., zaradit će pravo bogatstvo". Germanijak. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  22. ↑ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  23. ↑ Komunikacije, Neomedia. "ŽDRIJEB ZA SP 2018: Dobili smo možda i najtežu skupinu: Hrvatska, Argentina, Island i Nigerija / Novi list". www.novilist.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  24. ↑ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia - Matches - Croatia - Nigeria - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  25. ↑ "Confirmed: Kalinic sent home | Football Italia". www.football-italia.net. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  26. ↑ "Dalić potjerao Nikolu Kalinića: Spremi stvari i napusti kamp!" (in Croatian). Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  27. ↑ "Dalić: Trebam spremne igrače, a Kalinić u tri navrata nije bio" (in Croatian). Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  28. ↑ "Protjerivanjem Nikole Kalinića izbornik je učvrstio poziciju..." (in Croatian). Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  29. ↑ "World Cup 2018: Argentina 0-3 Croatia". BBC Sport. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  30. ↑ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia - Matches - Argentina - Croatia - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  31. ↑ FIFA.com. "1998 FIFA World Cup France - Matches - Netherlands-Croatia - FIFA.com". FIFA.com. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  32. ↑ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Matches - Iceland - Croatia - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  33. ↑ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Matches - Croatia - Denmark - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  34. ↑ "World Cup 2018: Iceland out after defeat by group winners Croatia". BBC Sport. 2018-06-26. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  35. ↑ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Matches - Russia - Croatia - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  36. ↑ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Matches - Croatia - England - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  37. ↑ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Matches - Croatia - England - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  38. ↑ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Matches - France - Croatia - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  39. ↑ "Detalji iz privatnog života Zlatka Dalića: Otkrivamo što je radio u ratu, što je po struci i gdje je upoznao suprugu". Dnevnik.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2018-07-14.
  40. ↑ "Zlatko Dalić: Supruga je žrtva moje karijere". Retrieved 2018-07-14.
  41. ↑ thecatholicuniverse.com
  42. ↑ mypope.com.ph
  43. ↑ McNulty, Phil (15 July 2018). "France 4–2 Croatia". BBC. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
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