Croatia coach Miroslav Blazevic, who led his country’s national team to third place in the world Cup of 1998, died on Wednesday, two days short of his 88th birthday, the Croatian Football Association (HNS) announced.
Legendary #Croatia head coach Miroslav Ćiro Blažević has died today in Zagreb🥉🇭🇷
May he rest in peace.#HNS would like to express the deepest condolences to his loved ones, on behalf of the entire Croatian football family, which lost the “coach of all coaches”💔🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/P9JKmLEwow
— HNS (@HNS_CFF) February 8, 2023
“The football family lost the ‘coach of all coaches’ today,” HNS tweeted.
The coach passed away after a long battle with cancer, diagnosed in 2011.
Born in Bosnia on February 10, 1935, Blazevic led Croatia to the semifinals of the World Cup in France, the first played by the young country, which had become independent just seven years earlier.
Defeated by the hosts by 2 to 1, the Croatians, led by top scorer Davor Suker, beat Holland by 2 to 1 in the dispute for third place, equaling Portugal (1966) with the best campaign of a debutant selection in World Cups.
After a playing career in the former Yugoslavia and Switzerland, Miroslav Blazevic became a coach and worked for clubs in France, Greece, China, Iran, Slovenia and Bosnia.
In addition to Croatia, he led the teams of Switzerland, Iran, Bosnia and China under-23.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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