Krunoslav Jurčić

Krunoslav "Kruno" Jurčić (Croatian pronunciation: [krǔnoslaʋ jûːrtʃitɕ]; born 26 November 1969) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player.

Krunoslav Jurčić

Jurčić with Dinamo Zagreb in 2013
Personal information
Date of birth	(1969-11-26) 26 November 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth	Ljubuški, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1988–1991	Dinamo Zagreb	0	(0)
1991–1993	Inker Zaprešić	39	(9)
1993–1995	Istra	46	(14)
1995–1996	Beveren	20	(0)
1996–1999	Dinamo Zagreb	84	(17)
1999–2001	Torino	14	(0)
2001–2002	Sampdoria	3	(0)
2002–2004	Slaven Belupo	44	(2)
Total		250	(42)
International career
1997–2000	Croatia	21	(0)
1999	Croatia B	1	(0)
Managerial career
2005–2006	Pula 1856
2007–2008	Slaven Belupo
2009–2010	Dinamo Zagreb
2011	Lokomotiva
2011	Dinamo Zagreb
2012	Croatia (assistant)
2012–2013	Dinamo Zagreb
2015–2016	Maribor
2016	Adanaspor
2017	Saudi Arabia
2018	Al Nassr (Riyadh)
2018–2019	Baniyas
2019–2021	Al-Nasr (Dubai)
2024–	Pyramids FC
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Club

Jurčić started his professional career at Dinamo Zagreb in 1988, before moving to Inker Zaprešić in 1991 and Istra in 1993. He joined Belgian side Beveren in 1995, but returned to Dinamo Zagreb after one season following Beveren's relegation from the top flight. He subsequently spent three seasons with Dinamo Zagreb, also playing for them in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in 1998. He then went on to spend three seasons in Italy with Torino and Sampdoria, before returning to Croatia by signing with Slaven Belupo in 2002. He finished his career with Slaven in 2004.

International

Jurčić made his debut for Croatia in a June 1997 Kirin Cup match against hosts Japan, coming on as a 59th-minute substitute for Nenad Pralija, and earned a total of 21 caps, scoring no goals. He played three full matches at the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals, where Croatia finished in third place. His final international was a September 2000 World Cup qualification match away against Belgium.^[1]

Managerial career

Jurčić started his managerial career at Croatian First League side Pula. In his first season as head coach, Pula finished the 2005–06 season in sixth place, which was the highest ever top division placement for the club. In 2007, he was offered the head coaching position at Slaven Belupo. They finished the season in second place (best ever league position in club history) and qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup. He left the club in 2008 and went on to join the reigning Croatian champions and his former club, Dinamo Zagreb, on 5 March 2009.^[2] With Dinamo he won his first managerial titles by winning the 2008–09 and 2009–10 Prva HNL and Croatian Cup in 2009. On 19 May 2010 Krunoslav Jurčić resigned as the coach of Dinamo Zagreb.^[3]

He returned to Dinamo after Vahid Halilhodžić resigned in 2011 and remained manager until December of the same year, when he was fired after Zagreb's final group game of the UEFA Champions League against Lyon, having failed to pick up any points.^[4]

After appearing as a football pundit in various sports papers and during football matches broadcasting, Jurčić was included in Igor Štimac's staff that took charge of Croatia national football team after Euro 2012. In late November 2012 Jurčić once again returned to Dinamo Zagreb, replacing sacked Ante Čačić.

On 22 August 2013, Jurčić was sacked after Dinamo Zagreb lost 2–0 at home to Austria Wien in the Europa League play-off round.^[5]

On 29 February 2016, he was sacked from Maribor after a 1–0 home defeat against Celje.^[6]

Jurčić was appointed manager of Turkish club Adanaspor on 28 August 2016 on a two-year contract.^[7]

In November 2017, Jurčić signed a contract with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation to become the new head of youth player development.^[8][9]

In 2018, he signed with Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr.^[10]

On 28 May 2018, he was named the head coach of Baniyas Club.^[11]

In October 2019, Jurčić moved back to the UAE where he was appointed as the head coach of Al-Nasr.^[12] In February 2021, Jurčić left Al Nasr despite winning the UAE League Cup, due to mediocre results in the league.^[13]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 29 January 2021^[14][15][16]

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Pula	2005	2006	25	9	7	9	036.00
Slaven Belupo	4 June 2007	15 May 2008	41	19	7	15	046.34
Dinamo Zagreb	5 March 2009	19 May 2010	64	38	13	13	059.38
Lokomotiva Zagreb	14 March 2011	26 May 2011	9	2	4	3	022.22
Dinamo Zagreb	26 May 2011	7 December 2011	31	19	5	7	061.29
Dinamo Zagreb	26 November 2012	22 August 2013	30	21	7	2	070.00
Maribor	29 August 2015	29 February 2016	18	11	4	3	061.11
Adanaspor	28 August 2016	5 December 2016	12	1	2	9	008.33
Saudi Arabia	November 2017	28 December 2017	3	1	1	1	033.33
Al Nassr	31 January 2018	13 April 2018	9	5	2	2	055.56
Baniyas	28 May 2018	28 May 2019	35	14	10	11	040.00
Al-Nasr	14 October 2019	3 February 2021	40	21	10	9	052.50
Pyramids FC	7 February 2024	present	31	22	6	3	070.97
Total			348	183	78	87	052.59

Honours

Player

• Inter Zaprešić
  • Croatian Cup: 1992

• Dinamo Zagreb
  • Croatian First League: 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000
  • Croatian Cup: 1997, 1998

Manager

• Dinamo Zagreb
  • Croatian First League: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2012–13
  • Croatian Cup: 2009
  • Croatian Supercup: 2013

• Al Nasr
  • Emirati League Cup: 2019–20

• Pyramids
  • Egypt Cup: 2023–24

Orders

• Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar – 1995^[17]
• Order of the Croatian Trefoil – 1998^[18]

References

1. "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
2. "Mamićeva ostavka odbijena, Jurčić novi trener, Balaban i Šokota potjerani" (in Croatian). dnevnik.hr. 5 March 2009. Archived from the original on 6 March 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
3. "Mamić: Jurčiću je Dinamo bio više od života" (in Croatian). nk-dinamo.hr. 20 May 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
4. "Krunoslavu Jurčiću otkaz u Dinamu!" (in Croatian). jutarnji.hr. 7 December 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
5. "Krunoslav Jurčić smijenjen u Dinamu!" (in Croatian). soundset.hr. 22 August 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
6. A. G. (29 February 2016). "Po kriznem sestanku Jurčić odstavljen, vrača se Milanič" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
7. "Jurčić u Turskoj". index.hr (in Croatian). 28 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
8. "Kruno Jurčić odlazi u Saudijsku Arabiju: Arapima će pomagati u razvoju igrača" (in Croatian). Goal. 20 November 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
9. "الكرواتي سلاف مدرباً لـ"مواهب المواليد"" (in Arabic).
10. "Krunoslav Jurčić pred novim izazovom karijere; Mamić se tamo nije dugo zadržao".
11. "Croatian Jurcic appointed Bani Yas coach". Gulf News. 28 May 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
12. "Krunoslav Jurčić ponovno na klupi emiratskog kluba". NACIONAL.HR (in Croatian). 18 October 2019.
13. "Sportske novosti – Bivši trener Dinama dobio otkaz! Još neki dan slavili su ga kao heroja, a onda su mu okrenuli leđa". sportske.jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). 4 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
14. "Osoblje treneri kroz povijest". povijest.gnkdinamo.hr. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
15. "Krunoslav Jurčić". hrnogomet.com. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
16. "Krunoslav Jurcic stats". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
17. "ODLUKU KOJOM SE ODLIKUJU REDOM DANICE HRVATSKE S LIKOM FRANJE BUČARA" (in Croatian). hrvatska.poslovniforum.hr.
18. "PREDSJEDNIK TUDJMAN ODLIKOVAO HRVATSKU NOGOMETNU REPREZENTACIJU" (in Croatian). hrt.hr. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016.

External links

• Krunoslav Jurčić – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Krunoslav Jurčić at National-Football-Teams.com