Mehmed "Meho" Kodro (born 12 January 1967) is a Bosnian professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who played as a forward. Kodro started playing professionally at Velež Mostar, making his first team debut in 1985. He spent most of his 16-year senior career in Spain, playing for

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

and Alavés, amassing

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

totals of 263 matches and 105 goals. Kodro finished his career at Israeli club

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

in 2001. He possessed good technical skills, and was equally adept in the air. After retiring, Kodro started a managerial career. He had a short stint as manager of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team in 2008. He then worked as a youth coach at Real Sociedad, before managing

Real Sociedad B Real Sociedad de Fútbol "B" (also known as Sanse) is a Spanish football team based in San Sebastián, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1955, it is the reserve team of Real Sociedad and plays in Primera Federación � ...

. Kodro managed

Bosnian Premier League The Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ; sr-Cyrl, Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), officially known as the Wwin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina for sponsorship purposes, is the top tier football leagu ...

side

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, and later also managed Swiss clubs

Servette Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...

and Stade Lausanne Ouchy. In August 2023, he again took over as manager of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but was sacked by the end of September.

Club career

Born in

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

SR Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

, Kodro's professional debut occurred in 1985 at the age of 18 with hometown club Velež. He appeared in only 14

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

games in his first two years but eventually became a starter, scoring a total of 31 goals in his last two full seasons and helping his team win the 1986 edition of the

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...

– he did not play in the final against

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

however – and three consecutive top-three finishes. When the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

began, Kodro migrated to Spain – after scoring five goals in only five matches in the last edition of the Yugoslavian championship – where he spent the vast majority of his remaining career. He first played with

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

, always netting in double digits for the

Basques The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

, including 23 in the 1993–94 season and a career-best 25 in the following year (including a hat-trick in the

Basque derby The Basque derby (in Basque language, Basque ''Euskal Derbia'', in Spanish language, Spanish ''derbi Vasco'') is the name of the association football, football local derby between Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao. It embodies the inter-city ri ...

) and finishing second in the

Pichichi Trophy In Spanish Association football, football, the Pichichi Trophy () is awarded by the sports newspaper ''Marca (newspaper), Marca'' to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. Named after the Athletic Bilbao striker Pichichi (footballer), Rafael ...

race to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

Iván Zamorano Iván Luis Zamorano Zamora (; born 18 January 1967) is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is regarded as one of Chile's most recognized footballers and one of the greatest strikers of his generation. He first ...

. Kodro was purchased by

in the 1995 off-season, starting throughout most of the campaign but only managing nine

goals for the

Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...

, including two in the ''

El Clásico El Clásico (in Spanish, also in lowercase letters; ) or El Clàssic (in Catalan, ), both meaning "The Classic", is the name given to any football match between rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions he ...

'' against Real Madrid (3–0 home win). After ''Barça'' came out empty in silverware, manager

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...

– who insisted on his signing – was dismissed and the player also left

Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

, signing with

where he played three seasons, notably contributing two goals from eight appearances in the side's semi-final run in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. In the 1998–99 season, for the only time in his career, he failed to find the net and his team suffered top-flight relegation. Kodro returned to the Basque region in the summer of 1999, joining Alavés on loan for the 1999–2000 campaign. He retired from football the following year after one year in Israel with

International career

Kodro earned two

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, his debut coming on 4 September 1991 in a 4–3 friendly loss against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he played 13 times with

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, appearing in six

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

games and scoring in a 2–1 away victory over

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

Managerial career

Kodro started working as a manager in 2006, being assistant to

José Mari Bakero José María Bakero Escudero (born 11 February 1963) is a Spanish former professional footballer, currently a manager. Having played mainly for Real Sociedad and Barcelona, he began his career as a forward (not being a prolific scorer) but was ...

at former club

. On 5 January 2008, he was appointed head coach of

, accepting the job after the

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

met his conditions, which were to allow him to continue living in

and to guarantee him full independence in football matters. However, things quickly went sour; Kodro led the side in two friendlies before refusing to take charge of the team for a game against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

scheduled for 26 May in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, arranged by the Association without his knowledge; as a result, he was sacked on 17 May. In the summer of 2008, Kodro was appointed manager of the Real Sociedad Cantera youth sides. He remained in the post for two years when he was promoted to B-team duties, as they competed in

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. In the following years, Kodro was in charge of

in the

and

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

club

. On 4 June 2020, he signed as the new manager of Stade Lausanne Ouchy in the latter country's Challenge League. In August 2023, Kodro returned to managing the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. He was victorious in his first game back as the team beat

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

in a

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2023 to March 2024 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams that would join the automatically qualified host team Germany in the UEFA Eur ...

match on 8 September 2023. Following a defeat to

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

three days later however, greatly limiting Bosnia and Herzegovina's chances to qualify directly for

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

, Kodro was sacked as manager on 21 September.

Personal life

Kodro's son,

Kenan Kenan (also spelled Qenan, Kaynan, Caynam or Cainan) (; ; ) is an Antediluvian patriarch first mentioned in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. The '' Sefer ha-Yashar'' describes Cainan, the possessor of great astrological wisdom, which h ...

, is also a professional footballer and a forward. He was coached by his father at

for two years. They became the first son and father to represent

internationally.

Career statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list Bosnia and Herzegovina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kodro goal.''

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Velež Mostar *

: 1985–86 Maccabi Tel Aviv *

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup (, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involves clubs of all standards ...

: 2000–01 Individual * Bosnian Footballer of the Year: 1996, 1997

References

External links