Nenad Gračan (born 23 January 1962) is a Croatian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former player who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He is the coach of the

Croatia women's national football team The Croatia women's national football team represents Croatia in international women's football matches. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Croatia. It is a member of UEFA in Europe and FIFA i ...

Club career

Born in

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

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 ...

, Gračan started playing professionally for hometown's

NK Orijent HNK Orijent is a football club from Sušak, the eastern part of the city of Rijeka, Croatia. The club was established under the name ''Orient'' in 1919. They currently compete in the 1. NL, the second tier of the Croatian football league syst ...

and, soon thereafter,

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka (), commonly referred to as HNK Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka competes in Croatia's top division, Croatian First Football League, Supersport HNL, o ...

, amassing nearly 150 official appearances. He then moved to another club in his native

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

HNK Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Split, Croatia, Split, that competes in the Croatian First Football League, Cro ...

. During his first match at

Hajduk A hajduk (, plural of ) is a type of Irregular military, irregular infantry found in Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries, especially from Hajdú–Bihar Count ...

Gračan was injured while playing against his former club by

Mladen Mladenović Mladen Mladenović (born 13 September 1964) is a Croatian professional football manager and retired player who played as a midfielder. Playing career Club During his career he played for Rijeka, Zadar, Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split in Croatia, ...

who nearly broke Gračan's leg. Because of this injury he appeared intermittently for

over the course of four full seasons. Late into 1989, Gračan signed with

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 ...

club

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...

. Joined by compatriots Janko Janković and

Nikola Jerkan Nikola Jerkan (born 8 December 1964) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a defender. He started playing football professionally for NK Zagreb. Playing career Club Jerkan was born in Split. He started his career in youth ...

in his second season, he helped the

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finish sixth and qualify for the

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by contributing with 26 matches, and eventually appeared in more than 100 games overall. Aged almost 31, Gračan left Oviedo and returned to his country, now independent. After two years of inactivity he played a handful of games with first professional club Rijeka, but retired shortly after. In the following decade, he took up coaching, starting with his last team as a player, but he rarely settled.

International career

Gračan made his debut 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 ...

in a March 1984

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against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and earned a total of 10 caps, scoring 2 goals. He never attended any major international tournament. In

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, the then 21-year-old helped the Olympic squad win the

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Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, featuring in all games but one and scoring in the quarterfinals against

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

(5–2). His final international was a May 1986 friendly away against

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International appearances

International goals

Managerial career

In June 2001, he was named manager of

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

. Gračan was dismissed as manager of

Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...

in May 2007 and he took charge of

for a third time in November 2009.

Personal life

Gračan married former miss Croatia Daniela Mihalic in 1999. The couple have three daughters.

Career statistics

As a player

Managerial statistics

Club

National team

: *Dates of first and last games under Gračan; not dates of official appointments

Honours

Player

;Hajduk Split *

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 ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

;Yugoslavia *

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

bronze medal:

;Individual * SN Yellow Shirt award: 1985–86 *

NK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka (), commonly referred to as HNK Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka competes in Croatia's top division, Supersport HNL, of which they have been members ...

all time XI by

Novi list ''Novi list'' () is the oldest Croatian daily newspaper published in Rijeka. It is read mostly in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County of Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeas ...

References

External links

*
National team data
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gracan, Nenad 1962 births Living people Footballers from Rijeka Men's association football midfielders Yugoslav men's footballers Yugoslavia men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Yugoslavia Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Yugoslavia Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Croatian men's footballers HNK Orijent players HNK Rijeka players HNK Hajduk Split players Real Oviedo players Yugoslav First League players La Liga players Croatian Football League players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Spain Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Croatian football managers HNK Rijeka managers HNK Hajduk Split managers FC Koper managers NK Osijek managers NK Kamen Ingrad managers GNK Dinamo Zagreb managers NK Istra 1961 managers NK Croatia Sesvete managers Croatia national under-21 football team managers Croatian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Slovenia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Croatia women's national football team Association football managers by women's national team