Ranko Popović (; born 26 June 1967) is a Serbian football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Japanese club

Machida Zelvia is a Japanese football club based in Machida, Tokyo. History Machida is known as "Brazil of Tokyo" due to the popularity of football in the city; it has, in fact, produced the second-largest number of J. League players though its football sch ...

Playing career

Born in

Peć Peja (Indefinite Albanian form: ''Pejë'' ) or Peć ( sr-Cyrl, Пећ ) is the fourth largest city of Kosovo and seat of Peja Municipality and Peja District. It is situated in the region of Rugova on the eastern section of the Accursed Mounta ...

SAP Kosovo The Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Socijalistička Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo, Социјалистичка Аутономна Покрајина Косово, separator=" / ", sq, Krahina Socialiste Autonome e Kosovë ...

SR Serbia , life_span = 1944–1992 , status = Constituent state of Yugoslavia , p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia , flag_p1 = Flag of German Reich (1935–1945).svg , p2 ...

, Popović started out at local club Budućnost. He moved to Belgrade in 1985 due to

compulsory military service Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

and played for Kneževac in the Belgrade Zone League. In the 1988–89 season, Popović played for fellow Belgrade Zone League club

Beograd Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 millio ...

. In the summer of 1989, Popović was acquired by

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League (Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

side

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: ** AK Partizan, athletics **Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling **Džudo Klub Partizan, judo ** FK Partizan, association fo ...

. He was later loaned to

Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to: * Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name: ** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918–1 ...

club Leotar during the 1989–90 season. After returning to Partizan, Popović made two appearances in the

1990–91 Yugoslav First League The 1990–91 Yugoslav First League season was the 45th season of the First Federal League ( sh, Prva savezna liga), the top level association football competition of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946. The title was won by Red Star ...

. In

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

, Popović switched to Spartak Subotica. He spent two and a half years there, before moving abroad to Greece and joining

Ethnikos Piraeus Ethnikos Piraeus (Greek: Εθνικός Πειραιώς) is a Greek multisport club based in Piraeus. It was founded in 1923. The full name of the club is Ethnikos Omilos Filathlon Pireos/Phalirou or Ethnikos OFPF (Greek: Εθνικός Όμιλ ...

in the summer of 1994. Six months later, Popović returned to Spartak Subotica until the end of the season. After playing for two years at Segunda División club

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

, Popović joined Austrian side

Sturm Graz Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian association football club, based in Graz, Styria, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909. Its colours are black and white. In its history, Sturm Graz has won the Austrian f ...

in the summer of 1997, aged 30. He spent the next four seasons with the club, winning back-to-back championships in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

. In addition, Popović made 11 appearances in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

Managerial career

Austria and Japan

Between 2002 and 2006, Popović served as player-manager of Austrian lower league sides TuS FC Arnfels and SV Pachern. He subsequently moved to Japan in the summer of 2006, assisting his compatriot

Mihailo Petrović Mihailo ( sr-cyr, Михаило) or Mihajlo () is a Serbian masculine given name, a variant of the Hebrew name '' Michael''. Common as a given name among Serbs, it is an uncommon surname. It may refer to: * Mihailo Vojislavljević (fl. 1050� ...

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima ( ja, サンフレッチェ広島, translit=''Sanfuretche Hiroshima'') is a Japanese professional football club based in Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the co ...

for over a year.

Serbia

In early 2008, Popović returned to his homeland and took charge of

Serbian League Vojvodina Serbian League Vojvodina (Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also ...

club Zlatibor Voda. He led them to promotion to the

Serbian First League The Serbian First League ( sr, Прва лига Србије / Prva liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet First League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Прва лига / Mozzart Bet Prva liga) for sponsorship reasons, is the name for the second ...

, before they merged with Spartak Subotica. In May 2009, Popović was replaced by Slavko Vojičić.

Return to Japan

In July 2009, Popović accepted an offer to coach

J League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most successf ...

club

Oita Trinita is a Japanese football club currently playing in J2 League, having been relegated after the 2021 season after a three-year stint in J1 League. The club's home town is Ōita city, but the club draws support from Beppu, Saiki, and the entire Ōi ...

, which had experienced 14 consecutive defeats in the season. In his first six matches, the team only won once, but in the last 10 matches of the season, it did not lose once (five wins and five draws). This result earned him an offer to coach the team for the next season, but the team nearly went bankrupt and his contract had to be canceled. In December 2010, Popović was appointed manager of

. He subsequently went on to become manager of some of the most recognized clubs in Japan, including

FC Tokyo Football Club Tokyo, commonly known as , is a Japanese professional football club based in Chōfu, Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team is one of only four in the J.League to be sim ...

and Cerezo Osaka.

Spain

On 24 November 2014, Popović was appointed at the helm of Spanish Segunda División side

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tribut ...

, replacing the fired

Víctor Muñoz Víctor Muñoz Manrique (born 15 March 1957), known simply as Víctor in his playing days, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and a manager. An all-around midfield unit, he was best known for his great physical streng ...

. He led the team to the

2015 Segunda División play-offs The 2015 Segunda División play-offs took place in June 2015 and has determined the third team which will be promoted to the top division. Teams placed between 3rd and 6th position (excluding reserve teams) are taking part in the promotion play ...

, but fell short, losing to

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

on the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

. While at Zaragoza, Popović was named the Segunda División Manager of the Month by the LFP in October 2015. He was dismissed on 20 December 2015, after a 3–1 loss against Gimnàstic.

Thailand and India

In August 2016,

Thai League The Thai League 1 ( th, ไทยลีก 1), often referred to as T1, is the top level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai League 2. Seasons run from Augus ...

club Buriram United appointed Popović as the club manager to fill the vacant role after the dismissal of

Afshin Ghotbi Afshin Ghotbi ( fa, افشین قطبی, born 8 February 1964 in Tehran) is an Iranian-American football coach who works as head coach of Vancouver FC in the Canadian Premier League. Early life Afshin Ghotbi was born in Tehran. He is the son ...

. He left the position in June 2017 after receiving a three-month ban by the Thai FA (FAT) for slapping his team's physio after a league game earlier that month. In September 2017,

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

side

Pune City Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

appointed Popović as new manager. He parted ways with the club in May 2018.

Personal life

Popović also holds

Austrian citizenship Austrian nationality law details the conditions by which an individual is national of Austria. The primary law governing these requirements is the Nationality Law, which came into force on 31 July 1985. Austria is a member state of the Europe ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

;Sturm Graz *

Austrian Bundesliga The Austrian Football Bundesliga (german: Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga, italic=no , "Austrian Football Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. The ...

: 1997–98, 1998–99 *

Austrian Cup The Austrian Cup (german: ÖFB-Cup), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for 27th t ...

: 1998–99 *

Austrian Supercup The Austrian Supercup (German: ÖFB-Supercup) was a football competition held annually from 1986 until 2004 between the winners of the Austrian Football Bundesliga and the Austrian Cup. 19 editions were played during the short history of the comp ...

: 1998, 1999

Manager

;Zlatibor Voda *

: 2007–08 ;Buriram United *

Thai League Cup The League Cup ( th, ไทยลีกคัพ) is a football cup competition in Thailand. It is also known as Toyota League Cup for sponsorship reasons. It was re-formed during the 2010 domestic football league season in Thailand and runs alo ...

: 2016 *

Mekong Club Championship The Mekong Club Championship was an ASEAN club competition for men's association football clubs. Five teams entered as respective domestic league winners from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The championship was sponsored by Toyota ...

: 2016

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Popovic, Ranko Association football defenders Austrian Football Bundesliga managers Austrian Football Bundesliga players

Ranko Popovic Ranko is a Slavic and Japanese given name. People People with the name Ranko include: Slavic name "Ranko" (Cyrillic script: Ранко) *Ranko Borozan, footballer *Ranko Despotović, Serbian footballer *Ranko Đorđić, Serbian football player an ...

Cerezo Osaka managers Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. players Expatriate football managers in Austria Expatriate football managers in India Expatriate football managers in Japan Expatriate football managers in Spain Expatriate football managers in Thailand Expatriate footballers in Austria Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Spain FC Machida Zelvia managers FC Pune City managers FC Tokyo managers First League of Serbia and Montenegro players FK Beograd players FK Leotar players FK Partizan players FK Spartak Subotica managers FK Spartak Subotica players J1 League managers J2 League managers Kosovo Serbs Naturalised citizens of Austria Oita Trinita managers Sportspeople from Peja Real Zaragoza managers Segunda División managers Segunda División players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate footballers Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Austria Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Greece Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbia and Montenegro footballers Serbian expatriate football managers Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Serbian expatriate sportspeople in India Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Serbian football managers Serbian footballers SK Sturm Graz players SKN St. Pölten managers UD Almería players Yugoslav First League players Yugoslav footballers 1967 births Living people