Radojko Avramović

Radojko Avramović

Raddy during the post-match conference
of the Singapore vs Lebanon match
Personal information
Date of birth November 29, 1949 (1949-11-29) (age 62)
Place of birth Sjenica, SFR Yugoslavia
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club Singapore
Number Manager
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
FK Borac Čačak
1974-1979 NK Rijeka
1979-1983 Notts County 149 (0)
1983-1984 Coventry City 18 (0)
1984-1985 OFK Beograd
National team
1978 Yugoslavia 1 (0)
Teams managed
Oman
2002–2003 Kuwait
2003– Singapore
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Radojko Avramović (Serbian Cyrillic: Радојко Аврамовић) (born 29 November 1949, also known by the supporters of the Singapore national team as Raddy) is the current national team coach of the Singapore national football team. He is Serbian.

Contents

Achievements/Timeline

In his playing days he earned one cap for the Yugoslavia national football team.

His most memorable achievements include leading Kuwait's youth and Olympic team to the final rounds of the Sydney Olympics in 2000.[1]

Avramovic started his football career with Borac Čačak. As a goalkeeper Raddy played for several years in British football, including a spell in the old First Division with Notts County. Before that for years he turned out for NK Rijeka of the Yugoslav First League. He finished out his playing career in OFK Beograd

Towards the end of 2001, he took over from Berti Vogts to become Kuwait's national coach. Four months later, Kuwait were crowned West Asian Games champions and he led Kuwait to the quarter-finals of the 2002 Busan Asian Games. However, Kuwait terminated his contract when in December 2002, Kuwait failed to reach the knockout stages of the Arab Cup.[2]

He then became coach for the Singapore National football team in 2003 and subsequently led them to the ASEAN Football Championship (at that time known as Tiger Cup) on 16 January 2005 with a 5-2 aggregate win over favourites Indonesia in the finale.[3]

Recent friendly matches against second string Denmark national team and Kuwait national team proved to be difficult for Raddy as he managed a loss in Singapore and draw in Kuwait City, Kuwait respectively. He failed to lead Singapore to the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, although there were some credible results against China and Iraq in the qualifiers.

In the 2006 Asian Games held in Doha, the Singapore U-23 squad did not perform to expectations, bowing out in the first round with just a solitary goal to its name. Avramovic was left to rue a case of what could have been, if the Young Lions (U-23) had taken their chances. Still, the inability to beat an understrengthed Indonesia team perhaps had justified Avramovic's labelling of some players as 'slackers'.[4]

In 2007, Avramovic guided Singapore towards back-to-back triumphs in the ASEAN Cup, when Singapore edged Thailand 3-2 on aggrate over a two-legged final, at the same time establishing a 15-match unbeaten run in the competition under him stretching back to 2004.[5]

After the back-to-back ASEAN Cup titles, he is a favourite among Singapore fans who hail him as a miracle worker., churning out credible results against Asian football powerhouses with a small talent pool and limited resources. In 2008, Singapore beat Kuwait 2-0, and drew with Australia 0-0.

In Dec 2010, The AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 returns. Singapore drawn with Philippines, Myanmar and Vietnam in Group B. Eventually, Singapore failed to make past the group stages for the first time since 2004. Avramovic was disappointed with his squad. Since failing to make past the group stages, the debacle about the tournament starts among the Singapore fans.

In Jan 2011, the Football Association of Singapore decided to disband and revamp the national team. The federations tasked Avramovic to make new freshly 33-man provisional squad. 6 Months later, Singapore were scheduled to play a friendly match against Maldives at the new temporary home ground of the Lions, Jalan Besar Stadium, Singapore. Avramovic led the new look lions which Singapore won 4-0 to Maldives The Singapore-Maldives match was not an 'A' international match because it is still the national provisional squad and haven't yet been trimmed to a smaller squad. Few weeks later, a close-door friendly match between Singapore and Etoile FC was held at the Jalan Besar Stadium, Singapore won 2-1 to Etoile FC with goals from Aleksandar Duric and Qiu Li. A final preparation for Singapore before the 2014 World Cup Qualifier to be played against Chinese Taipei. Singapore won the match 3 goals to 2 (3-2) Goals from Aleksandar Duric, Shi Jiayi and Fazrul Nawaz Avramovic was pleased with their performance for all the friendly matches that have been played. Since their 2nd time succession to the third round of World Cup Qualifiers, a last preparation of friendly match against Thailand national football team was played before the third round of the World Cup Qualifier against China national football team The Lions resulted in a 0-0 draw against the Thais.

In July 2011, the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification begin. Singapore was drawn with Malaysia for the 2014 World Cup Qualifier, Brazil (Asian Zone Round 2) Singapore received a second-round bye from the football governing body, FIFA due to the previous 2010 World Cup Qualifier (South Africa) Singapore beat Malaysia with an aggregate score of 6-4 to advance to the third round of the 2014 Brazil World Cup Asian Qualifier led by Avramovic.

In a start of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier Round 3, Singapore lose to China national football team 1-2 in Kunming.

According to the Aug 2011 ranking, Singapore was rank no #129 in the FIFA World Ranking Also, Singapore was rank no #18 in the Asia continent.

Recent Managerical Statistics Report

Date Singapore Opponent Score Status Competition
7 June 2011  Maldives 4–0 Win International Friendly Match (Non 'A' Match)
30 June 2011 Etoile FC 2–1 Win Friendly Match (Non 'A' Match)
18 July 2011  Chinese Taipei 3–2 Win International Friendly Match ('A' Match)
23 July 2011  Malaysia 5–3 Win 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 2nd Round ('A' Match)
28 July 2011  Malaysia 1–1 Draw 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 2nd Round ('A' Match)
24 August 2011  Thailand 0-0 Draw International Friendly Match ('A' Match)
2 September 2011  China PR 1-2 Lose 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 3rd Round ('A' Match)
Nat Team From To Record
G W L D Win % GF GA +/-
Singapore 2003 67 35 39 24 57.06% 94 88 +6
Total Career ? ? ? ? % ? ? ?

- Updated in August 2011

Honours as manager

Singapore

Current squad

The following 26-man squad was selected for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification games against Malaysia on the 23 and 28 July 2011.

Caps and goals correct as of 18 July 2011.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club
18 GK Lionel Lewis December 16, 1982 (1982-12-16) (age 29) 71 0 Home United
1 GK Izwan Mahbud July 14, 1990 (1990-07-14) (age 21) 3 0 Young Lions
22 GK Jasper Chan November 7, 1988 (1988-11-07) (age 23) 0 0 Young Lions
16 DF Daniel Bennett January 7, 1978 (1978-01-07) (age 34) 103 7 SAFFC
23 DF Juma'at Jantan February 23, 1984 (1984-02-23) (age 28) 20 0 Home United
19 DF Ismail Yunos October 24, 1986 (1986-10-24) (age 25) 18 0 Gombak United
3 DF Shaiful Esah May 12, 1986 (1986-05-12) (age 25) 12 0 SAFFC
2 DF Safuwan Baharudin September 22, 1991 (1991-09-22) (age 20) 5 0 Young Lions
24 DF Hamqaamal Shah September 5, 1986 (1986-09-05) (age 25) 3 0 Gombak United
5 DF Afiq Yunos December 10, 1990 (1990-12-10) (age 21) 2 0 Young Lions
13 DF Delwinder Singh May 8, 1992 (1992-05-08) (age 19) 0 0 Tanjong Pagar United
17 MF Shahril Ishak January 23, 1984 (1984-01-23) (age 28) 87 6 Medan Chiefs
15 MF Mustafic Fahrudin April 17, 1981 (1981-04-17) (age 30) 58 6 Tampines Rovers
7 MF Shi Jiayi September 2, 1983 (1983-09-02) (age 28) 52 6 Home United
4 MF Isa Halim May 15, 1986 (1986-05-15) (age 25) 33 0 Home United
14 MF Hariss Harun November 19, 1990 (1990-11-19) (age 21) 18 0 Young Lions
8 MF Shahdan Sulaiman May 9, 1988 (1988-05-09) (age 23) 4 0 Young Lions (on loan from Tampines Rovers)
21 MF Ruzaini Zainal October 17, 1988 (1988-10-17) (age 23) 3 0 Young Lions (on loan from SAFFC)
6 MF Shukor Zailan December 8, 1985 (1985-12-08) (age 26) 3 0 Tampines Rovers
MF Zulfahmi Ariffin October 5, 1991 (1991-10-05) (age 20) 0 0 Young Lions
MF Nazrul Ahmad Nazari February 11, 1991 (1991-02-11) (age 21) 0 0 Young Lions
10 FW Fazrul Nawaz April 17, 1985 (1985-04-17) (age 26) 45 3 SAFFC
9 FW Aleksandar Đurić August 12, 1970 (1970-08-12) (age 41) 34 15 Tampines Rovers
11 FW Qiu Li June 6, 1981 (1981-06-06) (age 30) 6 1 Home United

Future doubts

In September 2007. An article surfaced in a local football magazine, Football Weekly stating that Singapore’s football hero Radojko Avramovic could well be on his way to seeking greener pastures and in search of a new challenge when his current contract runs out in December this year. The tell-tale signs are written all over the wall. It was also written that two months ago, Avramovic was asked to head to the negotiation table by Football Association of Singapore general secretary Steven Yeo to discuss a possible extension to his contract. But Avramovic asked for some time to decide on his future with Singapore. [6]

Contract extension

A day before Singapore's game in the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers game against Tajikistan, an official from the Football Association of Singapore was said that Avramovic was set to sign another 3-year extension to his expiring. The news was greeted with cheers from local football fans, who had seen the success garnered by the national team, was all down to his hardwork and losing him would be difficult to bare.[7]

References

External links