Damir Milinović

Damir Milinović
Personal information
Full nameDamir Milinović
Date of birth15 October 1972
Place of birthRijeka, SFR Yugoslavia
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing positionDefender
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1994–1997HNK Rijeka79(6)
1997Croatia Zagreb3(0)
1998–2000HNK Rijeka68(6)
2000–2001VfL Bochum20(0)
2001HNK Rijeka8(1)
2002NK Zagreb24(0)
2003–2004HNK Rijeka39(1)
2004Dinamo Zagreb14(0)
2005Austria Salzburg10(0)
2005–2007Pomorac37(4)
Total302(18)
National team
1997–1999Croatia4(0)
1999Croatia B1(0)
Teams managed
2007–2010Pomorac
2010–2012Grobničan
2012HNK Gorica
2013–NK Novigrad
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Damir Milinović (born 15 October 1972) is a Croatian football manager, formerly an international player and current manager of Druga HNL club HNK Gorica.[1][2]

Playing career

Born in Rijeka, Milinović spent most of his career in his local club, HNK Rijeka, before moving to Dinamo Zagreb (then called Croatia Zagreb) in 1997. He failed to impress in Dinamo so he returned to Rijeka in next season. After an impressive season with Rijeka during which Rijeka lost the title in last match, Milinović left for Germany in summer of 2000, signing with VfL Bochum.[3] As Bochum finished last in the Bundesliga and were relegated, Milinović returned to Rijeka after only one season. He spent half a season in Rijeka before joining eventual season champions NK Zagreb. In January 2003, Milinović returned to Rijeka for the third and final time, spending there one and a half season before joining Dinamo Zagreb once again. He left Dinamo after only half a season, joining Austria Salzburg just few months before club was rebranded as Red Bull Salzburg. Milinović returned to Croatia after only half a season in Austria, signing for second division side Pomorac Kostrena. After two seasons with Pomorac, Milinović announced his retirement in summer of 2007.

International career

Milinović made four appearances for the Croatia national football team.[4]

Managerial career

A few months after he announced his retirement, Milinović was appointed as a manager of his last club, Pomorac Kostrena. In Pomorac he was quite successful, finishing amongst top clubs in second division and reaching quarterfinals of Croatian cup. He left Pomorac in 2010 and took over third division side NK Grobničan. With Milinović in charge, Grobničan went from mediocre third division club to one of the best clubs in the league. They were on the edge of promotion to second division two years in a row but were financially incapable to take that step. In May 2012, Milinović was appointed coach of HNK Gorica. Milinović spent only six months in Gorica; he resigned in November 2012 after disappointing results in the first half of the season. In January 2013, Milinović took over third division side NK Novigrad.

References

  1. "Damir Milinovic" (in German). fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  2. "Damir Milinović novi trener Gorice" (in Croatian). HNK Gorica official web page. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  3. http://www.hrsport.net/vijesti/869/intervju/damir-milinovic-ispunio-sam-svoje-snove/
  4. "Damir Milinović" (in Croatian). Croatian Football Federation. Retrieved 21 October 2008.

External links