Nenad Bjelica

Nenad Bjelica
Personal information
Date of birth20 August 1971
Place of birthOsijek, SFR Yugoslavia
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Club information
Current team
Spezia (head coach)
Youth career
Osijek
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1991–1993Osijek28(7)
1993–1996Albacete Balompié79(19)
1996–1998Real Betis30(2)
1998–1999Las Palmas24(3)
1999–2001Osijek30(16)
2001–20041. FC Kaiserslautern65(5)
2004–2006Admira Wacker Mödling52(12)
2006–2008FC Kärnten58(17)
Total366(81)
National team
1993Croatia U211(0)
2001Croatia B1(0)
2001–2004Croatia9(0)
Teams managed
2007–2009FC Kärnten
2009–2010Lustenau 07
2010–2013WAC St. Andrä
2013–2014FK Austria Wien
2014–Spezia
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Nenad Bjelica (born 20 August 1971 in Osijek) is a former Croatian football player and currently coach who played as midfielder for Albacete Balompié, Real Betis and Kaiserslautern. He is currently in charge as head coach of Italian Serie B club Spezia.

Playing career

Nenad Bjelica started playing for a small club Metalac Olt in the 1989–90 season. He quickly moved to NK Osijek and spent almost four seasons there, before moving abroad to Spain.

He played for Albacete Balompié for four years, during which time the team reached the Copa del Rey semi-final. In 1996, he moved to Real Betis and was in the team that was the runner-up in the Copa del Rey. The next season he spent at UD Las Palmas, but returned to Real Betis a year later. Due to injuries, he played very few games in this period, and would again spend a season at UD Las Palmas until the end of 1999.

Bjelica then returned home to NK Osijek for two seasons and recovered his form, playing with the team in three stages of the UEFA Cup. He then moved to 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 2000, where he spent four seasons until semi-retiring top-tier football in 2004. During the 2004–05 season he played for VfB Admira Wacker Mödling. After that he played for the Austrian club FC Kärnten in the Austrian Football First League (Austria's second division), before retiring on 31 June 2008.

International career

He played for Croatia from 2001 (nine matches, no goals) until 2004.[1] He took part in the UEFA Euro 2004 but retired from the team in that year, at the same time the manager Otto Barić was replaced.

Coaching career

He began his coaching career on 15 September 2007 at FC Kärnten,[2] as player-caretaker manager. On 1 July 2008, he signed a full managing contract, just a day after ending his playing career. Bjelica was head coach of Lustenau 07[3] and Wolfsberg[3] before moving to Austria Wien on 17 June 2013 as their new Head coach.[4] With the club, he qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage, defeating the Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb in the last round of qualification.[5] Bjelica was sacked on 16 February 2014.[6] As Austria Wien failed to qualify for the Europa League nonetheless at the end of the season, Bjelica's contract expired.

In June 2014 he was hired by Italian Serie B side Spezia.[7]

Career record

As of 27 October 2014
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Kärnten 15 September 2007[2] 29 January 2009[2] 49 17 12 20 34.69 [8]
[9]
Lustenau 19 March 2009[10] 11 December 2009[10] 32 12 8 12 37.50 [11]
[12]
Wolfsberg 10 May 2010[13] 17 June 2013[4] 124 55 30 39 44.35 [14][15]
[16][17]
Austria Wien 17 June 2013[4] 16 February 2014[6] 35 12 10 13 34.29 [18]
Spezia 22 June 2014[7] Present 32 13 10 9 40.63
Total 272 109 70 93 40.07 —

References

  1. ↑ Mamrud, Roberto (16 July 2009). "Croatia – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "FC Kärnten » Trainerhistorie". Worldfootball. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Nenad Bjelica". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Bjelica neuer Austria-Coach". Österreich (in German). 17 June 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  5. ↑ "Kienast the hero as Austria Wien pip Dinamo". UEFA.com. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Austria trennt sich von Bjelica". kicker (in German). 16 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Nenad Bjelica wechselt nach Italien" (in German). ligaportal.at. Retrieved 13 Aug 2014.
  8. ↑ "FC Kärnten » Dates & results 2007/2008". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  9. ↑ "FC Kärnten » Dates & results 2008/2009". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "FC Lustenau » Trainerhistorie". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  11. ↑ "FC Lustenau » Dates & results 2008/2009". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "FC Lustenau » Dates & results 2009/2010". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  13. ↑ "Wolfsberger AC » Trainerhistorie". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  14. ↑ "Wolfsberger AC » Dates & results 2009/2010". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  15. ↑ "Wolfsberger AC » Dates & results 2010/2011". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  16. ↑ "Wolfsberger AC » Dates & results 2011/2012". Worldfootball. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  17. ↑ "Wolfsberger AC" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  18. ↑ "Austria Wien" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 14 January 2014.

External links