Mario Cvitanović

Mario Cvitanović
Personal information
Date of birth (1975-05-06) 6 May 1975
Place of birth Zagreb, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position Defender
Team information
Current team
 Sarajevo (manager)
Youth career
Radnik Velika Gorica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–2000 Croatia Zagreb 91 (3)
2000–2001 Hellas Verona 16 (0)
2001–2002 Venezia 7 (0)
2002–2003 Genoa 33 (0)
2003–2004 Napoli 9 (0)
2004–2006 Germinal Beerschot 46 (2)
2006–2007 Dinamo Zagreb 17 (2)
2007–2009 Energie Cottbus 71 (0)
Total 290 (7)
International career
1998–1999 Croatia B 2 (0)
1998–2001 Croatia 9 (0)
Managerial career
2016–2017 Dinamo Zagreb II
2017–2018 Dinamo Zagreb
2019 Al-Wehda
2022–2023 Šibenik
2025 Lokomotiva
2025– Sarajevo
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mario Cvitanović (pronounced [tsʋitǎːnoʋitɕ, - tsʋǐta-]; born 6 May 1975) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who played as a defender. He is the current manager of Bosnian Premier League club Sarajevo.

Club career

In 1995, Cvitanović started his career in the Croatian capital, where he won five consecutive national championships with Dinamo Zagreb (formerly Croatia Zagreb).[1] He then spent four seasons in the Italian league, playing for Hellas Verona, Venezia, Genoa and Napoli before moving to Belgian side Germinal Beerschot, where he won the Belgian Cup in the 2004–05 season.[2] Following two seasons in the Belgian league, Cvitanović re-joined Dinamo for their 2006–07 Champions League campaign,[3] before leaving after their early exit on a free transfer to German side Energie Cottbus.[4] Cvitanović played three seasons with Cottbus until being released in 2009 and subsequently retiring.[5]

International career

Cvitanović made his debut for Croatia in an October 1998 European Championship qualification match away against Malta, coming on as a 88th-minute substitute for Robert Jarni, and earned a total of 9 caps, scoring no goals. His final international was a March 2001 World Cup qualification match against Latvia.[6]

Managerial career

Dinamo Zagreb

Cvitanović coached Dinamo Zagreb II in the Croatian Second Football League from 2016 to 2017.[7] On 13 July 2017, he signed a one-year contract as manager of the Dinamo Zagreb first team, succeeding Ivaylo Petev. Cvitanović left Dinamo Zagreb in March 2018 following two successive defeats from rivals Rijeka and feeder-club Lokomotiva, both of which were by a score of 4–1.[8]

Al-Wehda

On 2 July 2019, Cvitanović was appointed manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Wehda.[9][10]

Šibenik

In September 2022, Cvitanović was appointed manager of Šibenik, replacing Damir Čanadi.[11] He was ultimately replaced by Čanadi on 31 January 2023.[12]

Lokomotiva

Cvitanović joined Lokomotiva on 24 April 2025 during the tail end of the 2024–25 season.[13] He left the club at the end of the season.

Sarajevo

On 30 September 2025, Cvitanović was announced as the new manager of Bosnian Premier League club Sarajevo, signing a two-year contract.[14] His first game in charge of Sarajevo ended in a 1–1 home draw against Zrinjski Mostar on 6 October 2025.[15] On 24 October, Cvitanović secured his first win as Sarajevo manager against Sloga Doboj.[16] After a seven-game unbeaten run in all competitions, he suffered his first defeat as Sarajevo lost to Rudar Prijedor 2–1 away on 22 November 2025.[17] In his first Sarajevo derby, Cvitanović's side defeated fierce rivals Željezničar 4–0 at home on 7 December 2025.[18]

Personal life

On 21 September 2017, Cvitanović was severely beaten by two masked assailants in front of his apartment in Zagreb, Croatia.[19][20]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 14 December 2025[21]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Dinamo Zagreb 13 July 2017 10 March 2018 32 21 8 3 68 30 +38 065.63
Al-Wehda 2 July 2019 16 September 2019 3 1 0 2 3 5 −2 033.33
Šibenik 25 September 2022 31 January 2023 7 1 1 5 5 11 −6 014.29
Lokomotiva 24 April 2025 31 May 2025 5 1 3 1 6 4 +2 020.00
Sarajevo 30 September 2025 Present 11 6 4 1 17 5 +12 054.55
Total 58 30 16 12 99 55 +44 051.72

Honours

Player

Dinamo Zagreb

Germinal Beerschot

References

  1. ^ "Croatia – Championship Winning Squads". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  2. ^ "28 MEI 2005: MET DEN BEERSCHOT NAAR DEN HEIZEL". beerschot.be. Archived from the original on 21 November 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Things you need to know about Croatia Zagreb". Square Football. 9 August 2006. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Cottbus swoop for Croat". Football.co.uk. 18 January 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2008 – via archive.is.
  5. ^ "Cottbus-Duo freigestellt" (in German). DFL. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  6. ^ "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  7. ^ Miroslav Herceg (13 July 2017). "Mario Cvitanović privremeno preuzima momčad Dinama" [Mario Cvitanovic temporarily takes over the team at Dinamo]. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  8. ^ Marko Pavić (10 March 2018). "Mario Cvitanović podnio ostavku nakon sramotnog poraza od Lokomotive!" [Mario Cvitanović resigned after a shameful defeat by Lokomotive!]. Večernji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  9. ^ "Mario Cvitanović novi trener Al-Wehde". hns-cff.hr (in Croatian). 2 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  10. ^ "Mario Cvitanović novi trener saudijskog prvoligaša iz Meke". sport.hrt.hr (in Croatian). 5 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  11. ^ Službeno: Mario Cvitanović novi je trener Šibenika (FOTO) - Germanijak (in Croatian)
  12. ^ Mario Cvitanović više nije trener Šibenika, poznat njegov nasljednik - Novo (in Croatian)
  13. ^ Lokomotiva predstavila novog trenera: Dvije godine je bio bez angažmana - gol.dnevnik.hr (in Croatian)
  14. ^ H.H. (30 September 2025). "Sarajevo predstavilo novog trenera, Cvitanović potpisao dvogodišnji ugovor" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  15. ^ Adnan Beganović (6 October 2025). "Damascan rastužio Koševo: Sarajevo do sudijske nadoknade imalo prednost, Zrinjski nosi bod u Mostar" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  16. ^ Muhamed Bogilović (24 October 2025). "Cvitanović nakon prve pobjede na klupi Sarajeva: "Mi smo taj gol "unijeli" kroz srce i emociju"" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 24 October 2025.
  17. ^ M.B. (22 November 2025). "Rudar nakon preokreta prekinuo niz pobjeda Sarajeva" (in Bosnian). Sport1.ba. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
  18. ^ Eldar Ganibegović (7 December 2025). "Željezničar se obrukao u derbiju: Visoka pobjeda Sarajeva za treće mjesto na tabeli" (in Bosnian). Dnevni avaz. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  19. ^ "Masked assailants attack Dinamo Zagreb coach". 21 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  20. ^ Tomo Ničota (21 September 2017). "TKO NAPADA HRVATSKE TRENERE?! MARIO CVITANOVIĆ NAŽALOST NIJE PRVI NITI JEDINI Na isti je način napadnut i Luka Bonačić, napadači nikad nisu pronađeni!" (in Croatian). Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  21. ^ "Mario Cvitanović". Sofascore. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.