Northern Ireland v Azerbaijan Offical Match Programme

AZERBAIJAN THE COACH %W E TPE]IV LI WXEVVIH JSV 6IH 7XEV &EVGIPSRE ERH 6IEP 1EHVMH EW [IPP EW 'VSEXME ERH RS[ 6SFIVX 4VSWMRIʐOM is determined to make his mark as an MRXIVREXMSREP QEREKIV

The 47-year-old was appointed national coach of Azerbaijan in December 2014, replacing Berti Vogts (April 2008-October 2014). 4VSWMRIʏOM FIKER LMW GSEGLMRK GEVIIV MR EW ER EWWMWXERX XS 'VSEXME LIEH GSEGL 7PEZIR &MPMʉ In December 2010 he became head coach of Red Star Belgrade. %JXIV 6IH 7XEV ƤRMWLIH EW PIEKYI VYRRIVW YT X[MGI MR WYGGIWWMSR 4VSWMRIʏOM VIWMKRIH MR %YKYWX 2012 and in October that year he took the reins at struggling Kayserispor in the Turkish Super League. /E]WIVMWTSV IZIRXYEPP] ƤRMWLIH XLIMV PIEKYI GEQTEMKR MR E GVIHMXEFPI ƤJXL TPEGI FYX EJXIV E TSSV start the following season he resigned at the end of 2013. -R (IGIQFIV 4VSWMRIʏOM EKVIIH ER MRMXMEP X[S year contract as head coach of Azerbaijan – and XLEX GSRXVEGX LEW RS[ FIIR I\XIRHIH JSV E JYVXLIV two years. He has certainly started well in his second campaign with the Azeris. His team have not conceded a goal in their three matches to date in World Cup 2018 qualifying and are currently second in the table. (YVMRK LMW TPE]MRK HE]W 4VSWMRIʏOM WGSVIH E KSEP EX Windsor Park. He played against Northern Ireland JSV =YKSWPEZME MR XLI )YVS UYEPMƤIVW RIXXMRK MR a 2-0 victory in September 1990. The Azerbaijan coach was born in West Germany to Yugoslav parents, however the family returned to the independent republic of Croatia in 1979 when he was aged 10. After playing in the youth ranks at Dinamo Zagreb, and in some games for the senior team, he moved to Red Star Belgrade. 8LI ]SYRK ŭ ű QMHƤIPHIV [MXL WXEV TSXIRXMEP WSSR FIGEQI E ƤVWX XIEQ VIKYPEV ERH MR 3GXSFIV 1987 he was a member of the Yugoslav team which won the World Youth Championship in Chile,

and he picked up the Golden Ball award as the tournament’s best player. He spent four years with Red Star, winning the PIEKYI XLVII XMQIWɄERH XLI GYT SRGIɄEW [IPP as winning the 1991 European Cup when Red 7XEVɄFIEX 3P]QTMUYI 1EVWIMPPI MR XLI ƤREP SR penalties after a scoreless 120 minutes. 8LI XEPIRXIH QMHƤIPHIV XLIR NSMRIH 6IEP 1EHVMH MR XLI WYQQIV SJ FYX LEH QM\IH JSVXYRIW with the Spanish giants before moving on to Real Oviedo in the summer of ’94. From there he moved to Barcelona, where he spent two seasons, followed by a season with Sevilla. In 1997 he returned home to play for NK Croatia (Dinamo) Zagreb. In 2000 he moved again, this time to Standard Liège in Belgium, and in the summer of 2001 he signed for English First Division side Portsmouth on a one-year deal and put in some stunning performances. He then had further one-year stints at Olimpija Ljubljana and at NK Zagreb. In spring 2005 he ended his playing career with lower division club NK Savski Marof. 4VSWMRIʏOM [SR GETW JSV 'VSEXME ERH WGSVIH 10 goals for his country. He was also previously capped 15 times - scoring four goals - for Yugoslavia. He played for Yugoslavia at the 1990 World Cup in Italy and (following the break-up of Yugoslavia) for Croatia at Euro 1996 and in the 1998 and 2002 World Cup tournaments. -R 4VSWMRIʏOM ERH XLI 'VSEXMER WUYEH ƤRMWLIH MR XLMVH TPEGI MR XLI ;SVPH 'YT [MXL 4VSWMRIʏOM scoring two goals along the way - making him the only player in history to have scored World Cup ƤREPW KSEPW JSV X[S HMJJIVIRX REXMSRW MR LI scored for Yugoslavia in a group match against United Arab Emirates). ;SVHW 6S] /MXWSR

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