Croatia is mourning the loss of coach Miroslav ‘Ćiro’ Blažević, who has passed away on the eve of his 88th birthday. Best known for taking Croatia to third place at the 1998 World Cup, Blažević had a long career in the game, both as a player and a manager.
Before his role leading the national team of newly independent Croatia in 1994, Blažević was most associated with Dinamo Zagreb. Taking the club to a long-awaited title in 1982, he returned to the Maksimir a decade later but was soon lured to steer a golden generation of players to their first major finals at Euro ’96, and then in France in 1998.
Zvonimir Boban, Davor Šuker and Slaven Bilić all became global stars as Croatia came close to reaching the World Cup final at their first attempt. Backed by fervent support, fans sleeping out in the streets and parks of France as their team progressed, Croatia eventually claimed third place at the tournament. Famously, Blažević stood on the touchline at matches wearing the policemen’s cap, or képi, in honour of Daniel Nivel, the officer critically injured after being attacked by German hooligans that summer.
Unable to settle after 1998, working for short stints in Iran, China and Bosnia, Blažević was last seen in public just before Christmas while receiving an award for his contribution to sport. Addressing the audience, Blažević was typically honest about his ongoing battle with cancer. The Travnik-born legend lived long enough to see Croatia reach another World Cup semi-final the same month, an achievement he had helped create more than two decades ago.