Zlatko Dalić

He started off his youth career at Troglav 1918 Livno, before joining Hajduk Split in 1983 and thus starting his senior career.

Zlatko Dalić ( born 26 October 1966) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player and is currently the manager of the Croatia national team.

He stayed at Hajduk Split until 1986, after joining Cibalia, which was at that time known as Dinamo Vinkovci.

Apart from Hajduk Split and Cibalia, Dalić also played for Budućnost Titograd, Velež Mostar and Varteks.

He finished his career in 2000 at Varteks.

After ending his playing career in 2000, he became assistant coach at Varteks.

From May 2002 to May 2005, Dalić worked as the club's sports director, and during the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons he simultaneously acted as assistant coach for Miroslav Blažević.

In May 2005, he was appointed manager of Varteks and in his first season at the helm he won third place in the Croatian First League and reached the final of the Croatian Cup.

In the first leg of the final, which was played in Rijeka, Varteks lost 0–4 to HNK Rijeka.

In the second leg in Varaždin, Dalić nearly created a sensation leading the team to a 5–1 win, but they were one goal short from lifting the silverware.

In the summer of 2007, after his contract with Varteks ended, he became manager of Rijeka, and finished fourth at the end of the 2007–08 season.

After being knocked out of the 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup by FK Renova, Dalić was sacked on 1 July 2008 just before the start of the season.

In the 2008–09 season, Dalić managed Albanian champions Dinamo Tirana, with whom he won the Albanian Supercup.

He resigned in February 2009 after losing two derbies in a row versus fellow capital teams Tirana and Partizani.

After a short stint in Albania, he returned to Croatia in 2009 and took over his third Croatian football club, Slaven Belupo.

In the 2010–11 season, he became head coach of Al-Faisaly.

At the end of the 2010–11 season under Dalić the club enjoyed the greatest success in its history, qualifying for the King's Cup in the Saudi Professional League.

Dalić was named Coach of the Year in the Saudi Professional League for the 2010–11 season by Al Riyadh newspapers.

In the selection, he beat other more famous coaches working in Saudi Arabia at the time, such as Gabriel Calderón, Walter Zenga and Eric Gerets.

On 3 May 2012, Dalić signed a contract with Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal to manage their B team.

On 30 January, Al-Hilal agreed with Dalić to coach the first team following the sacking of Antoine Kombouaré.

On 9 February 2013, he made his managerial debut with Al-Hilal against his old club Al-Faisaly in the semi-final of the 2012–13 Saudi Crown Prince Cup.

Dalić eventually led Al-Hilal to the cup title–the team's sixth consecutive win–which was also Dalić's second major title in his coaching career.

During the 2013–14 season, he was the main candidate for the position of sports director at Croatian powerhouse Hajduk Split, but turned down the offer from one of the biggest clubs in Croatian football.

On 8 March 2014, Dalić was appointed manager of Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates after the team had sacked Quique Sánchez Flores.

In his first season, he led the team to finish top of their group in the 2014 AFC Champions League, which was the first time since 2006 that the club progressed through the group stage.

On 30 April 2014, Al-Ain announced that Dalić would remain head coach for the next two seasons.

In the round of sixteen of the 2014 AFC Champions League, Al-Ain beat Al-Jazira by 4–2 to advance to the quarter-finals; in the quarter-finals, the team beat Al-Ittihad 5–1 to advance to the semi-finals, ultimately losing 4–2 to Al-Hilal, which was Dalić's former team.

On 18 May 2014, Al-Ain won the final game of UAE President's Cup against league champions Al-Ahli 1–0, which secured Dalić's first trophy as manager of Al-Ain.

Dalić won the title of Best Coach of 2014 for his performances; at the end of the first round of the UAE Pro-League, Al–Ain took the first position with one game in hand.

Eventually, Al-Ain won their 12th UAE Pro-League title in the 2014–15 season.

The club finished the season eleven points above runners-up Al Jazira and Al Shabab, only losing two games throughout the season; in this season, they also achieved several records, namely conceding the fewest goals (19), the longest unbeaten run (15 matches), the longest winning run (eight matches) and the biggest home win against Ajman (7–1).

Dalić's tenure as manager of Al-Ain saw the club rise rapidly in the Football Database Ranking; initially, the club was ranked 335th in March 2014, when Dalić arrived, and by the time of his departure, the club was ranked 122nd in the world, also reaching fifth position in Asia, according to the ranking.

On 12 July 2015, Dalić received the Coach of the Year accolade during the UAE Pro-League award ceremony for the 2014–15 UAE Pro-League season for guiding his side to winning the league title.

Dalić's first match of the 2015–16 season was a UAE Super Cup match between Al-Ain and Al-Nasr, played on 15 August and resulted in victory for Al-Ain, which won 4–2.

Following a 3–0 win against Al-Ahli in the tenth round of the UAE Pro-League on 5 December, Dalić became the best coach in the league's history since it turned professional, though Al-Ain ultimately finished second in the league in 2016.

The club also reached the 2016 AFC Champions League final, ultimately losing 2–3 to Jeonbuk Motors.

He has been manager of the Croatia since 2017 and led them to a second and third place finish at the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, respectively, along with qualifications for UEFA Euro 2020 and UEFA Euro 2024.

He has consequently been regarded as the greatest manager in the team's history.

During his time as a player, Dalić played for a number of clubs.