Ivica Osim

Ivan "Ivica" Osim (born 6 May 1941) is a Bosnian retired professional football manager and former player.[1] He was most recently head coach of the Japanese national team, before he suffered a stroke in November 2007 and left the post. On 18 April 2011, FIFA announced that Osim became president of the interim committee to run the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina after the country was suspended from all international competitions.[2] He stayed on that position until 13 December 2012.

Ivica Osim
Osim conducting a radio interview in June 1999 during his time as Sturm Graz manager
President of the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina normalization committee
In office
18 April 2011 – 13 December 2012
Preceded bySulejman Čolaković
Bogdan Čeko
Iljo Dominković (as Members of the Presidency)
Succeeded byElvedin Begić (as sole President)
Personal details
Born
Ivan Osim

(1941-05-06) 6 May 1941
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
(modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina)
NationalityBosnian
Height1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
Spouse(s)
Asima Osim
​
(m. 1965)​
Children2, including Amar
ParentsKarolina Osim (mother)
Mihail "Puba" Osim (father)
ResidenceSarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Association football career
Full name Ivan Osim
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1954–1959 Željezničar
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1959–1968 Željezničar 166 (56)
1968 Zwolsche Boys 2 (0)
1969–1970 Željezničar 54 (9)
1970–1972 Strasbourg 58 (16)
1972–1975 Sedan 105 (16)
1975–1976 Valenciennes 30 (1)
1976–1978 Strasbourg 32 (4)
Total 447 (102)
National team
1964–1969 Yugoslavia 16 (8)
Teams managed
1978–1986 Željezničar
1986–1992 Yugoslavia
1991–1992 Partizan
1992–1994 Panathinaikos
1994–2002 Sturm Graz
2003–2006 JEF United Chiba
2006–2007 Japan
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

As a player, he was a member of the Yugoslavia national team and played in the 1964 Summer Olympics. As assistant manager, he won a bronze medal with Yugoslavia at the 1984 Summer Olympics, and reached the quarterfinals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup as the head coach of the Yugoslavia.[3] He also reached the 1984–85 UEFA Cup semi-finals as manager of his hometown club Željezničar.

Life and family

Born during World War II in Sarajevo, precisely one month after the Nazi German invasion of Yugoslavia, to Slovene-German father Mihail "Puba" Osim[4] who worked as machinist at the railways and Polish-Czech mother Karolina. Both of his parents were also born in Sarajevo.[5] Following the end of the war, he started playing football in the Željezničar youth system. He studied mathematics at the University of Sarajevo.[4]

Osim is married to Asima and they have three children, two sons, Selmir and Amar, and daughter Irma.[3] His son Amar was a football player himself, who afterward also became a successful football manager. From 1992 Ivica lived most of the time with his wife in Austria, in Graz.,[6] then Japan, and since 2008 Sarajevo.

Club career

Osim began his professional career with hometown club Željezničar in 1959. Osim is considered one of the best Bosnians to step on a football field who was known as a ruthless dribbler. He stayed in Yugoslavia until the end of 1968, as transfers abroad were prohibited for players under 28 at the time. In December 1968 he went to the Netherlands, to play for Zwolsche Boys. This stay lasted only three months, due to a knee injury. In 1970, he moved to Strasbourg and played the rest of his career in France, playing for Valenciennes, Sedan and again at Strasbourg.[3][7]

International career

Osim played in 16 matches for Yugoslavia, including the UEFA Euro 1968 where the Yugoslavs reached the final, losing to Italy.[3][8]

Managerial career

Željezničar

When his playing career ended in 1978, Osim took the managaing job at the club where he began playing, Željezničar. He managed the club until 1986, and finished third in the Yugoslav championship once, reached the Yugoslav Cup final once and the UEFA Cup semifinals once.[3]

Yugoslavia

Osim assisted Ivan Toplak, head coach of the Yugoslav Olympic team, at the 1984 Summer Olympics where Yugoslavia won the bronze medal.

In 1986, he took over the Yugoslav national team. The first qualifying cycle for UEFA Euro 1988 ended in failure with an embarrassing 1–4 home loss against England. Contrary to expectations and custom considering the fate of Yugoslav head coaches who presided over prior failed qualifying campaigns, Osim was not fired by the Yugoslav FA (FSJ) largely thanks to personal authority of FSJ president Miljan Miljanić who wanted Osim to be given another chance.[9]

Osim's Yugoslavia rebounded in the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifications, finishing ahead of France and Scotland. At the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Yugoslavia reached the quarterfinals by eliminating Spain 2–1 in the round of 16, and proceeded to face Diego Maradona's Argentina in the quarterfinals. Despite losing a defender Refik Šabanadžović to a red card at the half an hour mark, Osim's team held on through the entire game and extra time, only to unfortunately lose on penalties.[3][10]

Yugoslavia qualified for UEFA Euro 1992, but Osim resigned on May 23, 1992; as his family in Sarajevo faced Serbian bombardment in the Yugoslav wars. "My country doesn't deserve to play in the European Championship," said Osim, "On the scale of human suffering, I cannot reconcile events at home with my position as national manager."[11] Yugoslavia was banned from the event, and its newly independent states have since competed as separate nations. Osim's home national team, Bosnia and Herzegovina, had to wait further 23 years to qualify for their first major football competition, having done so for the 2014 FIFA World Cup held in Brazil.

Partizan

Osim became the new manager of Partizan in the summer of 1991, in parallel with coaching the Yugoslav national team. He won the 1991–92 Yugoslav Cup with Partizan having eliminating his old club Željezničar during the semi-finals of the competition.[3]

Panathinaikos

After leaving Yugoslavia, Osim managed Panathinaikos from 1992 to 1994, winning the Greek Cup in 1993, and finishing second in the league in 1993.

Sturm Graz

Between 1994 and 2002, Osim managed Austrian club Sturm Graz, whom he led to the Austrian Bundesliga in 1998 and 1999, the Austrian Cup in 1996, 1997 and 1999 and the Austrian Supercup in 1996, 1998 and 1999. Sturm Graz also appeared in the UEFA Champions League from 1998 to 2000 under Osim's guidance.

JEF United Ichihara

From 2003 to 2006, Osim was manager of JEF United Chiba of the J1 League and built a contender despite the club's modest means. The club came closest to its first league title in 2003 when it finished third in the season's first stage and second in the second stage. In 2005, the club won its first major title with Osim as manager, the J. League Cup.

Japan

On 21 July 2006, Osim was appointed head coach of the Japan national team, following Zico, who had resigned after the end of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Japan defeated Trinidad and Tobago 2–0 in Osim's debut as head coach on 9 August 2006.

At the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, he failed to lead Japan to its third successive title, losing to Saudi Arabia in the semifinal and to South Korea in the third-place match on penalty kicks. He said, "I feel like I've dropped my trousers. Twice," in describing his own managerial performance, pointing out that he did not rest the tired players.[12] During the tournament, Osim reduced his interpreter to tears during a dressing room tirade, in which he called his players "amateurs" following a 1–1 draw against Qatar,[13] and refused to watch the penalty shootout against Australia in the quarterfinal round, saying "I didn't see it because it was bad for my heart. I don't want to die while I coach Japan's national team. I want to die in my hometown, Sarajevo."[14]

Osim's remarks gained popularity with Japanese fans, and Words of Osim (オシムの言葉, Oshimu no kotoba) (ISBN 4797671084), a collection of his quotes published in 2005, sold 400,000 copies and was on the bestseller list in Japan.[14]

Health issues

On 16 November 2007, Osim suffered a stroke at his residence in Chiba, Japan while watching a friendly match between Austria and England on television[14] He was in a coma for almost three weeks during which time he was visited by notable people of world football like Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter among others. Eventually, Osim regained consciousness on 3 December 2007 and asked his wife, Asima, "What's the score?" of the game he was watching at the critical moment when he suffered the stroke. He was then moved from an intensive care unit to a general ward at the Juntendo University hospital in Urayasu, Chiba on 23 December 2007.[3]

On 7 December 2007, the Japan FA formally announced the appointment of Takeshi Okada, who coached Japan during the 1998 FIFA World Cup, to replace Osim as Japan head coach.[15]

Managerial statistics
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Team From To Record
GWDLWin %
Željezničar June 1978 May 1986 301 118 81 102 039.20
Yugoslavia October 1986 March 1992 51 27 10 14 052.94
Partizan July 1991 June 1992 42 29 5 8 069.05
Panathinaikos June 1992 March 1994 69 45 11 13 065.22
Sturm Graz June 1994 September 2002 378 203 81 94 053.70
JEF United Chiba[16] January 2003 July 2006 136 66 40 30 048.53
Japan July 2006 November 2007 20 13 2 5 065.00
Total 997 501 230 266 050.25

Administrative work

Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina

On 18 April 2011, FIFA announced that Osim would head an interim committee to run the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina after the country was suspended for two months from all international competitions by FIFA.[2] He held on to that position until 13 December 2012.

Honours

Player

Željezničar

Strasbourg

Yugoslavia

Manager

Partizan

Panathinaikos

Sturm Graz

JEF United Chiba

Awards and orders

Awards

Osim received the Sixth April Award of Sarajevo in 1990.[17]

Orders

See also

References
  1. Garber, Mario (19 May 2009). "Nikad nisam skrivao da sam Jugosloven". e-novine.com (in Bosnian). E-Novine. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  2. "FIFA Names Ivica Osim Head of Bosnian Football". balkaninsight.com. Balkan Insight. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  3. Wilson, Jonathan (10 December 2012). "Ivica Osim - The great Bosnian coach reflects on the war, Japan and Alan Mullery's lack of fair play". The Blizzard - the Football Quarterly. Blizzard Media Ltd (Seven): 41–48. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  4. "Štrausa s Grbavice: Kako ojačati i ući u prvi tim? - Ivica Osim 1. deo memoara (1969)". Yugopapir.blogspot.ca. originally in Plavi vjesnik. January–February 1969.
  5. Ivica Osim Archived 6 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine - manijaci.ba
  6. "Österreichs Spiel ist moderner geworden". derstandard.at (in German). STANDARD Verlagsgesellschaft m.b.H. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  7. "Ovo su moji najdraži golovi! - Sarajevska legenda - Ivica Osim (1967)". Yugopapir.blogspot.com (in Bosnian). originally in Plavi vjesnik. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  8. "Ivica Osim". Reprezentacija.rs (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  9. Savicevic interview on YouTube
  10. Wilson, Jonathan. "HAIL, BOSNIA". SI.com. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  11. Hughes, Rob (3 June 1992). "The Right Thing, Reluctantly". nytimes.com. New York Times. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
  12. Mulligan, James (30 July 2007). "Osim admits mistakes after disappointing finish in Asian Cup". The Japan Times.
  13. Himmer, Alistair (10 July 2007). "Soccer-Japan coach blasts players, reduces interpreter to tears". Reuters.
  14. "Japan national coach Osim suffers stroke". Reuters. 16 November 2007. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016.
  15. "Okada set for Japanese national team". soccernet.espn.go.com. ESPN. 4 December 2007.
  16. J.League Data Site (in Japanese)
  17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 December 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2019.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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