Ivan "Ivica" Osim (born 6
May 1941 in Sarajevo
) is a
Bosnian football manager and former player from
the former Yugoslavia
. He was most recently head coach of
Japan, before he suffered a
stroke in November 2007 and left the post.
As player, he was a member of the
Yugoslavia national team
and played in the
1964 Olympics. As
assistant manager, he won a bronze medal with Yugoslavia at the
1984 Olympics,
and reached the quarterfinals of the
1990 FIFA World Cup as the manager of
Yugoslavia.
Early years
Born during
World War II, Osim's infant
years were spent in difficult circumstances. Following the end of
war, he started playing football in the
FK Željezničar Sarajevo's
youth system.
Playing career
Osim began his professional career with
FK Željezničar Sarajevo 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 Holland, to play for Zwolsche Boys. This stay lasted only
three months, due to a knee injury.
In 1970, he moved to RC Strasbourg and played the rest of his
career in France
, playing for
Valenciennes, Sedan and again at
Strasbourg.
He played in 16 matches for Yugoslavia, including the
1968 European
Championship where the Yugoslavs reached the final, where they
lost to
Italy.
Managerial career
Yugoslavia: 1978-1992
When his playing career ended in 1978, Osim took the coaching job
at the club where he began playing,
FK Željezničar Sarajevo.
He coached the Sarajevo club until 1986, and finished second in the
Yugoslav championship twice,
reached the Yugoslav Cup final once and the
UEFA Cup semifinals once. In addition, he assisted
Ivan Toplak, coach of the Yugoslav
Olympic team at the
1984 Olympics that won
the
bronze medal.
In 1986, he took over the
Yugoslav national team,
and reached the quarterfinals in the
1990 FIFA World Cup. Osim also coached
FK Partizan from 1991 to 1992, and
guided them to a
Yugoslav Cup title in
1992.
Yugoslavia
qualified for the 1992 European
Championship, but he resigned 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." Yugoslavia was banned from the
event, and its newly independent states have since competed as
separate nations.
Panathinaikos and Sturm Graz: 1992-2002
After leaving Yugoslavia, he coached
Panathinaikos from 1992 to 1994, winning the
Greek Cup in 1993 and 1994, and
finishing second in the league in 1993.
Between 1994 and 2002, Osim coached
SK
Sturm Graz, whom he led to the
Austrian Championship in 1998
and 1999, the
Austrian Cup in 1999 and
the
Austrian Supercup in 1998 and
1999. Sturm Graz appeared in the
UEFA Champions League from 1998 to
2000.
Japan: 2003-2007
From 2003 to 2006, Osim has coached
JEF United Ichihara (now JEF United
Ichihara Chiba) of the
J. League and has 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, the J. League Cup.
On 21 July 2006, he was appointed the manager of the
Japanese national team,
following
Zico, who had resigned following
2006 FIFA World Cup. Japan
defeated
Trinidad and
Tobago 2–0 in his debut as head coach on 9 August 2006.
At the
2007 AFC Asian Cup, Osim
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 coaching
performance, pointing out that he did not rest tired players.
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, 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 home town, Sarajevo."
Osim's remarks gained popularity with Japanese fans, and (ISBN
4797671084), a collection of his quotes published in 2005, sold
400,000 copies and was on the bestseller list in Japan.
On 16
November 2007, Osim suffered a stroke at his
residence in Chiba
, Japan
after
watching a Premier League game He
recovered consciousness on 26 November 2007 and asked his wife,
Asima, "What's the result?" of the game he was watching before 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.
On 7 December 2007, the
Japan
Football Association formally announced the appointment of
Takeshi Okada, who managed Japan
during the
1998 World Cup, to
replace Osim as
Japan manager.
Honors
References
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