Ante ÃÂaÃÂiÃÂ (; born 29 September 1953) is a Croatian professional football manager who was most recently manager of Croatian Football League club Dinamo Zagreb.
ÃÂaÃÂiÃÂ graduated from the Faculty of Physical Education at the University of Zagreb. He was one of the first ten football coaches in Croatia to get the UEFA Pro Licence.
During his career, ÃÂaÃÂiàsuccessfully achieved promotion to the top division with Inter Zapreà ¡iàand Dubrava. He also managed Zadar, Osijek, Slaven Belupo, Kamen Ingrad, Croatia Sesvete and Lokomotiva Zagreb.
In the 2002âÂÂ03 season, ÃÂaÃÂiàwas at the helm of Inter Zapreà ¡iàin the south division in Druga HNL. In March 2003, he resigned after losing to the first-placed team Uljanik, leaving Inter at the second place in the table and five points behind the leaders. He was replaced with Ilija LonÃÂareviÃÂ, who achieved promotion to Prva HNL.
When LonÃÂareviÃÂ was appointed manager of the Libya national football team, he named ÃÂaÃÂiÃÂ as his assistant. During his time at Libya, he was chosen to lead their under-20 squad at the 2005 Mediterranean Games held in Spain. After losing to the hosts in the semi-finals, they won the bronze medal after defeating Morocco in the penalty shoot-out.
In June 2006, ÃÂaÃÂiÃÂ returned to Croatia and was appointed manager of Kamen Ingrad, but after only three months he terminated his contract.
In October 2006, he again took over the helm of Inter Zapreà ¡iàafter they sacked SreÃÂko Bogdan. ÃÂaÃÂiàled Inter to the first place in the 2006âÂÂ07 Druga HNL and the team was promoted to Prva HNL. After a disappointing start in the following season, he was sacked in August 2007.
In October 2011, ÃÂaÃÂiÃÂ was appointed manager of Lokomotiva Zagreb. They finished in the sixth place at the winter break, undefeated in four games led by ÃÂaÃÂiÃÂ.
On 23 December 2011, it was announced that ÃÂaÃÂiÃÂ had signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Dinamo Zagreb. He was sacked from Dinamo in November 2012.
ÃÂaÃÂiÃÂ was without assignment until April 2013 when he took over as manager of Radnik Sesvete.
ÃÂaÃÂiÃÂ left Radnik Sesvete in early June 2013, when he accepted an offer from Slovenian champions Maribor.
ÃÂaÃÂiÃÂ became manager of Slaven Belupo on 4 November 2014 and the club finished sixth in his only season at the helm of the club.
ÃÂaÃÂiÃÂ again became manager of Lokomotiva on 3 June 2015 and was with the club for only three months before being selected as head coach of the Croatia national football team.
Following the sacking of Niko KovaÃÂ, which was caused due to a poor run in the Euro 2016 qualifying, Ante ÃÂaÃÂiàwas appointed as head coach of the Croatia national team. His appointment was very controversial and left fans of the national team in shock. Croatia finished second in their qualifying group, securing a place in the group stages of Euro 2016 in France. Croatia enjoyed a memorable group stage run, topping their group after beating European champions Spain by a scoreline of 2âÂÂ1 on 21 June, despite key-player Luka Modriànot playing due to injury problems. However, Croatian fans had earlier sparked controversy during a match against the Czech Republic, which finished 2âÂÂ2, when flares were lit at the near end of the match. After beating Spain, Croatia were tipped as one of the favorites to win the tournament, but they were knocked out by future winners Portugal in the round of sixteen.
ÃÂaÃÂiÃÂ was voted as the 7th Best National Team Coach by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics.
ÃÂaÃÂiàtook Croatia to a strong start in their qualifying campaign, with Croatia leading their group and remaining undefeated. However, defeats to Iceland and Turkey, as well as a draw to Finland threatened their progression and caused a public outcry against ÃÂaÃÂiÃÂ, who was criticized for his poor team selection, decreasing player morale and losing support from players and fans. ÃÂaÃÂiàwas also criticized by former Croatia head coach Miroslav Blaà ¾eviÃÂ.
He was sacked on 7 October 2017, with Zlatko DaliÃÂ being named as his successor.
On 27 December 2019, he was appointed manager of Egyptian club Pyramids FC. He led his team to reach the 2020 CAF Confederation Cup Final, which they lost 0âÂÂ1 against RS Berkane. Later on, Pyramids decided to find a new coach, after they finished third in the 2019âÂÂ20 Egyptian Premier League.
On 21 April 2022, ÃÂaÃÂiàbecame the manager of Dinamo Zagreb by the end of the 2021âÂÂ22 season, in which he eventually led them to win their 23rd league title.
ÃÂaÃÂiàsuccessfully guided Dinamo back into the Champions League group stages the following season, beating Shkupi, Ludogorets and Bodø/Glimt in the qualification rounds. Dinamo won their opening match in the group stage against Chelsea at the Maksimir, thanks to a goal from Mislav Orà ¡iÃÂ. Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel was subsequently sacked the following day.
Dinamo Zagreb
Maribor
Pyramids
Libya U20
Individual