Kolkata: From a match every three months to one every three days, Igor Stimac has gone from one end of managing a football team to the other. In charge of the India men’s side from 2019 to 2024, the former Croatia defender who was part of the squad that finished third in the 1998 World Cup has returned to management with HŠK Zrinjski Mostar, the league champions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of the country’s most famous clubs.
Former India coach Igor Stimac has returned to management with HŠK Zrinjski Mostar, the league champions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. (AFP)
“It is quite the change,” says Stimac from his new lodgings in Mostar, a two-hour drive from his home city of Split in Croatia. More than the shift in continents, playing over 40 matches in four competitions this season including the Conference League and signing new players, it involves a change in mindset. “But, after resting and enjoying quality time with family, I feel ready for this challenge.”
Sacked by India in June 2024, Stimac joined Zrinjski, a club founded by Croats in 1905, last month on a two-year contract. It is not the longest break the former Croatia coach has had in a 20-year coaching career where there has been a two-year gap thrice. “Rather than accept anything or jump from one job to another every year, I prefer to wait,” he says.
Waiting and weighing offers including one from a former Asian Cup finalist, Stimac said he came into Zrinjski’s line of sight after they lost the Champions League qualification play-off to Slovan Bratislava. “They wanted me immediately to make sure they qualified for the group stage of the Conference League to gain the bonus of €4m from UEFA.”
Target achieved means at least six matches in Europe, a first for Stimac as coach. Zrinjski start against Gibraltar’s Lincoln Red Imps on October 2. “The only team that can be considered underdogs and we play them at home.” They have also drawn Rapid Vienna and Dynamo Kyiv but the match Stimac says will be the toughest is away to Bundesliga side Mainz in October.
Stimac took charge of a squad “mostly made by the old management” but says the Zrinjski board accepted his “proposal for reinforcements” and signed four players. The start has not been bad. Fifth in an uneven table after four matches, Zrinjski beat Sarajevo 2-0 at home on Wednesday. Since joining Stimac has lost once, at home to Utrecht, in eight matches in all competitions.
Competing on multiple fronts – the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the cup, Conference League and the domestic Super Cup – with matches every three or four days though will need some getting used to, he says. “But we are a club with a champions mentality which also means there is a lot of positive energy.”
Adjusting to all this, Stimac says he continues to follow football in India and “support our boys whenever they play.” And some adjustment it has been. “Zrinjski have been league champions six times in the last 10 years (and nine times overall) so our opponents are very motivated playing against us. The expectations here are always the highest but that’s much better than being underdogs wherever you go,” says Stimac, 58, on a virtual call.
Beyond that, being a national team head coach also means your work is based on many factors beyond your control, he says. “FIFA windows are too short for significant improvement. So, in the few training sessions you have, your work is based mostly on mental preparation and motivational speeches. Also, your work depends on players’ form at their clubs which means the starting 11 can have many changes from window to window.”
The longer international break from September 2026 at the expense of the October window will help national team coaches, he says. “Coaches can have players for four to five weeks then.”