Croatian manager and player for professional football, Miroslav Blaevi (10 February 1935 – 8 February 2023) was both. His professional playing career lasted from 1954 until 1966, during which time he represented Swiss clubs FC Sion and FC Moutier in addition to Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva Zagreb, FK Sarajevo, and HNK Rijeka.
His most successful time as a manager was when he was in charge of the Croatian national team, which he took to the quarterfinals of the 1996 European Championship and to third place at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The Swiss, Iranian, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Chinese Olympic national teams were among the other national teams he oversaw. Aside from FC Vevey, FC Sion, FC Lausanne-Sport, HNK Rijeka, GNK Dinamo Zagreb, Grasshopper Zürich, FC Prishtina, NK Osijek, NK Varteks, NK Zagreb, and Shanghai Shenhua, Blaevi also enjoyed good runs at those clubs.
Miroslav Blazevic Children: Meet Catherine Blažević, Barbara Blažević, Miroslav Blažević
Catherine, Barbara, and Miroslav Blazevic are the children of Miroslav Blazevic. On December 12, 2009, one day after resigning as head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team, he signed with Shanghai Shenhua. He qualified for the AFC Champions League by finishing the 2010 Chinese Super League season in a high third place finish.