Michael Petrovic

Michael Petrovic
Personnel
birthday	October 18, 1957
place of birth	Belgrade ,  SFR Yugoslavia
size	172 cm
position	Defender
Juniors
Years	station
1971-1977	FK Red Star Belgrade
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1976-1977	→  FK Rad  (loan)	47 (1)
1977-1988	FK Red Star Belgrade	7 (0)
1978-1984	NK Olimpija Ljubljana	147 (7)
1984-1985	Dinamo Zagreb	34 (0)
1985-1993	SK Sturm Graz	239 (6)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1980	Yugoslavia	1 (0)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
1993-1996	SV Pöllau
1996-1998	SK Sturm Graz amateurs
1998-1999	NK Primorye
1999-2001	NK Domzale
2001-2002	NK Primorye
2002-2003	NK Olimpija Ljubljana
2003-2006	SK Sturm Graz
2006-2011	Sanfrecce Hiroshima
2012-2017	Urawa Red Diamonds
2018–	Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo
1 Only league games are given.

Michael "Mischa" Petrović (born October 18, 1957 in Belgrade ) is a former soccer player and current soccer coach . Born in Yugoslavia, he has had Austrian citizenship since 1989.

Career as a player

Michael Petrović began his professional career in his hometown with the football club FK Rad and moved to FK Red Star Belgrade during the 1977/78 season . After two years he moved to Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia , where he stayed for six years. His third club was the traditional Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb . In 1985 he received an offer abroad for the first time, which took him to Austria . He switched to the then medium- sized company SK Sturm Graz . There Petrović wore the number 10. The first few years he held the role of game designer, later he switched to defense and played the classic libero.

Petrović was fired from the squad in his final season for Sturm Graz at the age of 36. It had become too expensive for the financially troubled club, and the club wanted to rely on young players “overnight”. The dispute over the termination of the contract finally ended in court.

Career as a coach

Michael Petrović as coach of Sanfrecce Hiroshima (2010)

Like many former footballers, Michael Petrović started his coaching career after his active career. Since he wanted to stay in Graz because of his family, only Austria and Slovenia were possible jobs for him. His first position as head coach was SV Pöllau in Eastern Styria . He took over the club of the 1,400-strong community in the upper league (5th level) and led the club into the Styrian regional league (4th level).

In 1996 he was reconciled with Sturm Graz and took over the coaching position for the club's amateurs. Here he had the opportunity to work with and develop young players. His contract ended in 1998. The years from 1993 to 1998 can be seen as the apprenticeship years of Michael Petrović.

In 1998 he finally received an offer from the Slovenian first division. There he looked after smaller clubs for four years that were involved in the relegation battle. In 2002 he went to his ex-club Olimpija Ljubljana as an assistant coach.

In September 2003 he received the offer to become head coach of Sturm Graz. He was supposed to get the club back on its feet and bring young players into the team. Petrović also created a novelty in Austria. He probably became the “first freelancer” in the coaching zone . Petrović only received an employee contract at Sturm, which could be terminated at any time, and this was also strongly performance-related. He managed to stay in the league in the first season with Sturm Graz, in the second season it was at least seventh place. This also meant qualifying for the UI Cup .

Michael Petrović only looked after clubs that were considered relegation candidates at the beginning of the season. His saying "a Mischa Petrović does not descend" became known.

In May 2006, Michael Petrović submitted his resignation and signed a new contract with FC Kärnten. The Sturm fans tried to make him rethink with a signature campaign, but despite 4,000 signatures, Petrović decided to leave.

But just three weeks after signing with FC Kärnten, he terminated this contract again when he received a lucrative offer from Sanfrecce Hiroshima in Japan. This club was involved in the relegation battle in the middle of the season and wanted to bring Petrović to keep the first performance class. Petrović initially stayed in the Japanese J-League with Hiroshima, but the second year in Japan was not so successful. For the first time in his coaching career, Petrović had to relegate with a club. By winning the Japanese League Cup, however, he was able to show again and was confirmed in his office in order to achieve immediate resurgence. In his third season in Japan, he made it.

From 2012 to 2017 he coached the Urawa Red Diamonds . On January 10, 2018 he took over the coaching position at league competitor Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo .

Appreciation, criticism, philosophy and problems

Especially during his time at Sturm Graz, Petrović often indicated that he would like his work to be appreciated more.

Michael Petrović has the typical “Yugoslavian” philosophy in a footballing sense. Above all, he would like to see a playfully strong team that offers great football. Every action, every goal, should arise from the game.

Betting scandal

In 2006, Petrović was brought into the media worldwide in connection with a major betting scandal due to phone calls that were tapped by the police. A German court then found it proven in the proceedings against Dragan Antic that Antic gave Petrovic money so that he could influence Sturm Graz game results in the sense of betting fraudsters. Petrović always protested his innocence. Three years later, the Austrian authorities closed the investigation against Petrovic.

Web links

Commons : Michael Petrović  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ミ ハ イ ロ ペ ト ロ ヴ ィ ッ チ 氏 監督 就任 の お 知 ら せ | コ ン サ ド ー レ 札幌 オ フ ィ シ ャ ル サ イ ト (Japanese), Retrieved February 8, 2018
2. ↑ steiermark.orf.at
3. ↑ sueddeutsche.de