Ranko Popović

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Ranko Popović
TSV Hartberg vs SKN St. Pölten (20) .jpg
Ranko Popović (2019)
Personnel
birthday June 26, 1967
place of birth Peja ,  SFR Yugoslavia
size 183 cm
position Defender ( central defender )
Juniors
Years station
1978–198? KF Besa
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
198? -1988 KF Besa
1988-1992 FK Partizan Belgrade 2 0(0)
1989-1990 →  FK Leotar Trebinje  (loan) 13 0(0)
1992-1994 FK Spartak Subotica
1994-1995 Ethnikos Piraeus 10 0(0)
1995-1997 UD Almería 16 0(0)
1997-2001 SK Sturm Graz 74 (10)
2001-2004 TuS FC Arnfels
2004-2006 SV Pachern 25 0(4)
Stations as a trainer
Years station
2001-2003 TuS FC Arnfels ( player-coach )
2003-2006 SK Sturm Graz (Co-Tr.)
2004-2006 SV Pachern (player coach)
2006-2007 Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Co-Tr.)
2007-2009 FK Spartak Zlatibor Voda
2009 Ōita Trinita
2011–2012 FC Machida Zelvia
2012-2013 FC Tokyo
2014 Cerezo Osaka
2014-2015 Real Zaragoza
2016-2017 Buriram United
2017-2018 Pune City FC
2018-2019 SKN St. Pölten
2020– FC Machida Zelvia
1 Only league games are given.

Ranko Popović (born June 26, 1967 in Peja , SFR Yugoslavia ; today Kosovo ) is a former Serbian - Austrian football player and current coach .

Player career

Career start in Peja and Belgrade

Ranko Popović was born on June 26, 1967 in the city of Peja in what was then SR Serbia , which in turn was part of the province of Kosovo and Metohija . He began his club career as a football player in 1978 at the latest when he joined his Kosovar hometown club KF Besa . There he went through all the youth league classes and subsequently also belonged to its men's team. Due to strong performances at his home club, the successful Serbian club Partizan Belgrade , who had become champions twice and once runner-up in the last three seasons, noticed the young defensive talent and steered Popović to the capital of SR Serbia and SFR Yugoslavia. In the team consisting entirely of Yugoslavs, which with Jia Xiuquan and Liu Haiguang also had two non-Europeans in its ranks, the then 21-year-old was barely able to prevail against the older teammates and mostly acted as a substitute for the professionals and regular players of the second Team.

In order to collect more match practice, he was then awarded in 1989 to the Yugoslav second division club FK Leotar Trebinje from Bosnia and Herzegovina , from which he returned the following year after 13 league appearances. At FK Partizan, who were always at the top of the table at the end of the season, but rarely really played for the championship title, the 1.83 m defensive line was hardly noticed. After he had come under the coaches Fahrudin Jusufi , Momčilo Vukotić , Ivan Golac , Nenad Bjeković , Miloš Milutinović and most recently Ivica Osim in four seasons to only two appearances in the Yugoslav first class , he was given to the league rivals FK Spartak Subotica .

Via Spartak Subotica to Greece and Spain

Spartak Subotica had finished the 1991/92 season , which was also the last with the participation of teams from SR Bosnia and Herzegovina and SR Macedonia and thus also the last of a unified SFR Yugoslavia, on the 16th of 18 places. The league could only be kept due to the league dissolution and participation in the subsequent Prva liga SR Jugoslavije . In the Prva liga SR Jugoslavije 1992/93 , the first season of the new football league of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , later Serbia and Montenegro, the club from the second largest city of Vojvodina again barely managed to stay in the league. After a league reform - the field of participants was divided into two groups of ten teams each - Spartak Subotica was able to improve its performance and at the end of the autumn season of the 1993/94 season reached second place in group B behind the capital club OFK Belgrade . In the subsequent championship round in the spring of 1994, Popović and his team still reached fifth place in the table.

Due to the turmoil of the Yugoslav wars, the right-footed man fled to Greece , where he hired the former first division club Ethnikos Piraeus . In the Alpha Ethniki 1994/95 , the 27-year-old only made ten championship appearances before he had to flee again after he was threatened at gunpoint when he wanted to claim outstanding wages from the club's president. After his contract, which was already limited to one season, expired, Popović moved to Spain in the summer of 1995 to join UD Almería , which had just been established a few years earlier and had just made it to the Segunda División . As he was used to in Subotica, the defensive player fought to stay in the league at Almería until the end, which the club just managed to achieve with 16th out of 20 places in the final standings. In the Andalusian port city he played regularly in front of 15,000 spectators, but was also considered a rarely used player here. In nine league appearances in the 1995/96 season , which he completed with his compatriot Nikola Milinković , who later also worked in Austria, Popović received three yellow and one red cards . Only from the end of January to the end of February 1996 did he go on regular missions when he compensated for injuries caused by absenteeism. There were also four appearances in the Copa del Rey 1995/96 , in which the UD Almería was eliminated in the second round against Atlético Madrid . During this time, Ljubomir Vorkapić , who Popović knew from his time in Belgrade, played at Almería .

The 1996-97 season was similar to the previous one for the 29-year-old. In only seven missions in the Segunda División, he again attracted attention and received two yellow and one red cards. Against defenders like José María Cidoncha , Francisco Javier Cuaresma and José Manuel Rodríguez Ortega could not prevail and soon had to start looking for a new employer again. In addition, the team, which was led by four different coaches this season alone, could not break away from the bottom of the table until the end and was heading for a relegation to the third division. Shortly before the end of the season, Popović received a call from his former team-mate Darko Milanič, whom he knew from his time at Partizan Belgrade and who have been friends since then. Milanič played in Austria at SK Sturm Graz since 1993 and had a well-known trainer in Ivica Osim since 1994. Since Sturm was looking for a replacement in this position after the departure of some defensive players such as Enzo Gambaro , Martin Hiden , Pål Lydersen or Herbert Grassler and Popović was at least an ideal candidate for Milanič, he recommended that President Hannes Kartnig sign the almost 30-year-old Serb. He agreed and signed the 1.83 defensive player a few days after his 30th birthday.

Audience favorite and Champions League participant at Sturm Graz

Ranko Popović's jersey from the 1998/99 season

With the Styrians , who were cup winners in the previous season and finished third in the league in 1996/97 , the Serb then made his competitive debut on July 5, when the narrow 0-1 defeat against SK Rapid Wien in the ÖFB Supercup from the 60th minute of play for Mario Posch was used. Four days later he was in action at the opening game of the new Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium in Graz-Liebenau against city rivals GAK and, alongside Franco Foda , Darko Milanič and Günther Neukirchner, part of the four-man defense chain. In late summer and autumn he took part with the team in the European Cup Winners' Cup 1997/98 . After a total score of 4: 0 against APOEL Nicosia in round 1, the team was eliminated from the tournament in the second round with just 1: 2 against AEK Athens . In the league he started a successful run with the Grazers and stood with SK Sturm with 50 points and 50 goals from 21 completed league games, which was a record in Austrian football, as autumn champion and winter king during the winter break. Ranko Popović became a crowd favorite this season and was nicknamed Popo by the fans .

The 1997/98 season , which is generally considered to be the birth of the “magic triangle” around Hannes Reinmayr , Ivica Vastić and Mario Haas , was decided with the team after a 5-0 home win over FK Austria Wien seven rounds before the end of the season. With a record of 70 points, the Graz team secured the first championship title in the club's history and in the end even came up with 81 points in the table, 21 points ahead of next-placed rival SK Rapid Wien and 22 points over city rivals GAK. The Graz team then lost the final of the 1997/98 ÖFB Cup three days after the official championship celebrations against SV Ried , which was also able to celebrate their first major success. Popović played 32 league games this season (three goals), three games in the Cup Winners' Cup, two matches in the ÖFB Cup, and one ÖFB Supercup game shortly after his engagement.

After the successes of the previous season, the "Eisenfuß", as Popović was also often called in Austria, took part with the team in the second qualifying round for the 1998/99 UEFA Champions League and clearly finished Újpest Budapest with an overall result of 7: 2 from. As the third Austrian team after SV Austria Salzburg ( 1994/95 ) and SK Rapid Wien ( 1996/97 ), Sturm Graz made it into the Champions League group stage. In this, the native Serb and his team were clearly underdogs against Inter Milan , Real Madrid and Spartak Moscow and only scored one point in the second leg against the Russians in six matches . Popović, who was next to Foda as a veteran in the defense of the sports club and as such also acted as a regular force, was involved in all six games of the group stage; in qualifying for this he only completed the second leg. This season, however, the defender had to struggle with some injury problems and was one of the ailing players on the defensive alongside Darko Milanič and goalkeeper Kazimierz Sidorczuk this year.

Unlike in his previous career, Popović also scored regular goals with Sturm, which he usually celebrated with inserted dance interludes in front of the fans. For example, in the clear 5-0 win in the derby against the Grazer AK on November 8, 1998, when he scored the goal in the 81st minute of the game. This win was also the highest derby win by Sturm since a 10-1 win in the national league in 1946. Another two hits followed in the league, in which the defensive line had made 25 missions, as well as six yellow and one red cards. No less dangerous he was in the ÖFB-Cup 1998/99 , in which he once again moved into the finals with the team, defeating LASK 4-2 on penalties . In appearances in all six cup games, he contributed two goals. He also won the second Supercup title for Sturm in the summer of 1998 and was again Austrian football champion at the end of May 1999.

Golden years in a storm

In the golden years of Graz, however, the disillusionment soon followed for Popović, after he initially failed due to an injury ( sciatica ), he was soon sidelined by the club's management. When Sturm won the Supercup on June 25, 1999 after a victory on penalties over LASK and thus secured the triple , Popović was not part of the squad due to injury. Not even when the team started the 1999/2000 Bundesliga season a few days later . Only in the fifth championship game was Popović used again by Osim; of all things, if there was yet another runaway victory over arch rivals GAK. The Serbian-born was also part of the regular squad alongside Franco Foda, Günther Neukirchner and newcomer György Korsós in the two subsequent league games, one of which he scored in one . In the third qualifying round for the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League , Popović was used in both games and only missed the two league games in between. After the successful qualification for the Champions League group stage, the defensive specialist, who always looked for closeness to the audience and celebrated with the fans with Bengalo in hand, was last used in a league game on August 28, 1999 and belonged to it then for months no longer to the professional squad of Graz.

He missed the entire group stage, which ended Sturm in third place behind Manchester United , Olympique Marseille and ahead of Croatia Zagreb and then took part in the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup third round , which ended in a scandalous match against AC Parma . It was not until April 14th that he was back on the bench in a Bundesliga game in the 29th round; However, Popović had to wait another month for a mission. In a 4-1 home win over leaders FC Tirol Innsbruck , he played from the start in his original position, which he also held in the subsequent 4-2 win over city rivals GAK, in which he scored again. Although Sturm still had a chance of winning the championship at this point, Osim did not use the veteran, who had only made six Bundesliga appearances and two goals this season. In the end, he was runner- up with the traditional Graz club, which was eliminated from the tournament early in this year's ÖFB Cup , three points behind FC Tirol Innsbruck, which sometimes meant participation in the third Champions League qualification in a row.

Inglorious end

After the Graz budget had increased almost twentyfold in the course of a few years due to the successes of previous seasons and new expensive players were hired, the often ailing defensive man found it difficult to find his way back into the regular formation. In the first ten rounds he was used in only two games and was otherwise always unused on the bench. When, on July 29, 2000, SK Sturm Graz won 4-2 at home over SV Ried and the Swiss Nicole Petignat , a woman led an encounter in the Austrian Bundesliga for the first time , Popović said goodbye, who played in this game with his so-called "iron foot" had also scored a hit from the game master with a kiss on the hand . After that, the defensive player, known for his hard shot, made a number of consecutive championship appearances from mid-September to mid-November. He also qualified with the team after victories over Hapoel Tel Aviv in the second and Feyenoord Rotterdam in the third qualifying round for the group stage of the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League . In this, Popović, at that time again an important support on the defensive of Graz, met the reigning UEFA Cup winner Galatasaray Istanbul , as well as the Glasgow Rangers and AS Monaco .

As the first and so far (as of 2018) only Austrian team in history, he made it to the next round with Sturm as group winner, which in turn was held as the intermediate round in another group phase. On December 6, 2000, he played his last game for the Styrians in the 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford against Manchester United , the last competitive game before the winter break. When, at the beginning of 2001, the Ghanaian Charles Amoah moved from FC St. Gallen to the Mur for an Austrian record sum of (rumored) 50 million schillings , Sturm's foreign contingent was largely exhausted. After Peter Hlinka , another player from non-EU countries, had been hired a few days earlier , there were now six non-EU foreigners in the squad: Amoah, Hlinka, Korsós, Imre Szabics , Mehrdad Minavand and Popović. Since only five were allowed, an exit was necessary; to everyone's surprise, the club's management announced the departure of Popović. The then 33-year-old defender, whose contract would have run until the summer of 2001, sued the club for reinstatement and loss of earnings in the amount of around 3.3 million schillings.

Career end in Arnfels and Pachern

Popović was then completely dropped from the club's leadership; he was denied access to the team dressing room after a 2-0 win over Panathinaikos Athens in the second Champions League group stage. In addition, Rudolf Novotny received a ban from the club management from the Association of Footballers (VdF), which was also involved in the dispute . After an out-of-court settlement was subsequently reached , Popović only found a new employer after a year when he moved to TuS FC Arnfels during the 2001/02 winter break . At that time, he played with his soccer team, which had been outsourced since October 2001, in the fourth-class Styrian regional league , after the master builder Karl Schleich had led the club from the lower league into the higher divisions as president and main sponsor. Popović was not only supposed to act as an experienced player, but was also used as a coach. In the final classification 2001/02 he ranked with the team in third place in the national league and qualified for the ÖFB Cup 2002/03 . After Tomislav Kocijan, a former colleague of Sturm, joined TuS Arnfels in the summer , he made it to the round of 16 in the Austrian soccer cup, in which around 5,000 spectators at the local sports field ended after a 4-0 defeat by the GAK. In the same season he fixed the promotion to the Middle Regional League with the team and qualified with the team again for the Austrian Cup. In the 2003/04 edition - Jan-Pieter Martens , another former team-mate from the Sturm squad, played in the team - TuS Arnfels once again reached the round of 16 and this time lost just 1-0 to SK Rapid Wien.

In the league, Popović reached third place with Arnfels, before club boss Schleich withdrew for financial reasons, the club ceased its league operations and subsequently dissolved. At the time of the dissolution of TuS Arnfels, the now 37-year-old moved to the not far away SV Pachern in the sixth class middle division and also took over the coaching of the amateur club. With Pachern he became a superior master straight away and thus made it to the Oberliga Mitte / West. Here the team reached second place behind the Deutschlandsberger SC in the final ranking of 2005/06 , with Popović as a regular player in 25 of 26 possible league games on the field and scoring four goals. In the 2006/07 season, in which SV Pachern again narrowly failed because of a promotion to the national league, Popović only appeared as a coach in the first game of the season and then switched to Mischa Petrović , whose assistant he was also from 2003 to 2006 at SK Sturm Graz was to Japan.

Coaching career

Via Arnfels, Pachern and Sturm Graz to Japan

After serving as head coach for the amateur teams in Arnfels and Pachern and assistant coach at the Bundesliga club Sturm Graz, he appeared alongside Petrović as assistant coach at his first Japan station, Sanfrecce Hiroshima . While Petrović, who shared a similar fate with Popović at the end of his career at Sturm Graz - he too was suddenly dropped from the club's leadership, whereupon Petrović sued the club - appeared as the head coach of the Japanese first division club until 2011 , Popović left the following year returned to the club and instead switched to a club in his home country the following summer. At FK Spartak Subotica, where he played in the 1990s and which had just merged with FK Zlatibor Voda and took part in the game operation of the Serbian second division under the name Spartak Zlatibor Voda , he took over the post as head coach before he got a year later was replaced by Zoran Milinković . Shortly before, he and the team had reached fourth place in the final ranking and, due to the increase in the highest Serbian football league from twelve to 16 teams, he had made it to the upper house. Due to the good contacts of Ivica Osim and Mischa Petrović in Japan, he came back to the "Land of the Rising Sun" with their support.

Promotion to the Serbian SuperLiga and return to Japan

After the successes in Serbia he fought as head coach from August 1, 2009 to replace the dismissed Péricles Chamusca in Japan with Ōita Trinita to stay in the J. League Division 1 2009 . In the first game, the league game of the 20th round against Nagoya Grampus , the former defensive specialist led his team to a 2-1 home win and four days later lost the game for the Copa Suruga Bank against SC Internacional from Brazil just 1: 2. This was followed by four league defeats before the team recovered and scored points again. In the last ten championship rounds, the club from the port city of Ōita remained without defeat, but came only to narrow game results, including five draws. Despite the passable performance towards the end of the season, the team had previously recorded too many defeats to be able to break away from the bottom of the table. With 30 points from 34 games, of which 23 points were achieved under Popović's leadership, the already financially troubled club Ōita Trinita ranked 16th and penultimate place in the table at the end of the year, which meant relegation to the J. League Division 2 .

The employment relationship was then terminated and the option existing in the contract for another year was not drawn due to the financial situation of the club, whereupon Popović remained without a significant employer for a year. In December 2010 he was introduced for the 2011 game year as the new head coach of FC Machida Zelvia with play operations in the Japan Football League , which was still third-rate at the time. During this time, Popović used his contacts in Austria and guided the native Yugoslav Dragan Dimić into the squad, which was almost exclusively made up of Japanese. Almost exactly a year after the contract was signed, the contract between Popović and the Japanese third division club, after he had achieved his goal of promotion to the second division, was dissolved again in early December 2011. In the final standings, FC Machida Zelvia had reached third place in the table and rose together with fourth place, the crowd puller Matsumoto Yamaga FC , to the next higher division after the first and second placed were not eligible for promotion.

From the J. League Division 1 to the Spanish Segunda División

From 2012 to 2013 Popović looked after the Japanese first division club FC Toyko.

Popović then joined the long-time Japanese first division club FC Tokyo , who had played in J. League Division 2 for a year after relegation in 2010 and immediately managed to get promoted there. He started the 2012 game year with his team when the club participated in the Japanese Supercup for the first time , after FC Tokyo won the 2011 Kaiser Cup as a second division team . The capital city club lost this game against reigning champions Kashiwa Reysol, however, just 2-1. Due to the cup success, the team was also qualified for the AFC Champions League for the first time in its history . In the 2012 edition , the team under Popović's leadership reached second place in Group F and then moved into the round of 16, where the team was defeated by a narrow 0: 1 against the Guangzhou Evergrande club from the People's Republic of China , which was coached by world champion Marcello Lippi now eliminated from the tournament. In the league, FC Toyko had problems to maintain its performance in the further course of the year after a relatively decent start to the season and kept falling back in the table.

In the rather tightly staggered final classification of the J. League Division 1 2012 , the team trained by Popović ranked tenth in the table with 48 points and was eliminated as the reigning cup winner in the 2012 Imperial Cup in the second round against Tōkyō Musashino City . In the J. League Cup 2012 , the Japanese league cup, the team made it to the semi-finals, but lost 3-0 in the second leg against Shimizu S-Pulse , which they had won 2-1 in the first leg. As in his previous positions, he also counted on the support of Serbian players in Tokyo and brought Nemanja Vučićević to Japan in the summer of 2012 .

The Serbian-born also led his team through the 2013 season, with whom he finished eighth at the end of the J. League Division 1 2013 with 54 points; five more points would have been necessary for an AFC Champions League qualification place. After Popović had not reached the set early in the season goal of profit for the championship title and also in the Emperor's Cup in 2013 already in the group stage and in the J.League Cup 2013 was eliminated in the second round, the club's management gave the FC Tokyo around President Kenji Akune at the end October 2013 announced the termination of the contract for the then 46-year-old at the end of the 2013 season. When Popović put the position of coach at FC Toyko in the hands of Massimo Ficcadenti , the first Italian coach in the J. League, his next career station was already determined. At the end of 2013 he was introduced as the new coach of league competitor Cerezo Osaka for the 2014 game year . With a squad consisting primarily of Japanese, of course, but already mixed with international players, Popović started the 2014 game year and already in the second month of his work with Gojko Kačar from Hamburger SV , he brought a Serb to the team - on loan.

Since the club had finished the previous year in fourth place in the table, he took part with this in the AFC Champions League 2014 . Here Popović made it with the team he had now trained again through a second group place in the subsequent round of 16 and was eliminated there - like two years before with FC Tokyo - against the Chinese representative Guangzhou Evergrande (1: 5 and 1: 0) ongoing tournament. In the league it was largely even for the team, but after the 14th championship round the team was only one point away from a subsequent relegation zone. Due to the elimination from the Champions League a few days earlier, Popović was counted. The one-year contract was subsequently terminated by mutual agreement in May / June and Popović together with his assistant coach Vladica Grujić , who is also an Austrian citizen and had already worked for Popović's side at FC Tokyo for a year, prematurely dismiss.

As a replacement for the recently fired Víctor Muñoz , he was entrusted with the coaching position of the Spanish second division club Real Saragossa in November 2014 . He initially held a contract until the end of the 2014/15 season with the option of an extension in the event of a positive result. Vladica Grujić also moved to Spain as his assistant coach with Popović. When he took over the team after the 14th matchday, it was in eighth place in the table in a largely balanced table situation. By the end of the season after round 42, he led the Aragonese with 61 points to a sixth place in the final classification, which meant participation in the promotion play-offs . After a 0: 3 defeat against Girona FC semi-final first leg Zaragoza defeated the Catalans in the return game with 4: 1 and increased due to the away goals rule to all critical final against UD Las Palmas , who had also just made the finals on away goals, a. After a 3-1 win in the first leg, Popović and his team were on the verge of promotion to the Primera División , but lost the second leg with the team and did not rise to the Spanish first class due to the away goals rule drawn through these play-offs.

Although he missed promotion to the House of Lords, his contract was extended for another year. Shortly before the start of the 2015/16 season , Popović's efforts brought the Japanese Ariajasuru Hasegawa , who had already played at FC Tokyo and Cerezo Osaka under him, to Real Saragossa, where he signed a one-year contract with the option of an extension for two more years received. After a 3-1 defeat by Gimnàstic de Tarragona on December 19, 2015, the Serbian and his assistant coach were relieved of their duties and released from the club the following day. Less than two months earlier, he had been voted Coach of the Month for October.

Further coaching stations in Asia

After the brief coach of the Thai first division club Buriram United Afshin Ghotbi was dismissed after only three months in office, Ranko Popović was introduced as the new head coach on August 26, 2016. Popović took with him again Vladica Grujić, who had acted as his assistant coach since 2013, and Božidar Bandović , who had already briefly acted as coach at Buriram United in 2014, who was introduced as the new technical director. Popović had played with Bandović for a short time at Ethnikos Piraeus over 20 years earlier. Popović then made his competitive debut as a coach on September 10, 2016 in a 2-1 home win in the league against Bangkok Glass . The following October he led the team to win the Thai League Cup , the Thai league cup. At that point, Buriram United would have been in the final together with Muangthong United ; However, since King Bhumibol had died two days before the final game, the Thai Association decided not to let the final take place out of respect for the late monarch and named both clubs as winners of this year's league cup. The other ongoing competitions, including the Thai Premier League 2016 , were also discontinued early. At this point in time, three or even four rounds for some teams should have been played. Buriram United was one of four teams that had only played 30 games at the time and had four rounds open. After the game was stopped, the club ranked fourth with 55 points and missed an international starting place. At the turn of the year 2016/17, he also led the team to win the Mekong Club Championship .

After successfully leading his team through the 2017 game year , he was suspended from the Thai Association for three months in June after allegedly punching German Andy Schillinger, physiotherapist of the opposing team, in the face in the players tunnel during a league game against Bangkok United . In addition, Popović received a fine of 40,000 baht . Buriram United was leading the league with 37 points at this point. After the ban became final, the former defensive player announced his resignation. Sports director Bandović took over the coaching office on an interim basis and continued to lead the team to the superior championship title.

Around three months after his resignation, Pune City FC , a franchise from the Indian Super League founded in 2014, introduced him as the successor to Antonio López Habas . Another three months later, Popović was banned from the Indian Football Association . Similar to his predecessor as a coach, Popović was suspended for four games after criticizing the referee's decisions in Pune City's 2-0 win over Goa on 23 December 2017. In addition, he also had to pay a fine of 500,000 Indian rupees . After the suspension expired, he continued to appear as the coach of the Indian first division team and that same winter brought Marko Stanković, a former player from Sturm Graz to Pune City. But Popović continued to criticize referees' decisions publicly and demanded respect from them. In the final standings of the Indian Super League 2017/18 , he ranked fourth with the club, which means that the franchise qualified for the play-offs at the end of the season for the first time in its young history.

In these Popovićs team retired after a 0-0 draw in the first leg after a 1-3 defeat in the second leg against Bengaluru FC . During his time in India, Popović also met Teddy Sheringham , who once received Popović's last “match worn jersey” at Sturm Graz in the Champions League game against Manchester United. At the end of May 2018, the native Serb announced his retirement from FC Pune City after a successful season. The parties agreed not to disclose the exact reasons; the relationship is said to have been dissolved by mutual agreement. Under his leadership, young players like Ashique Kuruniyan made their way into the national team.

Return to Austria

A few days after Didi Kühbauer took over the vacant position as head coach at SK Rapid Wien , Popović was introduced as Kühbauer's successor at SKN St. Pölten on October 10, 2018 . The 51-year-old signed a contract until summer 2020 and brought his long-time assistant coach Vladica "Vlado" Grujić to the new club. In June 2019 he was on leave, St. Pölten had finished the season in sixth.

Return to Japan

For the 2020 season he was a second time coach of the Japanese second division club FC Machida Zelvia.

Sporting successes

As a player

with SK Sturm Graz
with TuS FC Arnfels
with the SV Pachern
  • Champion of the Styrian lower league middle: 2004/05
  • Vice champion of the Styrian Oberliga Middle / West: 2005/06

As a trainer

with TuS FC Arnfels
with the SV Pachern
  • Champion of the Styrian lower league middle: 2004/05
  • Vice champion of the Styrian Oberliga Middle / West: 2005/06
with Spartak Zlatibor Voda
with Ōita Trinita
with FC Machida Zelvia
with FC Tokyo
with Cerezo Osaka
  • Participation in the AFC Champions League: 2014
with Buriram United

Private

Ranko Popović is married to Biljana and has two daughters.

In 2005 he supported Gerhard Hirschmann in his newly founded Party List Hirschmann , with which the former ÖVP politician wanted to move into the Styrian state parliament. The company failed after only 2.05% of the votes were achieved in the state election on October 2, 2005 .

literature

  • August Kuhn, Herbert Troger: The SK Sturm rules here . Verlag Styria, Graz 1998, ISBN 3-222-12620-8 .
  • Martin Behr, Herbert Troger: We are storm! - 100 years of football history in Graz . Verlag Styria, Graz 1998, ISBN 3-200-01609-4 .

Web links

Commons : Ranko Popović  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mission data without the 2004/05 sub-league season
  2. ^ A b August Kuhn, Herbert Troger: The SK Sturm rules here . Verlag Styria, Graz 1998, ISBN 978-3-222-12620-8 , pp. 96 .
  3. ↑ a b c d "POPO, POPO, POPOVIC" , accessed on October 11, 2018.
  4. ↑ Martin Behr, Herbert Troger: We are storm! - 100 years of football history in Graz . Verlag Styria, Graz 1998, ISBN 978-3-200-01609-5 , p. 337 .
  5. ↑ a b c Martin Behr, Herbert Troger: We are storm! - 100 years of football history in Graz . Verlag Styria, Graz 1998, ISBN 978-3-200-01609-5 , p. 348 .
  6. ↑ Sturm Graz beats Ried 4: 2 , accessed on October 12, 2018.
  7. ^ The judge with the pipe and the car , accessed October 12, 2018.
  8. ↑ Ms. Barbara doesn't give a damn about prejudice , accessed on October 12, 2018.
  9. ↑ a b Ranko Popovic sues Sturm Graz for reinstatement , accessed on October 12, 2018.
  10. ↑ a b c d Chronicle of SV Pachern , accessed on October 13, 2018.
  11. ↑ a b ポ ポ ヴ ィ ッ チ 氏 大分 ト リ ニ ー タ 監督 就任 決定 の お 知 ら せ ( Memento of July 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (Japanese), accessed on October 13, 2018.
  12. ↑ Oita Trinita to Release Coach in Cost-Cutting Move (English), accessed on October 13, 2018.
  13. ↑ ラ ン コ ・ ポ ポ ヴ ィ ッ チ 氏 監督 就任 の お 知 ら せ ( Memento from December 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (Japanese), accessed October 13, 2018.
  14. ↑ Football Journal '11 -100d. - The half-yearly legionnaires list. Part 4: the world, the coaches and the women. accessed on October 13, 2018.
  15. ↑ ラ ン コ ・ ポ ポ ヴ ィ ッ チ 監督 契約 満 了 の お 知 ら せ (Japanese), accessed October 13, 2018.
  16. ↑ a b c d e f g FC Tokyo - Club History (English), accessed on October 13, 2018.
  17. ↑ 【東京】 ポ ポ ビ ッ チ 監督 は 今季 限 り で 退 任 (Japanese), accessed October 13, 2018.
  18. ↑ ラ ン コ ポ ポ ヴ ィ ッ チ 氏 と の 契約 に つ い て ( Memento from October 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (Japanese), accessed on October 13, 2018.
  19. ↑ a b ラ ン コ ・ ポ ポ ヴ ィ ッ チ 新 監督 就任 の お 知 ら せ (Japanese), accessed October 13, 2018.
  20. ↑ ラ ン コ ・ ポ ポ ヴ ィ ッ チ 監督 お よ び ヴ ラ デ ィ ッ ツ ァ ・ グ ル イ ッ チ ヘ ッ ド コ コ ー チ の 契約 に つ い て (Japanese), accessed October 13, 2018.
  21. ↑ a b El Real Zaragoza llega a un acuerdo con el entrenador serbio Ranko Popovic para dirigir al equipo (Spanish), accessed on October 13, 2018.
  22. ↑ ¡Las Palmas regresa a Primera división trece años después! (Spanish), Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  23. ↑ Aria Jasuru Hasegawa, tercer fichaje del Real Zaragoza (Spanish), accessed on October 13, 2018.
  24. ↑ Popovic declara que Hasegawa es un centrocampista “de muy buena calidad técnica” (Spanish), accessed on October 13, 2018.
  25. ↑ El Real Zaragoza decide prescindir de los servicios de Ranko Popovic (Spanish), accessed on October 13, 2018.
  26. ↑ BREAKING! ผล งาน ไม่ เข้า เป้า! บุรีรัมย์ แยก ทาง "ก็ อ ต บิ" ก่อน พัก เบรค (Thai), accessed October 14, 2018.
  27. ↑ a b Buriram United appoints Ranko Popovic as new head coach (English), accessed on October 14, 2018.
  28. ^ Buriram United Announce New Coaching Team , accessed October 14, 2018.
  29. ↑ Domestic ties called off , accessed on October 14, 2018.
  30. ↑ Buriram And Muang Thong Share Toyota League Cup (English), accessed October 14, 2018.
  31. ↑ ประกาศ: ยุติ การ แข่งขัน และ การ จัด อันดับ ผล การ แข่งขัน ประจำ ฤดูกาล ๒๕๕๙ (Thai), accessed October 14, 2018.
  32. ↑ Buriram Storm To Convincing Victory In Mekong Cup , accessed October 15, 2018.
  33. ↑ a b c Buriam United coach faces 3-month ban for slapping Bangkok United physio , accessed on October 14, 2018.
  34. ↑ Buriram United Coach Resigns After Ban Is Confirmed , accessed October 14, 2018.
  35. ↑ Buriram Coach Reveals Reasons For Resignation , accessed October 14, 2018.
  36. ↑ Buriram Move Bandovic Back To His Former Role As Head Coach , accessed October 14, 2018.
  37. ↑ One Word… CHAMPIONS !!!! (English), accessed October 14, 2018.
  38. ↑ ISL 2017: FC Pune City announce Ranko Popovic as new head coach (English), accessed on October 14, 2018.
  39. ↑ a b ISL 2017: FC Pune City coach Ranko Popovic suspended for four games and fined (English), accessed on October 14, 2018.
  40. ↑ Marko Stankovic: A polyvalent exotic from Krems , accessed on October 14, 2018.
  41. ↑ ISL 2017-18: FC Pune City's Ranko Popovic hits out at referee Matthew Conger (English), accessed on October 14, 2018.
  42. ↑ Is Ranko Popovic coming back to FC Pune City next season? (English), accessed October 14, 2018.
  43. ↑ ISL: Ranko Popovic ends his stay with FC Pune City (English), accessed on October 14, 2018.
  44. ↑ a b Former FC Pune City head coach Ranko Popovic keen on India return (English), accessed on October 14, 2018.
  45. ↑ Welcome home, Didi Kühbauer , accessed on October 14, 2018.
  46. ↑ a b RANKO POPOVIC IS NEW HEAD TRAINER OF THE WOLVES! , accessed October 14, 2018.
  47. ↑ Wolves put trainer Ranko Popovic on leave! skn-stpoelten.at, on June 13, 2019, accessed on June 13, 2019
  48. ↑ ラ ン コ ポ ポ ヴ ィ ッ チ 氏 監督 就任 の お 知 ら せ zelvia.co.jp, on December 9, 2019, accessed on January 8, 2020
  49. ↑ AS PARTIZANA Naš fudbalski trener spreman da pokori Aziju! (Serbian), accessed October 11, 2018.
  50. ↑ Hot Styrian autumn elections are approaching: Hirschmann will run for the state elections , accessed on October 12, 2018.
  51. ↑ Results of the 2005 state elections , accessed on October 12, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Popović, Ranko
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Serbian-Austrian soccer player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH June 26, 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Peja , SFR Yugoslavia