Zdravko Logarusic
| Zdravko Logarusic | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Zdravko Logarusic October 21, 1965 Slavonski Brod, SFR Yugoslavia |
| Nationality | Croatian |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1988 - Current |
| Predecessor | Joey Antipas |
Zdravko Logarusic is a Croatian football manager who was born on 21 October 1965. He is the former coach of the Zimbabwe national senior men's football team, The Warriors. He was fired from the job by the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) in September 2021 following poor results in the world cup qualifiers.
Before becoming the Warriors coach, Logarusic was the manager for the Sudanese national team where he was also fired for poor results.
Background
Zdravko Logarušić is a 54-year-old Croatian manager who has been coaching in Africa since 2010. He was fired by Sudan last month after coaching the East African national team for two years. The Falcons of Jediane as Sudan are affectionately known had not impressed under the Croatian coach of late, which led to his dismissal. He failed to help the team qualify for the 2019 Afcon championship held in Egypt and followed up with the elimination from the Africa Nations Championship (Chan) campaign after falling to Tanzania in the second round of qualifiers. The Sudan assignment was the 54-year old's first national team coaching job.
Managerial Career
Overall, he has coached in 4 continents: Europe, Asia, Australia and North America and has more than 20 years of coaching experience. From 1999 to 2001, Logarušić studied did coaching courses and programs in order to get a UEFA Pro License. On Wednesday 29 January 2020 he was appointed Warriors of Zimbabwe national coach. During his two-years with Sudan he led them to third place at the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Morocco‚ and to a spot in the group phase of the 2022 World Cup Cup qualifiers. The colourful Logarusic has managed Ghanaian clubs Asante Kotoko, King Faisal Babes and Ashanti Gold as well as Angola's Interclube. He has also spent time in east Africa at Kenyan clubs Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards as well as a spell in Tanzania at Simba.
Teams Managed by the Croatian
- 1988–1989 NK Croatia Malmö (player/youth coach)
- 1990–1991 FC 08 Villingen (player/youth coach)
- 1992–1995 Western Knights SC (formerly Croatia North Perth) (player/youth coach)
– Marsonia – Vukovar '91
- 2009–2010 King Faisal Babes
- 2010–2011 Ashanti Gold
- 2012–2013 Gor Mahia
- 2013–2014 Simba SC
- 2015–2016 AFC Leopards
- 2016 G.D. Interclube
- 2017 Asante Kotoko S.C.
- 2017–2019 Sudan
Appointment as Warriors Coach
He has signed a two-year deal and will be assisted by Joey Antipas, who had been the Warriors' caretaker coach since August. Logarusic's first competitive games will be back-to-back 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against the reigning champions Algeria in March. Zimbabwe began their 2021 campaign with a 0-0 draw in Botswana before winning 2-1 away in neighbouring Zambia. In 2022 World Cup qualifying are in a group alongside Ghana, Ethiopia and neighbours South Africa.[1]
His first competitive match as the Warriors coach was against Malawi on 11 October 2020 in a friendly match which ended with the teams sharing the spoils after a nil-all draw. His start to work was affected by the Coronavirus pandemic which saw football activities being suspended since March 2020.
On 12 September 2021, Logarusic was fired from the Warriors coach job following a string of losses in the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifyier matches.
