Ivica Osim obituary | Soccer

Ivica, a Bosnian manager and footballer, has passed away at age 80. Perhaps his most notable moment was when he resigned in bitterness as Yugoslavia’s coach, after protesting the Serbian bombardment on Sarajevo. Declaring that “my country doesn’t deserve to play in the European Championship”, he walked out, never to return.

Osim never regretted the decision. said at the time that “on the scale of human suffering, I cannot reconcile events at home with my position as national manager”. Yugoslavia was quickly expelled from the finals because of their war-torn status. Denmark won their place at the end.

Osim continued to travel the globe as a manager. He won two league titles in Austria with Sturm Graz and was successful in Japan where he became the team’s head coach.

Born Ivan in Sarajevo, but more commonly known as Ivica. He was the son Mihail, a railway mechanic and Karolina. In 1959, he began his playing career at his local club, Zeljeznicar. He was a tall, graceful, and unassuming midfielder. He was also a skilled dribbler. In just five years, he was playing in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo for Yugoslavia and caught the attention of clubs from other countries.

Osim could not travel abroad under Yugoslav Federation rules until his late 20s. Therefore, he was not able to join Zwolsche Boys in the Netherlands until 1968. After sustaining a serious knee injury, Osim played just two league games. He returned to Zeljeznicar in the next season and joined Strasbourg in the French league of 1970. After two years at Strasbourg, he signed for Sedan in the French league. He played 105 league games from 1972-5, before moving to Valenciennes. Then, he switched to Strasbourg again for the final few years between 1976 and 1978.

Yugoslavia Osim has won 16 caps in his career. In 1969, he was part of the team which beat England, then the world champions. However, he was injured in that match by a ruthless challenge from Norman Hunter and had to sit on the substitutes’ bench for the final against Italy, which was drawn 1-1, and again in the replay, in which Italy triumphed 2-0.

Osim was a retired player with Strasbourg and became the coach of Zeljeznicar. They reached the Yugoslav championship 1971-72, and the semi-finals of the Uefa Cup 1984-85. In the end, they lost 4-3 to Videoton, a Hungarian side. He was assistant coach to Ivan Toplak and managed Zeljeznicar. In 1984, Yugoslavia won bronze at the Olympics.

To take over from Toplak in 1986, he quit Zeljeznicar. In 1990, Yugoslavia was in the quarter-finals at the World Cup in Italy. Argentina won the penalties. In 1991, he combined his Yugoslavia duties with the management of Partizan Belgrade. He won the Yugoslav cup with Partizan Belgrade. After leading Yugoslavia to the 1992 European Championship finals, he resigned in high regard in May 1992 after his family was bombarded by Serbs in Bosnian war.

Osim quit the Yugoslavia managership in 1994. Soon, the unified Yugoslavia was disintegrating as a single entity. Osim moved later that same year to Greece. There, he managed Panathinaikos for two years and won twice the Greek cup. Osim was back on the move again in 1994. He took charge of Sturm Graz for eight year and won the Austrian championship two times, in 1998, 1999.

Then he moved to Japan. He managed the JEF United Chiba team, which, although not among the richest, was quite successful under Osim. In 2006, he was promoted to the Japanese national team manager. His reputation included a reputation of causing his players to rage and sometimes even causing tears to his interpreter. His acerbic outbursts were a huge hit in Japan. Words of Osim, his book of apothegms, sold 400,000 copies.

Osim had a stroke in November 2007 while he was watching a league football game. Not until 10 days later did he regain consciousness in the Juntendo University hospital in Urayasu, asking his wife, Asima, “What was the result?” Too ill to continue in management, he relinquished his role with Japan the following month.

Asima, Selmir, Amar, and Irma are the survivors of Osim.