Josip Kuže
Encyclopedia
Josip Kuže is a Croatia
n football
coach and former player. He was a player and later coach of Dinamo Zagreb
where he played from 1971-1981 making a total of 384 appearances and scoring 14 goals.
, winning 11 Yugoslavian U-21 caps. He played a minor role among the great players who still have their huge amount of respect today, mostly because in 1967 he was part of a team that won the UEFA cup
and in 1982 a Yugoslavian championship. During his playing years with Dinamo as a defender from 1971 to 1981 he played in 384 games scoring 14 goals. Kuže scored only 1 goal in 1975/1976 season. During his career he played alongside Balkan footballing greats such as Zlatko Kranjčar
, Snješko Cerin
, Srećko Bogdan
, Velimir Zajec
, Ivica Senzen
, Marko Mlinarić
, Ismet Hadžić
, Boro Cvetković and Stjepan Deverić
.
(1988–89) before he became Dinamo Zagreb's coach in (1989–91). In 1991, he started coaching in Germany with FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt (1991–92) and later accepted the job from league-competition FSV Mainz 05, and stayed there until 1994. From 1995-98, he coached Japanese side Gamba Osaka
. Kuže came back to Croatia
to coach NK Zagreb
(1998–99) and had a short stint with FC Chemnitz in 2000 and proceeded to coach Gamba Osaka again from 2000-2002. He then went to manage Inter Zaprešić from 2003–04 and in 2005 he took over coaching of Dinamo Zagreb
again, winning the league title in his first year as coach.
. During this time Dinamo were accredited with playing attractive football.
In the new season, 2006/2007, some high-class players arrived, and Dinamo, beat French side Auxerre
2:1 during a pre-season friendly. Gameplay went worse in the new season, for the key defense midfielders could not give their best due to injuries, but still tremendous effort was made in 2nd leg of Champions league qualifying round against Arsenal
in London
despite being 3-0 down from the first leg in Zagreb
. Playing with a 5-3-2 formation, a much improved Dinamo side from the first leg, held a 1-0 lead until late into the game before Arsenal managed to turn it around with ten minutes remaining and eventually came away with a 2-1 victory. Despite the defeat Dinamo were praised, along with Kuze, for an impressive performance despite some injury concerns, Mathias Chago
, Davor Vugrinec
and Jens Nowotny all missed the match due to injury.
Despite his success in getting Dinamo in a position to challenge for the Croatian league after a several below-par years his teams performance against Arsenal was deemed not good enough and he left the club in November 2006 with both Kuze and the club stating the agreement was made with mutual consent.
replacing Michael Nees who was sacked after failing to qualify for the 2008 African Cup of Nations
. His initial contract will run for three years.
side JEF United Ichihara Chiba
announced that they appointed Kuze as their head coach. However, this reign lasted just four months., and he was replaced by Alex Miller
.
as the coach with the largest victory against Cyprus
in 2009, 6-1 in a friendly. As of March 27, 2011 and after 18 months at the job, he has had four victories (including friendlies, with Cyprus and Northern Ireland
), three losses, and five draws (of which an important one against Denmark
in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers).
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
coach and former player. He was a player and later coach of Dinamo Zagreb
Dinamo Zagreb
GNK Dinamo Zagreb, commonly referred to as Dinamo Zagreb , or by their nickname Modri are a Croatian football club based in Zagreb. They play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Croatian football, having won thirteen Croatian championship titles, ten...
where he played from 1971-1981 making a total of 384 appearances and scoring 14 goals.
Playing career
He was a professional football player with Dinamo ZagrebDinamo Zagreb
GNK Dinamo Zagreb, commonly referred to as Dinamo Zagreb , or by their nickname Modri are a Croatian football club based in Zagreb. They play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Croatian football, having won thirteen Croatian championship titles, ten...
, winning 11 Yugoslavian U-21 caps. He played a minor role among the great players who still have their huge amount of respect today, mostly because in 1967 he was part of a team that won the UEFA cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
and in 1982 a Yugoslavian championship. During his playing years with Dinamo as a defender from 1971 to 1981 he played in 384 games scoring 14 goals. Kuže scored only 1 goal in 1975/1976 season. During his career he played alongside Balkan footballing greats such as Zlatko Kranjčar
Zlatko Kranjcar
Zlatko "Cico" Kranjcar is a Croatian football manager and former striker. He is the currently head coach of Sepahan in Iran Pro League.-Club career:...
, Snješko Cerin
Snješko Cerin
Snježan "Snješko" Cerin is a retired Croatian association football striker who spent most of his career playing for his hometown club Dinamo Zagreb in the Yugoslav First League in the 1970s and 1980s....
, Srećko Bogdan
Srecko Bogdan
Srećko Bogdan is a retired Croatian footballer who played a defender. He is now a youth coach in NK Inter Zaprešić.-Playing career:...
, Velimir Zajec
Velimir Zajec
Velimir Zajec is a former Croatian footballer and manager.-Career:Zajec began his career at Dinamo Zagreb in 1974, aged 18. During 10 years at the club, he helped them to two domestic cup wins, as well as the league title, their first title honour in 24 years...
, Ivica Senzen
Ivica Senzen
Ivan "Ivica" Senzen ia a former Croatian footballer. After beginning his career at his hometown club Metalac Sisak, Senzen was picked up by Dinamo Zagreb in 1970...
, Marko Mlinarić
Marko Mlinaric
Marko Mlinarić is a former Croatian football player. He was capped 17 times for Yugoslavia.-External links:* at the Croatian Football Federation website* at the Serbia national football team website...
, Ismet Hadžić
Ismet Hadžic
Ismet Hadžić is a Bosnian defender who played for SFR Yugoslavia.-External links:*...
, Boro Cvetković and Stjepan Deverić
Stjepan Deveric
Stjepan Deverić is a former Croatian and Yugoslav footballer.Deverić began his career with Dinamo Zagreb in the Yugoslav Federal League in 1979. He stayed at the club until 1984, playing in 345 games and scoring 158 goals before moving to Croatian rival Hajduk Split where he stayed from 1984 until...
.
Managerial career
After his playing career finished he started as coach of Sydney Croatia (1982–84) then he coached clubs such as BSK Slavonski Brod (1985–86), Dinamo Zagreb youth (1986–88), Borac Banja LukaBorac Banja Luka
Borac is a sports society with several teams, from the city of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Borac means "Fighter" and the clubs supporters are called Lešinari/Лешинари which means Vultures....
(1988–89) before he became Dinamo Zagreb's coach in (1989–91). In 1991, he started coaching in Germany with FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt (1991–92) and later accepted the job from league-competition FSV Mainz 05, and stayed there until 1994. From 1995-98, he coached Japanese side Gamba Osaka
Gamba Osaka
is a Japanese professional association football club, currently playing in the J. League Division 1. The team's name comes from the Italian word "gamba" meaning "leg" and the Japanese , meaning "to do your best" or "to stand firm". Located in Suita, Osaka, the team's home stadium is Osaka Expo '70...
. Kuže came back to Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
to coach NK Zagreb
NK Zagreb
NK Zagreb is a Croatian football club, from the Croatian capital of Zagreb.NK Zagreb's home is the Stadion Kranjčevićeva with capacity of 8,850. The club's fans are known as the White Angels...
(1998–99) and had a short stint with FC Chemnitz in 2000 and proceeded to coach Gamba Osaka again from 2000-2002. He then went to manage Inter Zaprešić from 2003–04 and in 2005 he took over coaching of Dinamo Zagreb
Dinamo Zagreb
GNK Dinamo Zagreb, commonly referred to as Dinamo Zagreb , or by their nickname Modri are a Croatian football club based in Zagreb. They play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Croatian football, having won thirteen Croatian championship titles, ten...
again, winning the league title in his first year as coach.
Dinamo Zagreb coach
He took over the team after they suffered a poor year, finishing down in seventh place. With some new players, he enjoyed early success in the next championship (2005/2006) with 18-2-2 61:11 record in first part of the league, and the final record, after playoffs, was 24-4-4 78:21. After the first ten games, Dinamo's goal-difference was 32:3, which gave them the highest goal-difference for any professional club in EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. During this time Dinamo were accredited with playing attractive football.
In the new season, 2006/2007, some high-class players arrived, and Dinamo, beat French side Auxerre
Auxerre
Auxerre is a commune in the Bourgogne region in north-central France, between Paris and Dijon. It is the capital of the Yonne department.Auxerre's population today is about 45,000...
2:1 during a pre-season friendly. Gameplay went worse in the new season, for the key defense midfielders could not give their best due to injuries, but still tremendous effort was made in 2nd leg of Champions league qualifying round against Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
despite being 3-0 down from the first leg in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
. Playing with a 5-3-2 formation, a much improved Dinamo side from the first leg, held a 1-0 lead until late into the game before Arsenal managed to turn it around with ten minutes remaining and eventually came away with a 2-1 victory. Despite the defeat Dinamo were praised, along with Kuze, for an impressive performance despite some injury concerns, Mathias Chago
Mathias Chago
Mathias Dellgoue Chago de Confiance , commonly known simply as Chago, is a Cameroonian professional footballer who is also a Croatian citizen as from January 2006. Formerly a player of Olympic Mvolyé, Racing FC Bafoussam and NK Metalac, he currently plays for Croatian top division champions NK...
, Davor Vugrinec
Davor Vugrinec
Davor Vugrinec is a Croatian footballer who plays for NK Varaždin as a forward.-Early years:...
and Jens Nowotny all missed the match due to injury.
Despite his success in getting Dinamo in a position to challenge for the Croatian league after a several below-par years his teams performance against Arsenal was deemed not good enough and he left the club in November 2006 with both Kuze and the club stating the agreement was made with mutual consent.
Rwanda National Team
In November 2007 Kuze was appointed manager of the RwandaRwanda national football team
The Rwanda national football team, nicknamed Amavubi , is the national team of Rwanda and is controlled by the Fédération Rwandaise de Football Amateur...
replacing Michael Nees who was sacked after failing to qualify for the 2008 African Cup of Nations
African Cup of Nations
The Africa Cup of Nations, also referred to as the African Cup of Nations or African Nations Cup, officially CAN , is the main international association football competition in Africa. It is sanctioned by the Confederation of African Football , and was first held in 1957. Since 1968, it has been...
. His initial contract will run for three years.
JEF United Ichihara Chiba
In January 2008, Japan's J. LeagueJ. League
The or is the top division of and is the top professional association football league in Japan. It is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football and the only league given top class 'A' ranking by the AFC. Currently, J. League Division 1 is the first level of the Japanese...
side JEF United Ichihara Chiba
JEF United Ichihara Chiba
is a Japanese professional football club that plays in J. League Division 2. On February 1, 2005, the club changed its name from JEF United Ichihara to the current name after Chiba city had joined Ichihara, Chiba as its hometown in 2003. The club name, JEF -taken from JR East and Furukawa Electric-...
announced that they appointed Kuze as their head coach. However, this reign lasted just four months., and he was replaced by Alex Miller
Alex Miller
Alex Miller is a Scottish association football coach and former player. As a player, he had a 15 year career with Rangers. As a manager, he won the 1991 Scottish League Cup with Hibernian...
.
Albania National Team Coach
Kuže entered in the history of AlbaniaAlbania national football team
The Albania national association football team is the national association football team of Albania and is controlled by the Football Association of Albania...
as the coach with the largest victory against Cyprus
Cyprus national football team
The Cyprus national football team represents Cyprus in association football and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association, the governing body for football in Cyprus. Cyprus' home ground is the GSP Stadium in Nicosia and the current coach is Nikos Nioplias...
in 2009, 6-1 in a friendly. As of March 27, 2011 and after 18 months at the job, he has had four victories (including friendlies, with Cyprus and Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
), three losses, and five draws (of which an important one against Denmark
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...
in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers).