Zoran Filipović

Zoran Filipović

Personal information
Full name	Zoran Filipović
Date of birth	(1953-02-06) 6 February 1953
Place of birth	Titograd, FPR Yugoslavia
Height
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Unemployed
Youth career
	Budućnost Titograd
1969–1970	Red Star Belgrade
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1970–1980	Red Star Belgrade	212	(88)
1980–1981	Club Brugge	21	(8)
1981–1984	Benfica	56	(26)
1984–1986	Boavista	49	(15)
Total		338	(137)
International career
1969–1970	Yugoslavia U20	6	(3)
1972–1973	Yugoslavia U21	2	(1)
1971–1977	Yugoslavia	13	(2)
Managerial career
1986–1988	Boavista (assistant)
1988–1993	Salgueiros
1993–1994	Beira-Mar
1994–1996	Benfica (assistant)
1995	Benfica (ad interim)
1997	Boavista
1997–1998	FR Yugoslavia (assistant)
1998	Vitoria Guimarães
1999	Sampdoria (assistant)
1999–2000	FR Yugoslavia (assistant)
2000	Panionios
2001–2003	Red Star Belgrade
2003–2004	Al-Shaab
2005–2007	Serbia and Montenegro (technical director)
2007–2010	Montenegro
2010	Ceahlăul Piatra Neamţ
2010–2011	Golden Arrows
2011–2012	Atyrau
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Zoran Filipović (Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Филиповић; born 6 February 1953) is a former Yugoslav footballer of great success in the 1970s and 1980s for Red Star Belgrade and S.L. Benfica. He is an active football coach.

Playing career

Filipović, born 6 February 1953, in Titograd, SR Montenegro, FPR Yugoslavia, made his name in Yugoslavia as a potent striker with Red Star Belgrade, during more than ten seasons at the club (5 June 1969 to 29 June 1980). He played a total of 520 games for the club scoring 302 goals. He was the Yugoslav First League top scorer in 1976–77 season with 21 goals. He also still holds the club record for most goals in European competitions – scoring 28 goals for Red Star in European Cup, Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Cup.

His first stop abroad was a season at Club Brugge in Belgium, scoring eight goals in 21 league matches. In the summer of 1981, 28-year-old Filipović joined the reigning Portuguese champions S.L. Benfica where over the following three seasons he scored 28 goals in 54 league matches. Zoran Filipović also guided the club Benfica to the 1983 UEFA Cup Final against R.S.C. Anderlecht, being the top scorer of that season's competition and scoring memorable goals for the Portuguese in the quarterfinal against AS Roma. Filipović ended his career with Boavista FC (1984–1986) when he became the assistant coach at the same club.

On an International level, Zoran Filipović played 13 matches for the Yugoslav national team scoring 2 goals. His debut for Yugoslavia was at the age of 18, on 9 May 1971 against East Germany (1–2) in Leipzig. His last national team game came on 16 November 1977 against Greece (0–0) in Thessaloniki.

Coaching career

He got his first head coaching job at S.C. Salgueiros in 1988 and stayed with the club for five seasons. He orchestrated the club's most notable moments in history by becoming Second League champion in 1989–90 and achieving UEFA Cup participation through best placement in club's history immediately in the next season. In 1993 he moved to S.C. Beira-Mar where he coached for a season. In 1994 he returned to S.L. Benfica for a two-year spell where he was the assistant coach and interim head coach winning one Portuguese Cup in 1996, and participating in the UEFA Champions League. During 1997 he coached Boavista.

From mid-1990s Zoran Filipović was on the FR Yugoslavia national team coaching staff as an assistant to head coach Slobodan Santrač. He was part of Yugoslav coaching staff at the World Cup 1998, leaving the post together with Santrač right after the tournament. After joining as their head coach for a short spell, he left to work as part of Sampdoria coaching staff. Vujadin Boškov called him on to become his assistant during the second part of the 1998 season.

Zoran Filipović's next stop was Vitória S.C. in the Portuguese league.

However, Zoran Filipović re-joined the FR Yugoslavia national team in 1999 continuing his collaboration with Vujadin Boškov when he took over. Filipović was the assistant at the Euro 2000. Following Euro 2000, he briefly coached Panionios in Greece. In 2001 Zoran Filipović returned to coach Red Star Belgrade in Serbia until 2003 with which he won the 2001–02 FR Yugoslavia Cup title and is remembered for launching young players such as Nemanja Vidić, Boško Janković, Nikola Žigić, Aleksandar Luković amongst others. In 2003 Zoran Filipović went to the United Arab Emirates when coaching Al-Shaab with which he was defeated in the Cup finals. After the Emirates experience, he became the technical director of the Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro A and u21 squads participating in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and the 2006 U21 European Championship in Portugal.

On 1 February 2007 he was appointed the first coach of the newly created Montenegro national team. His first game in charge was a friendly against Hungary on 24 March 2007 where they won their debut match with 2–1. The record in the newly formed Montenegro national team was more than positive for a team rated always as underdogs – of a total of 23 matches played, 8 victories were achieved, 8 draws and 7 defeats. The FA president Dejan Savićević commented when Zoran Filipović's contract expired in January 2010 – "Filipović did an enormously good job. He formed a great group of players and worked with great enthusiasm." Zoran Filipović left the Balkan newcomers in an astonishing 73rd position in the FIFA ranking when he departed from this historical role. Only two months after leaving the helm of Montenegro national team he assumed a 3-month coaching job contract in Romanian club FC Ceahlăul Piatra Neamţ.

In July 2010 he was hired by South African club Golden Arrows from Durban. With only three months left in the championship and with relegation imminent, Zoran Filipović arrived in FC Atyrau to save the team from relegation. He stayed on to sign a one-year contract for season 2012.

Coaching statistics

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Red Star Belgrade	5 October 2001	June 2003	78	47	20	11	60.26
Montenegro	1 February 2007	January 2010	23	8	8	7	34.78
Total			101	55	28	18	54.46

Languages and education

Zoran Filipović's native language is Serbian, speaking just as well both English and Portuguese. He also uses Spanish and Italian. He graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law.

Honors and awards

As a player

Red Star Belgrade

• Yugoslav First League
  • Winner (3): 1972–73, 1976–77, 1979–80
• Yugoslav Cup
  • Winner (1): 1970–71

S.L. Benfica

• Primeira Liga
  • Winner (2): 1982–83, 1983–84
• Taça de Portugal
  • Winner (1): 1982–83
• UEFA Cup
  • Runner-up (1): 1982–83

As a coach

S.L. Benfica (as an assistant)

• Taça de Portugal
  • Winner (1): 1995–96

S.C. Salgueiros

• Portuguese Second Division
  • Winner (1): 1989–90

Red Star Belgrade

• FR Yugoslavia Cup
  • Winner (1): 2001–02

Individual

• Yugoslav First League Top Goalscorer (1): 1976–77
• UEFA Cup Top Goalscorer (1): 1982–83

Trivia

Zoran Filipović still has the goal record in European competitions for Red Star Belgrade – 28 goals. Zoran Filipović is ranked the 3º Top goalscorer for Red Star – 502 games/302 goals. Zoran Filipović in season 1982–83 he contributed to Benfica's European good campaign – 12 games/8 goals (hat trick against AS Roma, and also the decisive goal against Universitatea Craiova).

External links and references

• [1]
• [2]
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• [4]
• [5]
• Zoran Filipović at National-Football-Teams.com
• [6]
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• [8]