A Croatian coach with long experience is at the lead of Ludogorets

Croatian Igor Jovicevic is the new coach of Ludogorets. The 50-year-old specialist was invited to take over the 13-time champions because of his excellent work at his previous clubs - Shakhtar (Donetsk), Dnipro 1 and Dinamo (Zagreb). In 2022, Jovicevic achieved remarkable results in the groups of the strongest club tournament - the Champions League, with Shakhtar, because of which he was preferred over other specialists from abroad. The Croatian coach will work in Ludogorets with his team - Ukrainians Andrii Hanas, Yuri Beno, as well as Spaniards Javier Lobo and Antonio Adan, who were part of his staff in Dnipro 1 and Shakhtar.

Jovicevic will hold his first training session with Ludogorets today, and on Saturday at 11:00 am he will be presented at a press conference at the Huvepharma Arena stadium.

Zahari Sirakov returns to Ludogorets II, but will maintain direct contact with Igor Jovicevic and his staff.

"It is an honor for me to be the coach of a team like Ludogorets. I hope to achieve my high goals with this great team, which has huge potential," was the first covenant of Jovicevic.

The new coach of the champions started his football career at the school of Dinamo (Zagreb). At the age of 17 in 1991, he was recruited by Real (Madrid), where he played mainly for the "B" team. Five years later he returned to Croatia and signed with NK Zagreb. An international career followed, with Jovicevic playing successively for Japan's Yokohama, Brazil's Guarani, France's Metz, China's Shenyang, Ukraine's Karpaty.

In 2015, the Croatian specialist took over Karpaty (Lviv), and two years later became the senior coach of the Slovenian Celje. This was followed by a period in Dinamo (Zagreb), where Jovicevic coached several teams, including the "A" team, which became champions in 2020.

Between 2020 and 2022, the specialist worked in the Ukrainian Dnipro 1, and in 2022 he took over the local colossus Shakhtar (Donetsk). The Ukrainian club participated in the groups of the Champions League in competition with Real Madrid, RB Leipzig and Celtic. In the same season, Shakhtar reached the elimination spring phase of the Europa League, where they eliminated French Rennes and were eliminated by Feyenoord in the round of 16.

Most recently, Igor Jovicevic led the team from Saudi Arabia Al-Raid.