 Krznar in 2021 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1972-07-10)10 July 1972 (age 53) | ||
| Place of birth | Zabok,SR Croatia,Yugoslavia[1] | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Left midfielder[2] | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–1995 | Varteks | 83 | (4) |
| 1995–2004 | Dinamo Zagreb | 122 | (7) |
| 2004–2010 | Inter Zaprešić | 134 | (1) |
| Total | 339 | (12) | |
| International career | |||
| 1998 | Croatia | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2010–2011 | Inter Zaprešić (assistant) | ||
| 2011–2016 | Dinamo Zagreb (assistant) | ||
| 2013 | Dinamo Zagreb (interim) | ||
| 2016–2017 | Al Nassr (assistant) | ||
| 2017–2019 | Al Ain (assistant) | ||
| 2019 | Al Hilal (assistant) | ||
| 2020–2021 | Dinamo Zagreb (assistant) | ||
| 2021 | Dinamo Zagreb | ||
| 2022 | Dinamo Zagreb II | ||
| 2022–2023 | Maribor | ||
| 2023–2024 | Celje | ||
| 2025 | Újpest | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Damir Krznar (born 10 July 1972) is a Croatian professionalfootballmanager and formerplayer who last coached Hungarian clubÚjpest.
Krznar spent his career playing forVarteks,Dinamo Zagreb andInter Zaprešić.[1]
He made his international debut coming in as a second half substitute forRobert Jarni againstPoland on 22 April 1998, which was his only appearance for theCroatia national team.[1][3]
In the period between 2010 and 2021, Krznar worked as an assistant coach toIlija Lončarević atInter Zaprešić, toKrunoslav Jurčić,Ante Čačić,Branko Ivanković andZoran Mamić atDinamo Zagreb, and to Mamić atAl Nassr,Al Ain andAl Hilal.[4]
He served as Dinamo interim manager on two occasions; from August to September 2013,[5] and from July to September 2015.[6]
After Zoran Mamić was sentenced to five years in prison on 15 March 2021, he resigned on the same day and was succeeded by Krznar, who made his debut as Dinamo head coach on 18 March in a 3–0 victory overTottenham Hotspur atStadion Maksimir, thus qualifying for thequarter-finals of the2020–21 UEFA Europa League for the first time in the history of the club. Furthermore, Krznar became the first ever manager to eliminate Spurs head coachJosé Mourinho from theEuropa League (the Portuguese took part in the competition two more times before–in2002–03 coachingPorto, and in2016–17 coachingManchester United–winning both editions).[7][8][9][10] However, Dinamo went on to lose their quarter-final fixture againstVillarreal 3–1 onaggregate.[11]
On 9 May 2021, Dinamo secured its 22ndCroatian First League title with a 5–1 victory overRijeka, and the 32nd national league title in total.[12] Ten days later, Dinamo also won theCroatian Cup title, with a victory againstIstra 1961 by a scoreline of 6–3.[13]
Krznar left Dinamo on 1 December 2021 after being eliminated by Rijeka in thequarter-finals of the Croatian Cup.[14] However, the next month, he took over thereserve team of Dinamo,[15] playing in theCroatian Second League, where he stayed until the team was dissolved following the 2021–22 season.[16]
On 16 August 2022, Krznar took charge of the reigningSlovenian PrvaLiga championsMaribor, signing a two-year contract.[17] At the time of his arrival, Maribor was sitting in last place in the league with only three points out of five games.[17] He led the club to third place in the league and also reached thecup final, earning a contract extension until 2026.[18] However, after a poor start to the 2023–24 season, Krznar terminated his contract by mutual consent and left the club on 2 October 2023. In total, he led Maribor in 55 matches and achieved 28 wins, 13 draws and 14 defeats.[19]
On 11 October 2023, Krznar was appointed manager of another Slovenian PrvaLiga side,Celje, afterAlbert Riera left the club to manageGirondins de Bordeaux.[20] With Celje, he won the2023–24 Slovenian PrvaLiga title, but left the club on 28 July 2024 along with his staff after his contract was terminated by mutual consent when Riera became available again following Bordeaux's financial collapse.[21]
On 5 May 2025, he was appointed as the manager ofNemzeti Bajnokság I clubÚjpest.[22] He replaced Swedish managerBartosz Grzelak.[23]
| Club | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||||
| Dinamo Zagreb (interim) | 22 August 2013 | 2 September 2013 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |||
| Dinamo Zagreb | 15 March 2021 | 1 December 2021 | 48 | 29 | 11 | 8 | 060.42 | |||
| Dinamo Zagreb II | 7 January 2022 | 16 August 2022 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 046.67 | |||
| Maribor | 16 August 2022 | 2 October 2023 | 55 | 28 | 13 | 14 | 050.91 | |||
| Celje | 11 October 2023 | 28 July 2024 | 31 | 20 | 7 | 4 | 064.52 | |||
| Total | 152 | 87 | 33 | 32 | 057.24 | |||||
Dinamo Zagreb
Dinamo Zagreb
Celje