| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dragomir Okuka | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1954-04-02)2 April 1954 (age 71) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Porija,PR Bosnia and Herzegovina,FPR Yugoslavia | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1971–1974 | Velež Nevesinje | ||||||||||||||||
| 1974–1985 | Velež Mostar | 214 | (34) | ||||||||||||||
| 1977–1978 | →Leotar (loan) | 33 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 1985–1987 | Örebro SK | 64 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 1987–1989 | Motala AIF | 58 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1978–1979 | Yugoslavia U21 | 4 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1981–1982 | Yugoslavia U23 | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1995–1996 | Bečej | ||||||||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | Čukarički | ||||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | Obilić | ||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Budućnost Podgorica | ||||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Vojvodina | ||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2003 | Legia Warsaw | ||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Serbia and Montenegro U21 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Wisła Kraków | ||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Omonia | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Lokomotiv Sofia | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Kavala | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2013 | Jiangsu Sainty | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Changchun Yatai | ||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Tianjin Teda | ||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Vojvodina | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Kunshan FC | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Dragomir "Dragan" Okuka (Serbian Cyrillic:Драгомир Драган Окука; born 2 April 1954) is a Serbian professionalfootball manager and formerplayer.[1]
As a player, he was predominantly associated with his time withVelež Mostar where he won the 1981Yugoslav Cup before joining Swedish clubÖrebro SK, the place his son, professional footballerDražen, was born before ending his career soon after.
Starting his management career withFK Bečej, Okuka would win his first coaching honours withFK Obilić when he won the1997–98 Yugoslav league title with them.[2] Since then he has achieved success with Polish clubLegia Warsaw and managed theSerbia and Montenegro under-21 team to a fourth-place finish at the2006 European Under-21 Championship. He has also managed several other clubs.
Okuka, born inPorija (a village in theHerzegovinian town ofKalinovik), started his football career playing for Velež Nevesinje.[3] However, he reached his affirmation atYugoslav First League clubVelež Mostar and in his debut season was part of the squad that narrowly missed out on winning the1973–74 league title on goal difference toHNK Hajduk Split.[4] After several seasons within Velež Mostar's midfield Okuka would go on to win the 1981Yugoslav Cup andBalkans Cup with the club, while also gaining aBA in Law from theUniversity of Mostar. Having spent the majority of his career in Velež Mostar (11 years, except one season he spent on loan atLeotar Trebinje[3]), Okuka would joinSwedish football Division 2 sideÖrebro SK for a short period before ending his career with Swedish lower league sideMotala AIF.[5]
He represented Yugoslavia at the1979 Mediterranean Games (winning gold) and played four matches (scoring one goal) for theYugoslavia national under-21 team.[3] Okuka was the captain of the under-21 side at the1980 UEFA European Under-21 Championship where Yugoslavia (led by a coaching duo ofIvan Toplak andStevan Vilotić) reached the semi-final where they lost to theSoviet Union.[2]
After he retired, he would move back to Yugoslavia and return to his first club Velež Mostar, where he took the position of general manager within the team by 1990. His time at the club was short-lived, and he would soon have to face challenges outside football when his life would be disrupted by theBosnian War in 1992, however in early 1995 Okuka would make his first foray into management when he was hired by struggling Yugoslavian teamFK Bečej and lead them to fourth within the1994–95 league season.[6] This would be enough for Okuka to lead the team to the1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup, where the club were knocked out in the group stages; however, despite this, Okuka would soon attract the interests ofFK Čukarički, who he stayed with for one season.
Still regarded as one of the country's most promising coaches, he would join highly ambitious football clubFK Obilić despite the questionable ownership of career criminalŽeljko Ražnatović. While at the club he would employ a 3-5-2 formation as the club won the1997–98 league title for the first time.[7] Okuka would only stay with the club for one season, as Željko Ražnatović's ownership of the club came into question, and, despite having the chance to manage in the1998–99 UEFA Champions League, Okuka decided to joinFK Budućnost Podgorica the following season.[8]
After a short stint withFK Vojvodina in 2000, Okuka would move away from the Yugoslavian league and jointop tier Polish sideLegia Warsaw, where he would soon get them to play in a 3-4-1-2 formation and eventually aid them to the2001–02 Ekstraklasa league title at the end of the season.[9] The following season wasn't so happy for Okuka, as Legia Warsaw were knocked out early within the2002–03 UEFA Champions League while also having an underwhelming league season, which saw him replaced byDariusz Kubicki at the end of the season.
After spending eighteen months out of coaching, he was offered the chance to manage theSerbia and Montenegro under-21 team, where he used a 4-4-2 formation to help guide the team to the2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. At the tournament he would go on to guide the club to a semi-final position as the team narrowly missed the final in a penalty shoot-out againstUkraine.[10] Once the tournament finished Okuka would return to club football with Polish sideWisła Kraków, who were looking for someone to improve upon their last season's result of second within the league. Already several games into the season expectations were still high despite the previous managerDan Petrescu being fired after a slow start; however, Okuka was not the manager to change the club's fortunes and was fired two months later after only eight games, with the club languishing in mid-table.
Okuka would move around Europe, first with Cypriot sideAC Omonia, where he played a 4-2-3-1 formation with little success before leaving the club after only several months. He wouldn't wait too long before joining Bulgarian sideLokomotiv Sofia in June 2008; however, the highlight of his reign was a short stint within the2008–09 UEFA Cup, and, after being unable to mount a title challenge during his time with the club, they decided not to renew his contract. This saw him move to Greek sideKavala F.C., but he only stayed with the club for five mouths and was replaced withHenryk Kasperczak. Deciding not to stay within Europe, Okuka would accept the management position from Chinese top-tier clubJiangsu Sainty, who he joined half-way through their 2011 league season and within his debut season guided the club to their best-ever finish of fourth at the end of the campaign.[11] He would strive to makeJiangsu Sainty the Chinese Super League runner-up in 2012, with only 4 points to equalMarcello Lippi'sGuangzhou Evergrande at the end of the season. Okuka would receive the honour of Chinese FA Coach of the Year for his wonderful coaching performance in 2012 and he was to gain popularity among soccer fans throughout China. Okuka won his first title for Jiangsu in the2013 Chinese FA Super Cup bu beatingSuper League andFA Cup winners Guangzhou Evergrande 2–1. However, Jiangsu Sainty spent most time in struggling at the edge of relegation in the 2013 season and finally avoided relegation by beatingQingdao Jonoon just one point. The club decided not to extend his contract at the end of the season.
Velež Mostar
Obilić
Legia Warsaw
Jiangsu Sainty
Individual
