Petra Mandić makes Croatian football history with head coach appointment
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
Petra Mandić (Photo credit. NK Dubrava Tim Kabel)
Petra Mandić has become the first woman in the history of Croatian football to hold the position of head coach of a senior men’s club in the nation’s second division.
Previously, the 38-year-old coached the women’s football teams of Split and Osijek and served as an assistant coach for the men’s team at NK Kustošija.
Mandić has taken over as the coach of Croatian second division club NK Dubrava Tim Kabel following the resignation of former coach Krešimir Sunara on Tuesday.
Dubrava currently stands seventh in the 1. NL after 22 rounds with 26 points. Mandić will make her debut as head coach of the Zagreb-based club against the league leaders this weekend.
Petra Mandić leads training on Wednesday (Photo credit. NK Dubrava Tim Kabel)
“This is a historic moment, let’s not kid ourselves. However, I haven’t achieved anything yet; I want the results to speak for me,” Mandić revealed to daily Sportske novosti.
Born in Split, Mandić has lived most of her in Kaštela, before moving to Zagreb a few years ago.
Although she played tennis as a youngster, football was her main love and was in her genes with both her dad and grandad being football coaches.
Mandić coached the women’s football club Split, taking them to second place in the Croatian league and to the Cup final two years in a row. Then she worked at Marjan, which is now Hajduk.
Moving to Zagreb, Mandić worked at Futsal Dinamo and simultaneously served as a fitness coach at Hrvatski Dragovoljac. She then was invited to join the coaching staff.
Putting the first team through their paces (Photo credit. NK Dubrava Tim Kabel)
At Kustošija, she coached the first team alongside Ugo Klingor.
Mandić has also earned a doctorate in football studies at the Faculty of Kinesiology in Split and soon became an associate professor.
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“I am the only woman in Croatia to have earned a doctorate in football studies; however, I consider futsal to be a different sport,” she told Sportske novosti.
Do she have a coaching role model?
“Yes, Jürgen Klopp.”
