# GNK Dinamo Zagreb Academy

GNK Dinamo Zagreb Academy, also known as Hitrec-Kacian (Croatian pronunciation:), are the youth team of Dinamo Zagreb. The academy was founded on 27 December 1967. There are a total of ten age categories within the academy, the oldest being the Junior Team (under-19) and youngest being the Zagići II Team (under-8). They have produced many of the Croatia national team stars including Luka Modrić, Vedran Ćorluka, Eduardo, Robert Prosinečki and Zvonimir Boban.

## History

The first junior team was formed in 1945 and the coach was the famous Građanski Zagreb goalkeeper Maks Mihelčić. Soon after that, Márton Bukovi joined the youth squad as an expert coach, but left after two years following his disappointment with the disbanding of Građanski. The junior team won a treble in 1950 (Zagreb's, Croatian and Yugoslav championships) under the leadership of Mirko Kokotović.
In 1952 Branko Horvatek started training one of the best junior generations the club ever had. Some of the famous players that played in that generation were Dražan Jerković, Mladen Košćak, Marijan Kolonić and Mladen Klobučar. The decision to form the youth academy Hitrec-Kacian was brought on 27 December 1967 with Horvatek being elected as its first director. Apart from him, many other famous Croatian coaches worked with the generation that was very successful in the period of 1972-1974 in Yugoslav junior competitions. Some of them include: Zorislav Srebrić, Marko Jurić, Pero Dujmović, Vladimir Čonč, Ivan Đalma Marković, Mirko Belić, Rudolf Cvek and Zdenko Kobešćak.

## Honours
### Domestics
#### Croatian football league system

* Croatian U-19 Prva HNL
** Winner (10): 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2018, 2019
* Croatian U-17 Prva HNL
** Winner (17): 1992, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
* Croatian U-15 Prva HNL
** Winner (10): 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017
* Croatian Cup U-19
** Winner (7): 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013
* Croatian Cup U-17
** Winner (4): 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
* Croatian Cup U-15
** Winner (3): 2015, 2016, 2018

#### Yugoslav football league system

* Yugoslav Championship U-19
** Winner (5): 1950, 1955, 1972, 1973, 1974
* Croatian Championship U-19
** Winner (17): 1950, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1986
* Croatian Championship U-17
** Winner (2): 1959, 1985
* Yugoslav Cup U-19
** Winner (2): 1967, 1973
* Croatian Cup U-19
** Winner (5): 1963, 1967, 1968, 1973, 1978

#### Internationals

* FIFA Youth Cup
** Winner (1): 2018
* Manchester United Premier Cup
** Winner (1): 2012–13
* Premier League International Cup
** Runners-up (1): 2018–19
* UEFA Youth League
** Quarterfinals (2): 2018–19, 2019–20
* Kvarnerska rivijera
** Winner (9): 1961, 1967, 1977, 1981, 1984, 1986, 1999, 2008, 2019
* International Nereo Rocco Tournament
** Winner (2): 2002, 2009

### Modern times

After the formation of HNL in 1991. Dinamo youth teams play important role with 6 U19 and 9 U17 titles (as of 2010). Since the mid-2000s Dinamo's youth academy is considered one of the best in Europe with their teams winning notable international tournaments. Some of the former Dinamo youth players include Croatian internationals Vedran Ćorluka, Luka Modrić, Eduardo da Silva, Niko Kranjčar, Dejan Lovren, Milan Badelj, Ivan Kelava, Mateo Kovačić and Šime Vrsaljko.

### Notable academy graduates

* Milan Badelj
* Igor Bišćan
* Zvonimir Boban
* Tomislav Butina
* Vedran Ćorluka
* Eduardo
* Joško Gvardiol
* Alen Halilović
* Ivan Kelava
* Mateo Kovačić
* Andrej Kramarić
* Niko Kranjčar
* Jerko Leko
* Dejan Lovren
* Luka Modrić
* Robert Prosinečki
* Zvonimir Soldo
* Dario Šimić
* Šime Vrsaljko
* Dino Drpić

## UEFA Youth League record

| Season | Stage | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Agg. |
| 2015–16 | Champions League Path | GS | Arsenal | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1st out of 4 |
| 2015–16 | Champions League Path | GS | Bayern Munich | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1st out of 4 |
| 2015–16 | Champions League Path | GS | Olympiacos | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1st out of 4 |
| 2015–16 | Knockout stage | R16 | Anderlecht | | 2–0 | 0–3 (awd.) |
| 2016–17 | Champions League Path | GS | Juventus | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4th out of 4 |
| 2016–17 | Champions League Path | GS | Lyon | 1–2 | 0–2 | 4th out of 4 |
| 2016–17 | Champions League Path | GS | Sevilla | 2–4 | 1–1 | 4th out of 4 |
| 2018–19 | Domestic Champions Path | 1R | Viitorul Constanța | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| 2018–19 | Domestic Champions Path | 2R | Astana | 3–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 |
| 2018–19 | Knockout stage | PO | Lokomotiv Moscow | 1–1 (5–4 p) | | |
| 2018–19 | Knockout stage | R16 | Liverpool | 1–1 (4–3 p) | | |
| 2018–19 | Knockout stage | QF | Chelsea | | 2–2 (2–4 p) | |
| 2019–20 | Champions League Path | GS | Atalanta | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2nd out of 4 |
| 2019–20 | Champions League Path | GS | Manchester City | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2nd out of 4 |
| 2019–20 | Champions League Path | GS | Shakhtar Donetsk | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2nd out of 4 |
| 2019–20 | Knockout stage | PO | Dynamo Kyiv | | 0–0 (4–3 p) | |
| 2019–20 | Knockout stage | R16 | Bayern Munich | | 2–2 (6–5 p) | |
| 2019–20 | Knockout stage | QF | Benfica | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–3 |
| 2020–21 | Knockout stage | R64 | Rosenborg | Tournament cancelled | Tournament cancelled | Tournament cancelled |
| 2022–23 | Champions League Path | GS | Chelsea | 4–2 | 0–4 | 3rd out of 4 |
| 2022–23 | Champions League Path | GS | Milan | 1–2 | 0–3 | 3rd out of 4 |
| 2022–23 | Champions League Path | GS | Red Bull Salzburg | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3rd out of 4 |
| 2023–24 | Domestic Champions Path | 1R | İstanbul Başakşehir | 2–1 | 3–1 | 5–2 |
| 2023–24 | Domestic Champions Path | 2R | Basel | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| 2024–25 | Champions League Path | LP | Bayern Munich | | 1–2 | 21st out of 36 |
| 2024–25 | Champions League Path | LP | Monaco | 1–0 | | 21st out of 36 |
| 2024–25 | Champions League Path | LP | Red Bull Salzburg | | 2–3 | 21st out of 36 |
| 2024–25 | Champions League Path | LP | Slovan Bratislava | | 2–2 | 21st out of 36 |
| 2024–25 | Champions League Path | LP | Borussia Dortmund | 0–0 | | 21st out of 36 |
| 2024–25 | Champions League Path | LP | Celtic | 2–1 | | 21st out of 36 |
| 2024–25 | Knockout stage | R32 | TBD | – | – | – |

## Players
### GNK Dinamo Zagreb II

    As of 14 January 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | BIH | Faris Krkalić |
| — | DF | CRO | Leon Sopić |
| — | FW | MNE | Andrija Kolundžić |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | CRO | Vito Batistić |
| — | FW | SRB | Luca Bigboy |
| — | MF | CRO | Jovan Blagojevic |
| — | FW | GER | Ryan Scheffler |