Mirza Varešanović

Mirza Varešanović (born 31 May 1972) is a Bosnian retired professional footballer and current football manager. 

Club career
Varešanović started his career with FK Sarajevo, breaking into the first team in 1991, but getting only limited playing time.  With the start of the Bosnian war, competitive football in the country halted and Sarajevo became a touring club.  During one of these tours, Varešanović was spotted by FC Bordeaux scouts, and he quickly joined the French team. 

A year later he made a move to Olympiacos F.C., spending two seasons with the Greek outfit.  With Olympiacos, he won the Greek Super League in the seasons 1996–97 and 1997–98. 
He next moved to Turkish Süper Lig side Bursaspor, who he would go on to represent on two separate occasions. 

In 2002 while at Sarajevo, Varešanović won the 2001–02 Bosnian Cup.  He concluded his playing career with Sarajevo in 2004. 

International career
Varešanović was capped 24 times for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team between 1996 and 2001.  He played in the UEFA Euro 2000 and the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaigns. 

Managerial career

Early career
After concluding his playing career, Varešanović was named FK Sarajevo Sporting director, and held the position for two years.  In 2010, he was named FK Sarajevo manager and led the team for one season and finished second in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

In the summer of 2011, he was approached by FK Velež Mostar, and went on to lead the Herzegovina outfit for also one season. 

Olimpik
In May 2014, Varešanović accepted an offer from FK Olimpik. 

In his second season, he won the Bosnian Cup trophy and made historic achievement with Olimpik by winning the first trophy for the youngest football club in the Bosnian Premier League. 

Varešanović left the club in November 2015. 

Return to Olimpik
Varešanović once again came back to Olimpik in June 2017, but again left the club the very same year in November. 

Bosnia and Herzegovina U18
In 2018, Varešanović was the head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina U18 national team.  He led the national team to 8th place at the 2018 Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, Spain. 

Tuzla City
On 26 February 2019, Varešanović signed a half of a year contract with Bosnian Premier League club FK Tuzla City.  His first win as Tuzla City's manager came on 9 March 2019, in 0–2 away win against FK Krupa. 

On 25 May 2019, after the end of the last game of the 2018–19 Bosnian Premier League season in which Tuzla City lost against FK Željezničar Sarajevo at home 0–3, Varešanović decided to leave Tuzla, stating: "I've been here for about three months, we have achieved what we had planned, but I will not be the manager of the club next season.  I'm just too tired for this time, and some things have happened that have added to the decision of my deparutre, so..."

Personal life
Mirza's son Mak Varešanović is also a professional footballer who plays for Caserstan in the Italian Serie C. He previously played for Serie A club Udinese. 

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Club
Bordeaux
UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1995

Olympiacos 
Super League Greece: 1996–97, 1997–98

Sarajevo 
Bosnian Cup: 2001–02

Manager
Olimpik 
Bosnian Cup: 2014–15

References

External links

Category:1972 births
Category:Living people
Category:Sportspeople from Sarajevo
Category:Bosnia and Herzegovina footballers
Category:Bosnia and Herzegovina international footballers
Category:Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate footballers
Category:Association football defenders
Category:FK Sarajevo players
Category:FC Girondins de Bordeaux players
Category:Ligue 1 players
Category:Olympiacos F.C. players
Category:Bursaspor footballers
Category:FK Austria Wien players
Category:Expatriate footballers in France
Category:Expatriate footballers in Turkey
Category:Expatriate footballers in Greece
Category:Expatriate footballers in Austria
Category:Süper Lig players
Category:FK Sarajevo managers
Category:FK Velež Mostar managers
Category:Bosnia and Herzegovina football managers