Radomir Antic Biography

Radomir Antic, born 22 November 1948 in the town of Žitište and died 6 April 2020 in Madrid, was a Yugoslav-Serbian footballer and football coach. He is the only person who has managed FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

Antic was a professional football player with Sloboda Uzice (1967/68),

(1968-1976), Fenerbahçe (1976/77), Real Zaragoza (1977-1979) and Luton Town (1979-1984). He only played one international match for Yugoslavia: under coach Vujadin Boškov he replaced Franjo Vladić in the friendly match against Hungary (1-1) on 26 September 1973 after 82 minutes.

Antic began as a coach at his old club Partizan Belgrade in 1985. He departed for Spain in 1988, where he went on to work for

(1988-1991), Real Madrid (1991/92), Real Oviedo (1992-1995), Atlético Madrid (1995-2000), again Real Oviedo (2000/01), FC Barcelona (January-June 2003) and finally

(January-March 2004). Antic enjoyed the most success with Atlético Madrid, where he won the La Liga title and the Spanish Cup in 1996.

All You Need to Know About Radomir Antic Biography

Antic was coach of the Serbian national team at the 2010 World Cup. Although he defeated Germany, the Serbian team failed to qualify for the next round, as Ghana and Australia were too strong for the Serbian team in the group stage. He was sacked by the Serbian Football Federation on Wednesday 15 September 2010. He was succeeded by the 55-year-old Vladimir Petrović. His last work was in China.

Radomir Antic Information

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Radomir Antic biography

we will share more general information about him such as

Radomir Antic nationality

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Radomir Antic Bio

• Full Name: Radomir Antic

• Nickname: N/A

• Profession: Professional Football Coach

Radomir Antic Physical Stats

• Weight: 73 Kg

• Height: 1.78 m

• Eye Color: Brown

• Hair Color: Grey

Radomir Antic Football Information

• Position: Defender

• Jersey Number: 4

• Professional Debut: 1967

Radomir Antic Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 22 November 1948

• Birth Place: Žitište, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia

• Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

• Nationality: Serbian

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Radomir Antic biography

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Radomir Antic childhood

.

Radomir Antic Early Life

Antic was born in Zitiste and at the age of six, he moved to Uzice. He began his playing career with Sloboda from Užice (1967-1968) and then transferred to Partizan, where he spent most of his playing career. He joined Partizan in 1968 and remained there until 1976. He won the title of Yugoslav champion with Partizan in the 1975-76 season, and for the Black and Whites, he played 181 games in the Yugoslav championship, scoring 9 goals.

It was in the summer of 1976 Antic signed for the Turkish side

. He had two seasons with this Istanbul club before moving to Real Zaragoza in Spain. In 1979 Antic moved to

, where he remained until 1984. He scored a goal in May 1983 to save the club from relegation from League One, 4 minutes before the end of their final league game against Manchester City, who were then relegated from the league.

National Team

He just played one match in a Yugoslav national team shirt was on September 1973 in Belgrade, during a friendly match against the Hungarian national team (1-1). At that time, Antic played less than 10 minutes, as he had to start the match from the bench. He came on in the 80th minute for the injured Franjo Vladić, who had earlier replaced Vladimir Petrović Pižon in the 62nd minute.

Radomir Antic Profile

Antic began his coaching career at Partizan in 1985 when he became assistant coach, initially to Nenad Bjeković, then to Fahrudin Jusufi. During the last years, he was also the coach of the juniors. He left Partizan in 1988.

Zaragoza

He was given the opportunity to manage on his own at Real Zaragoza, for whom he was also a player. He became the first coach on the recommendation of Vujadin Boskov, who was managing Sampdoria at the time and also managed Zaragoza early in his career when Antic was playing there.

He picked up a point against Valencia on his debut as coach on 4 September 1988. They finished the season in fifth place, earning a place in the UEFA Cup. At Zaragoza, he was the first coach for two and a half years.

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career.

Real Madrid

It was March 1991 that Real Madrid approached Antic, leading to him taking over from Alfredo Di Stefano as Real Madrid's head coach for the first time. He led Real in their last 12 games in the league, in which they finished third at the end of the season, winning a place in the UEFA Cup.

During the first half of the next season, he managed the team in a total of 19 games. The likes of Emilio Butragenjo, Mitchell, Fernando Jero, Manuel Sanchiz and Gheorghe Hagi were playing for Real at the time. The club was joined at Antic's insistence by Robert Prosinecki, winner of the 1991 Champions Cup with Red Star, and the young and talented Luis Enrique from Sporting Gijon.

Ramon Mendoza, Real's president at the time, appointed Leo Benhacker as sporting director. Benhacker was not satisfied with the way Antic was leading the team and therefore he was dismissed after a few weeks, in mid-January 1992.

At that point, Real was seven points ahead of second-placed Barcelona in first place in the table. In the UEFA Cup, Real also made it to the quarter-finals. Following Antic's departure, Benhaker himself took charge of the team. Real lost the advantage under his guidance, allowing Barcelona to win the title in the last round.

Oviedo

Antic joined

in the 1992/93 season after he replaced the dismissed Javier Iruretto after 13 matches. That season Oviedo finished two places above the relegation zone. He brought in Slaviša Jokanović from Partizan in the summer of 1993.

This season Oviedo came in ninth. Prior to the next campaign, he recruited Prosinecki from Real Madrid, where he didn't play much due to frequent injuries. And they finished that season again in ninth place.

Having achieved good results at a small club like Oviedo made him attractive to much bigger Spanish clubs. While he was in the final stages of negotiations with Valencia, he was offered a contract by

, which he accepted.

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Atletico Madrid

He achieved the most success during his time with Atletico Madrid, where he coached three times. The first time he coached them was for three seasons from 1995 to 1998. When he joined the club, the team's structure was made up of Jose Luis Caminero, Kiko Narvaez, Diego Simeone and Ljuboslav Penev. During the season before Antic's arrival, Atletico made it to the last round, playing 2: 2 against Sevilla. They ended the season with only one point more than the teams that were in the relegation zone.

By the time Antic took over the team, there were 35 footballers in it. Antic picked those players and left a group of 20 that he expected to play in the next season. He planned to bring in five or six players to strengthen certain positions in the team.

Atletico climbed to the top of the table after the second match and only gave it up once, after the fifth round. In the very next round, they returned to the top and kept it until the end of the league. The team demonstrated exceptional efficiency, with Penev scoring 16 goals, Simone 12, Kiko 11, Pantic 10 and Kaminero 9.

That season Atletico conceded the fewest goals, only 32 in 42 games. Atletico was led by Antic to the Copa del Rey triumph that season. In the final, they managed to defeat

after extra time. The only goal scorer was Milinko Pantic.

The then-president of Atletico, Jesus Hill, spent considerable funds to bring in significant reinforcements to help the club defend its title and compete as well as possible in the

. Antic was trying to bring Ronaldo from PSV Eindhoven, but he nevertheless opted for a move to Barcelona.

Being in the European competition cost them league results, so they immediately fell behind Real and Barcelona. They finished first in their group in the Champions League ahead of Borussia Dortmund, Videva from Lodz and Steaua Bucharest. They were eliminated by Ajax in the quarter-finals.

In the 1997/98 season, Atletico also started quite ambitiously. Two big reinforcements were brought in, Christian Vieri from Italian champions Juventus and Juninho Paulista from Middlesbrough. A part of the funds for these transfers was provided by the sale of Diego Simeone to Inter.

With Atletico playing in the inconsistent form in the league, there were rumours that Antic would be replaced. Following the defeat to Lazio in the UEFA Cup, president Hill told journalists that he had found a successor for Antic. Following the end of the league, Antic was sacked and Italian Arigo Saki was brought in in his place.

Barcelona

On 2 February 2003, Antic was officially made coach of FC Barcelona. By signing a six-month contract, he succeeded Dutchman Louis van Gaal. Antic would take over the club when it was in 15th place in the Primera División. However, having led Barça in 24 official games, they won 12, drew eight and lost four.

By the end of the season, they finished in 6th place, securing a place in the UEFA Cup. In the Champions League quarter-finals, they were knocked out by Juventus after extra time. He left Barcelona at the end of the season and Frank Rijkaard was brought in his place.

Celta

He subsequently took over Celta at the end of January 2004. At the time, Celta finished 17th in the Primera División, with only one point higher than the first team in the relegation zone. That season, Celta also played in the Champions League, facing Arsenal in the round of 16. However, Antic was unable to knock out Arsenal, losing in both matches. In the league, the results were no better.

On 28 March 2004, Celta lost 2:0 at home to Zaragoza, which dropped them to second-last place in the Primera División, two points behind Espanyol and four behind Mallorca, the last club not in the relegation zone. After this match, Antic stepped down. Antic picked up only seven points in nine league games with Celta.

Serbia

Antic was appointed coach of the

on 19 August 2008 after over four years without a coaching position. He guided the national team in 28 official matches (17 wins, 3 draws, 8 defeats). He achieved a direct place in the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, in which the "Eagles" did not reach the second round.

Following two years and 21 days at the helm of the national team, Radomir Antic was relieved on 15 September 2010 by a unanimous decision of the Executive Committee of the Serbian Football Federation.

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Radomir Antic biography

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Shandong

He took over Chinese Super League

in December 2012 and signed a two-year contract with the club. After spending one year with the club, he was sacked. With Shandong, Antic finished second in the 2013 Chinese Super League table, trailing Gwangju Evergrande, managed by Marcello Lippi, by 18 points.

Hebei

At the end of January 2015, he was named coach of Chinese second division side Hebei. He signed a three-year contract worth €3 million per season, according to Chinese media, which included certain bonuses in the event of promotion to the elite tier of Chinese football. Antic remained on the bench at Hebei until 18 August 2015, when he was fired. His dismissal came after a series of poor results at the club, which failed to meet the management's expectations.

Style of Play

During his time in

, Radomir Antic proved to be a huge fan of the 4-2-3-1 system, as both of his teams primarily used this system in their matches. However, in the Serbian national team, he showed more tactical flexibility and used numerous systems, including 4-3-3 and 4-4-2.

Reception

Many football fans and critics consider Radomir Antic to be one of the best coaches in the history of Serbian and Yugoslavian football. Until today, he is the only managed to have coaches the three Spanish giants Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

Radomir Antic outside Football

After retiring from the world of football coaching and China being his last stop, Antic spent the last years of his life with his family and grandchildren.

On 6 April 2020, Radomir Antic passed away in a hospital in Madrid, when he was just 72 years old. He died after a long and severe illness. According to the Spanish press, he had spent the last three months of his life in hospital.

Radomir Antic Personal Life

In this section of Radomir Antic biography, we will take a deeper look into his personal life and share some information about things like

Radomir Antic life story

and

Radomir Antic religion

, stay tuned.

Family, Children and Relationships

Radomir was married to his wife Vera for so many years, with whom he has two children: a daughter named Ana (married to basketball player Nikola Lončar) and a son named Dušan (married to his wife Mirjana). Antic has four grandchildren, Marko, Radomir, Ivan and Petra. Radomir was named after his uncle Rade Brkić.

Philanthropy

For many times during his career, Radomir Antic was involved in different charitable projects. For example, he was the head coach of the

select team captained by Sergio Ramos in the 'Champions for Africa' charity match organised by UNICEF. The proceeds of the match went to the education programmes for Schools for Africa and Kanoute’s City of Children in Mali Foundation.

Legal Issues

During his life both as a player and a coach, Radomir Antic was never involved in any legal issues or disputes and there are no such reports on the English or Serbian media.

Radomir Antic Career Statistics

In this section of Radomir Antic biography, we will take a look at his career stats on the international and club level.

Club

Between 1967 and 1984, Antic managed to play a total of 367 league matches for many different teams, scoring 27 goals. He spent the majority of his career playing for Partizan.

International

He play only one match for the national team of Yugoslavia in 1973, as he was substituted for Franjo Vladić in the friendly match against Hungary (1-1) on 26 September 1973 in the 82nd minutes.

Managerial

With 261 wins, 142 draws and 1760 defeats in a total of 579 matches he managed different teams, Antic had a win ratio of 45.08 percent during his coaching career.

Radomir Antic Honors

As a player, he was able to win Yugoslav First League with Partizan, the Turkish 1. Lig with Fenerbahce and the English Second Division with Luton Town.

His only trophies as a coach were won as the coach of Atletico Madrid when he was able to clinch the double of La Liga and Copa del Rey in the 1995-96 season.

He has also won the Don Balón Award Best Coach in the 1995–96 season and the Serbian Coach of the Year in 2009.

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