Dženan Uščuplić

Dženan Uščuplić

Uščuplić as Sarajevo manager in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth	(1975-08-18)18 August 1975
Place of birth	Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia
Date of death	8 August 2024(2024-08-08) (aged 48)
Place of death	Zelengora, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
0000–1992	Željezničar
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1998	Sarajevo	84	(20)
2000	Sarajevo	2	(0)
2001	Olimpik	7	(0)
2001–2002	Sarajevo	8	(0)
Total		101	(20)
International career
1996–1997	Bosnia and Herzegovina U21	8	(2)
Managerial career
2014	Sarajevo
2015	Sarajevo
2021	Sarajevo (caretaker)
2022	Sarajevo (caretaker)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Dženan Uščuplić (18 August 1975 – 8 August 2024) was a Bosnian professional football manager and player. A midfielder, he was most successful playing for and managing hometown club Sarajevo.

Playing career

As a player of Sarajevo on three occasions, Uščuplić won three Bosnian cup titles and one supercup with the club. He also played for Olimpik. He retired in the summer of 2002 at the age of 27 because of a chronic knee injury sustained in April 1998.^[1]

Managerial career

After being forced to retire from football, Uščuplić spent nine years in the Sarajevo youth academy and as an assistant to former first team manager Robert Jarni, before being named manager in 2014.^[2] In his debut season he led the club to a cup triumph, ending a seven-season silverware drought.^[3] On 26 September 2014, Uščuplić was relieved of his duties as Sarajevo manager after a string of disappointing results, and returned to the club's youth academy where he completed the UEFA Pro Licence program.^[4]

On 21 April 2015, he was again named manager of Sarajevo after the club management sacked Meho Kodro.^[5] This time Uščuplić led Sarajevo to a league triumph shortly after being named the new manager.^[6] On 11 September 2015, Uščuplić and his whole staff were sacked after a series of poor results that culminated with yet another loss, this time against Slavija Sarajevo.^[7]

Six years later, on 13 May 2021, he was yet again named as Sarajevo's caretaker manager until the end of the 2020–21 season, after the club agreed to terminate Vinko Marinović's contract by mutual agreement due to poor results in the last few games of the season.^[8] In Uščuplić's first game as manager, Sarajevo drew against Mladost Doboj Kakanj in a league game on 16 May 2021.^[9] He oversaw his first win as manager against Radnik Bijeljina on 23 May 2021.^[10] Three days later, on 26 May, Uščuplić led Sarajevo to yet another Bosnian cup triumph, this time beating Borac Banja Luka in the final.^[11]

On 12 May 2022, for a second time in a year, he became Sarajevo's caretaker manager until the end of the 2021–22 season, following Aleksandar Vasoski's resignation.^[12] Sarajevo ended the season in 4th place and lost to Velež Mostar in the 2021–22 Bosnian Cup final, failing to qualify to a European competition for a second time in six years.^[13]

Death

Uščuplić died on 8 August 2024, at the age of 48.^[14] He was struck by lightning during harsh weather conditions while hiking on the Zelengora mountain range in the Sutjeska National Park of Bosnia and Herzegovina.^[15]

Managerial statistics

Managerial record by team and tenure^[16]

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Sarajevo	10 April 2014	26 September 2014	19	11	4	4	057.89
Sarajevo	21 April 2015	10 September 2015	15	10	2	3	066.67
Sarajevo (caretaker)	13 May 2021	31 May 2021	4	3	1	0	075.00
Sarajevo (caretaker)	12 May 2022	1 June 2022	4	1	0	3	025.00
Total			42	25	7	10	059.52

Honours

Player

Sarajevo

• Bosnian Cup: 1996–97, 1997–98, 2001–02
• Bosnian Supercup: 1997

Manager

Sarajevo

• Bosnian Premier League: 2014–15
• Bosnian Cup: 2013–14, 2020–21

References

1. "Dženan Uščuplić". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
2. "Dženan Uščuplić na Jahorinu vodi 22 igrača" (in Bosnian). Goal.com. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
3. "Dženan Uščuplić: U petak sam bio presretan, vratili smo povjerenje navijača" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
4. "Uščuplić više nije trener Sarajeva" (in Bosnian). Avaz.ba. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
5. "Uščuplić back, Kodro fired!". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
6. Sarajevo novi prvak BiH, Željezničaru samo bod na Bilinom polju at klix.ba, 30 May 2015
7. Nakon poraza od Slavije smijenjen kompletan stručni štab FK Sarajevo at klix.ba, 11 September 2015
8. E.B. (13 May 2021). "Dženan Uščuplić će biti trener FK Sarajevo do kraja sezone" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
9. H.H. (16 May 2021). "Očajno Sarajevo remiziralo protiv Mladosti i okončalo šampionske snove" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
10. E. Škorić (23 May 2021). "Pirova pobjeda Sarajeva za kraj, Radnik ispao iz Premijer lige!" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
11. N.K. (26 May 2021). "Sarajevo nakon penala savladalo Borac i osvojilo Kup BiH" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
12. M. Šljivak (12 May 2022). "Dženan Uščuplić novi trener FK Sarajevo!" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
13. M.K. (19 May 2022). "Odlučili penali: Velež je osvajač Kupa BiH!" (in Bosnian). sport.avaz.ba. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
14. N.M (8 August 2024). "Poginuo Dženan Uščuplić (48), proslavljeni igrač i trener FK Sarajevo" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
15. Edmir Škorić (8 August 2024). "Poginuo legendarni fudbaler i trener Sarajeva Dženan Uščuplić!" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
16. "Dženan Uščuplić". Sofascore. Retrieved 27 May 2022.

External links

• Dženan Uščuplić at Eurosport
• Dženan Uščuplić at Soccerway.com
• Dženan Uščuplić at WorldFootball.net