Azerbaijan appoint Croatian Nikola Jurčević as new head coach
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
11 February 2019 – Azerbaijan has appointed Croatian Nikola Jurčević as their new head coach, the Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) reported on Monday.
Jurčević, who was Slaven Bilić’s assistant when he was in charge of the Croatian national team, Lokomotiv Moscow, Bešiktaš and West Ham, will lead Azerbaijan in the upcoming Euro qualifiers.
AFFA confirmed that Jurčević has signed a contract until 2020.
It is not the first time a former Croatian international and assistant coach has landed the Azerbaijan head coach job. From 2014 – 2007, Robert Prosinečki was in charge. Prosinečki was an assistant together with Jurčević when Bilić was in charge of Croatia.
His first competitive match in charge will be against Croatia in Zagreb on 21 March. Azerbaijan is in Croatia’s Euro 2020 qualifying group.
