Croatia appoints new U-17 national team coach to replace Robert Jarni

Stipe Pletikosa, Marijan Budimir, Marijan Kustić, Petar Krpan (Photo credit: Drago Sopta/HNS)

The Croatian Football Federation has appointed Marijan Budimir as the new coach of the Croatian U-17 national team, which faces the continuation of qualifications for the UEFA U-17 European Championship in March.

Budimir met at the headquarters of the Croatian Football Federation with President Marijan Kustić, Technical Director Stipe Pletikosa, and Chief Instructor Petar Krpan, where they reached an agreement regarding his assumption of the coaching position for the Croatian U-17 team, succeeding Robert Jarni.

“I didn’t expect such a coaching opportunity, but when this chance arose, I didn’t have to think too much about it – Croatia comes above all else, leading a Croatian national team is the main goal for any coach. I thank President Kustić, Stipe, Petar, and the Federation’s leadership for the great trust they have shown in me. Ahead of us are the European Championship qualifiers where we have a challenging group, but we are Croatia, and in every match, we must strive for the best,” said the new coach of the Croatian cadets, Marijan Budimir.

At 43 years old, Budimir played for the youth teams of the Croatian national team as a player, and after his playing career, he achieved significant success as the coach of Hajduk’s juniors, leading them to the final of the UEFA Youth League in 2023.

Marijan Budimir and Marijan Kustić (Photo credit: Drago Sopta/HNS)

“I am convinced that we have chosen an excellent solution for our U-17 national team because Marijan has proven himself through his previous work with younger age groups. We closely followed Hajduk’s successes in the Youth League, and we are pleased that we managed to bring in a coach whose influence was clearly visible in that team. I thank Marijan for accepting our invitation and wish him a lot of success in his work, with the full support of the Croatian Football Federation and our logistics. Younger age groups are an important strategic priority for the Federation, as demonstrated by this appointment,” said HNS President Marijan Kustić.

Robert Jarni was sacked as Croatia U-17 coach last week after openly stating he would support Spanish club Real Betis against Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb in their UEFA Europa Conference League clash.

While acknowledging individuals’ rights to support any club, even if it conflicts with Croatian interests, the Federation said it emphasises higher standards for national team coaches. It deemed open support for non-Croatian clubs by national team staff as inappropriate and sends a negative message, particularly to players whose clubs are opposed to the coach’s allegiance.