Petar Šegrt (born 8 May 1966) is a Croatian football coach and former player. He was most recently the head coach of the Tajikistan national team.

Petar Šegrt
Šegrt as Georgia manager in 2008
Personal information
Date of birth (1966-05-08) 8 May 1966 (age 58)
Place of birth Đurđevac, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
VFR Hirsau
FC Alzenberg Wimberg
FV Calw
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1987 FV Calw
1989–1990 FV Plochingen
1990–1991 TSV Schwaikheim
1991–1992 SV Allmersbach
1992 FC Walldorf
1993 Waldhof Mannheim Amateure
Managerial career
1983–1987 FV Calw
1996–1997 VfL Bochum (assistant)
1997–2000 MSV Duisburg (assistant)
2000–2001 Waldhof Mannheim (assistant)
2001–2003 DSV Leoben
2003 SV Ried
2004–2006 Wiener Sportklub
2006–2008 Georgia U-21
2008 Georgia
2010–2011 Bali Devata
2011–2013 PSM Makassar
2014–2015 Zvijezda Gradačac
2015–2017 Afghanistan
2018–2020 Maldives
2022–2024 Tajikistan
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Maldives As Manager
SAFF Championship
Winner 2018 Bangladesh
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life

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Petar Šegrt was born in the town of Đurđevac in SR Croatia in 1966. His parents immigrated to Germany with Šegrt's older brother in the 1970s, leaving Šegrt behind to be raised by his grandmother.[1]

Playing career

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A defender, Šegrt started his senior career in 1984 playing for FV Calw. He also played for FV Plochingen, TSV Schwaikheim, SV Allmersbach, FC Walldorf and Waldhof Mannheim Amateure. After his first injury, while he was recovering from the operation, he started as junior coach of FV Calw, while he was only 17 years old. Because of his second knee injury, he had to finish playing at 1993, while he was 27 years old. The same year Šegrt graduated for UEFA 'B' Coaching Licence in Ruit, Germany, and started his coaching career.

Coaching career

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After four years honorary working as youth coach in Amateur club FV Calw, Šegrt started his professional coaching career and he worked for various clubs in Germany. At Bundesliga clubs VfL Bochum and MSV Duisburg he worked as U-19 youth coach, as second team assistant coach and also as part of the first team coaching staff. In 2000, he go back to the club where he once played SV Waldhof Mannheim in 2. Bundesliga to work as assistant coach and as head coach of the second team. After he graduated his UEFA Pro Licence in 2001 he started to work as head coach in some professional clubs in Austria like DSV Leoben, SV Ried and Wiener Sportklub. In this 14 years of coaching experience Šegrt was remembered as the coach who develop many young players into National team players and he earned himself a nickname "Architect".[2]

Georgia national team

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In 2006, Šegrt start working as a part of Georgia national team coaching team together with Klaus Toppmöller. Between 2006–2008, Šegrt also accept the role as the head coach of Georgia U-21 national team where in a very short time he developed more than 18 players who played or still playing for Georgia national team. With Šegrt as coach, Georgia U-21 make one of the biggest success in Georgian National team football history with a 2–0 victory against Russia U21 in 2007 European U-21 Cup qualification. After Klaus Toppmöller left the Georgia A-national team on 1 April 2008, Šegrt was appointed as first Technical Director in history of Georgian Football Federation. He was also leading Georgia A-national team as head coach in friendly games against Estonia and Portugal in May 2008, before Georgian Football Federation appointed Héctor Cúper as head coach on 1 August 2008. In addition to his coaching skills, Šegrt gained large popularity in Georgia during the Georgia-Russia war conflict in 2008, after his famous speech[3] at Rustaveli square in Tbilisi, where he promised to the thousands of Georgian people gathered, that he would not leave their country despite the war.

After his great work in Georgia, in December 2008 Germany's leading sports magazine Kicker announced that German Football Association choose Šegrt as one of the candidates for taking over Germany U-21.[4]

Bali Devata

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Petar Šegrt as Bali Devata manager in 2011

In the end of 2010, Konsorsium Liga Premier Indonesia invited Šegrt to be a part and help them with his coaching and managing experience to build a new club in Indonesian professional football based in Bali, so Šegrt approached to Bali Devata which competed in Liga Primer Indonesia. After he finished his job with Bali Devata the same consortium offered him a new job as head coach of former Indonesian champion PSM Makassar.

PSM Makassar

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In October 2011 Šegrt was appointed as head coach of PSM Makassar. Very popular club[5] and a very successful club in Indonesia and now compete in Liga 1, the men's top professional football division of the Indonesian football league system. After only one season in Indonesian Premier League Šegrt developed 10 new Indonesian national players, six players were invited for Indonesia A-national team and four players were invited for Indonesia U-23 national team. After success Šegrt achieved that season, in July 2012 PSM Makassar club boards offered him 5 years contract extension,[6] which is very uncommon for Indonesian clubs. Šegrt also have unbeaten home record in Indonesian Premier League, which is the first time for PSM Makassar in the club's 97 years history, although he had youngest team in the Indonesian Premier League as average age of the players was 22. In December 2012, Šegrt lead the team winning the Walikota Cup in Ternate.[7] That was the first trophy for PSM Makassar after almost 12 years. Although he had contract until 2017, after his team winning game in Jun 2013 Šegrt decided to leave PSM Makassar for private reasons.[8] The club's supporters showed their disappointment[9] by decision of their favorite coach, but together with president and club's management they invited Šegrt to attend the next home game in July 2013. They filled the stadium and prepared official goodbye in front of the game, which is very unusual for Indonesian supporters.

Zvijezda Gradačac

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After leaving PSM Makassar, Šegrt was a candidate to coach Indonesia national football team. In September 2014, he accepted the offer from Bosnian Premier League club Zvijezda Gradačac.[10] Although Šegrt brought Zvijezda in the middle of the ranking, in April 2015 the club got a new management and they decided to appoint a new coach. That ended up being a poor decision as the club got relegated from the Premier League shortly after Šegrt left.

Afghanistan national team

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In November 2015, Afghanistan Football Federation announced that they appointed Šegrt as the new head coach. Šegrt promised he will use his experience and knowledge to develop football in Afghanistan.[11]

Šegrt won six from eight official matches with Afghanistan. He won four South Asia Cup matches and one lost in overtime against home team India in final 1–2. In World Cup qualification for Russia 2018 Šegrt lost only in Japan and he won two other matches. He achieved the biggest success of Afghanistan in Asia Cup with the direct and first time in history of Afghanistan the Final Asia Cup Qualification. After that the Afghanistan Football Federation surprisingly decides to appoint new coach.

Maldives national team

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In March 2018 Football Association of Maldives signed a two-year contract with Šegrt as the head coach. He won his first official match In AFC Qualifications with convincing 7–0 against Bhutan.[12] That was the first win for Maldives after 288 days. In September 2018, the Maldives made a big surprise by winning the SAFF Suzuki Cup 2018 in Bangladesh against any odds. In the final they won 2–1 against favorite India. For Šegrt that was the second final of the SAFF Suzuki Cup as he led Afghanistan until the final 2 years earlier, which he lost to India 1–2. On 7 January 2020 head coach Šegrt and the Maldivian association agreed on a mutually agreed termination of the contract.

Tajikistan national team

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On 27 January 2022, the Tajikistan Football Federation announced Šegrt as their new Head Coach.[13] Under Šegrt, Tajikistan managed to achieve a historic feat, qualified for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, which is also the country's first-ever appearance in a major continental football competition in history, having failed to qualify for the Asian Cup five times before. Šegrt also guided Tajikistan to win the 2022 King's Cup in Thailand and the 2023 Merdeka Tournament in Malaysia where he had an average squad age of 21.1.

In the 2023 Asian Cup itself, Tajikistan achieved a draw (0–0, against China PR[14]), and after a 0–1 defeat to Qatar[15] and a further 2 – 1 victory against heavily favored Lebanon,[16] Tajikistan qualified for the Round of 16.

Tajikistan upset the UAE 5-3 in a penalty shootout on 28 January 2024 to advance to the 2023 Asian Cup quarter-finals after the game ended 1-1 after extra time.[17]

Managerial statistics

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As of match played 2 February 2024[18]
Team Nat. From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
DSV Leoben   1 September 2001 7 January 2003 25 13 4 8 45 31 +14 052.00
SV Ried   1 July 2003 11 November 2003 21 10 5 6 36 27 +9 047.62
WSC   1 July 2004 1 November 2005 2 1 0 1 4 7 −3 050.00
Georgia U-21   6 February 2007 31 December 2008 8 2 0 6 6 22 −16 025.00
Georgia   1 April 2008 31 July 2008 2 0 1 1 1 3 −2 000.00
Zvijezda Gradačac   5 September 2014 19 April 2015 21 5 6 10 28 36 −8 023.81
Afghanistan   1 November 2015 13 February 2017 10 6 1 3 23 12 +11 060.00
Maldives   11 March 2018 19 December 2019 11 5 1 5 18 16 +2 045.45
Tajikistan   27 January 2022 16 February 2024 24 9 10 5 30 20 +10 037.50
Total 124 51 28 45 191 174 +17 041.13

Honours

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Managerial

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Maldives

Tajikistan

References

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  1. ^ Mann der Hoffnung Archived 17 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine bkz.de
  2. ^ "Architect PSM, Petar Segrt". Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  3. ^ "Petar Segrt, Lesson of Loyalty in Football". YouTube. 30 May 2011. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  4. ^ "Petar Segrt candidate for Germany U21". Kicker. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  5. ^ "PSM Makassar homepage". Archived from the original on 1 July 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  6. ^ "PSM Makassar offered 5 years contract to Petar Segrt". 12 June 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  7. ^ "PSM Makassar Won the Walikota Cup Ternate".
  8. ^ "Petar Segrt Decides To Resign From PSM Makassar". 11 June 2013. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  9. ^ "PSM Makassar Supporters Unhappy With Petar Segrt Decision To Resign From The Club". Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  10. ^ "Petar Segrt New Head Coach of Zvijezda Gradacac". Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  11. ^ Der gefährlichste Trainerjob der Welt Archived 17 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine stuttgarter-zeitung.de
  12. ^ "Die maledivische Nationalelf war 288 Tage ohne Sieg" Archived 5 February 2023 at the Wayback Machine zeit.de
  13. ^ "ХОРВАТСКИЙ СПЕЦИАЛИСТ ПЕТР СЕГРТ – НОВЫЙ ГЛАВНЫЙ ТРЕНЕР СБОРНОЙ ТАДЖИКИСТАНА". fft.tj/ (in Russian). Tajikistan Football Federation. 27 January 2022. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Match Report of China PR vs Tajikistan - 2024-01-13 - AFC Asian Cup - Global Sports Archive".
  15. ^ "Match Report of Tajikistan vs Qatar - 2024-01-17 - AFC Asian Cup - Global Sports Archive".
  16. ^ "Match Report of Tajikistan vs Lebanon - 2024-01-22 - AFC Asian Cup - Global Sports Archive".
  17. ^ Match Report of Tajikistan vs United Arab Emirates - 2024-01-28 - AFC Asian Cup - Global Sports Archive
  18. ^ "Coaching statistics". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 15 June 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  19. ^ "СБОРНАЯ ТАДЖИКИСТАНА СТАЛА ПОБЕДИТЕЛЕМ ТУРНИРА «KING'S CUP 2022» В ТАИЛАНДЕ!". fft.tj/ (in Russian). Tajikistan Football Federation. 26 September 2022. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
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