Slobodan Kovač

Slobodan Kovač
Personal information
Full name	Slobodan Kovač
Born	(1967-09-13) September 13, 1967 Veliko Gradište, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Hometown	Serbia
Height	200 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Coaching information
Current team	Sir Safety Perugia
Previous teams coached Years Teams 2008–2010 2010–2014 2014–2015 2015– Radnički Kragujevac Sir Safety Perugia Iran Sir Safety Perugia
Honours Men's volleyball Representing  Yugoslavia Olympic Games 2000 Sydney Team 1996 Atlanta Team World Championship 1998 Japan European Championship 2001 Czech Republic 1997 Netherlands World Grand Champions Cup 2001 Japan World Cup 2003 Japan World League 2003 Madrid Mediterranean Games 1991 Athens

Slobodan Kovač (born September 13, 1967 in Veliko Gradište) is a Serbian former volleyball player and current coach. In 2014, he was signed as the head coach of the Iran men's national team^[1] until the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.^[2] But, he was sacked after 2015 World Cup and replaced with Raúl Lucio Lozano. Previously competing for Yugoslavia he won a bronze medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and won his first gold medal with the Yugoslav team at Sydney at the 2000 Summer Olympics at the age of 33.^[3] Kovač is 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) in height.

In 2010-2014 and again in 2015-2016, he was coach of SIR Safety Perugia, reaching two times the final of Superlega, Italy's top level club championship.

Career

Playing

Club	Country	From	To
VGSK Veliko Gradište	Yugoslavia	1983	1985
Kolubara	Yugoslavia	1985	1988
Vojvodina	Yugoslavia	1988	1992
Volley Jòia	Italy	1992	1993
Aris Salonique	Greece	1993	1994
Volley Lube	Italy	1994	1999
Martina Franca Volley	Italy	1999	2002
Pallavolo Agnone	Italy	2002	2003
GFC Ajaccio	France	2003	2004
Pegah Urmia	Iran	2004	2005
Azarpayam Urmia	Iran	2005	2006

Managing

Team	Country	From	To
Radnički Kragujevac	Serbia	2008	2010
Sir Safety Perugia	Italy	2010	2014
Iran's National Team	Iran	2014	2015
Sir Safety Perugia	Italy	2015	2016

Honours

As a player

Vojvodina

• 2 League Championship: 1989, 1992
• 1 CEV Champions League semifinalist: 1989

Pegah

• 1 Super League runner-up: 2005

As a manager

Radnički Kragujevac

• 2 Serbian Championship: 2009, 2010

Sir Safety Perugia

• 1 Italian Championship A1 runner-up: 2014
• 1 Italian Cup A1 runner-up: 2014
• 1 Italian Championship A2: 2012

Iran men

• 1 Asian Games: 2014
• 1 World Championship sixth-place: 2014
• 1 World League fourth-place: 2014

Individual

• 3 Serbian manager of the year: 2008, 2009, 2010
• 2 Italian manager of the year: 2013, 2014^[4]

References

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia – 1996 Summer Olympics (Bronze medal)
1 Đurić 2 Petrović 3 Batez 4 Tanasković 5 Brđović (C) 7 Mešter 8 Kovač 9 N. Grbić 10 V. Grbić 11 Jokanović 12 Gerić 13 Vujević Coach: Grozdanović Trainer: Gajić

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia – 2000 Summer Olympics (Gold Medal)
3 Batez 4 Kovač 6 Boškan 7 Mešter 8 Mijić 9 N. Grbić (C) 10 V. Grbić 12 Gerić 13 Vujević 14 Miljković 15 Petković 18 Vušurović Coach: Gajić

Iran squad – 2014 World League (Final Six) – 4th place
2 Mostafavand 4 Marouf 5 Ghaemi 6 Mousavi 7 Fayazi 8 Zarif 9 Gholami 10 Ghafour 12 Mirzajanpour 13 Mahdavi 15 Alizadeh 16 Tashakkori 17 Ghara 22 Ebadipour Coach: Kovač

Iran squad – 2014 World Championship – 6th place
1 Mahmoudi 2 Ebadipour 3 Faezi 4 Marouf 5 Ghaemi 6 Mousavi 7 Fayazi 8 Zarif 9 Gholami 10 Ghafour 12 Mirzajanpour 13 Mahdavi 15 Tashakkori 16 Alizadeh Coach: Kovač

Iran squad – 2015 World Cup – 8th place
1 Mahmoudi 2 Ebadipour 3 Faezi 4 Marouf 5 Ghaemi 6 Mousavi 9 Gholami 10 Ghafour 12 Mirzajanpour 13 Mahdavi 16 Alizadeh 19 Marandi 22 Senobar 24 Manavinejad Coach: Kovač

Sporting positions
Preceded by Julio Velasco	Head coach of Iran 2014–2015	Succeeded by Raúl Lozano