The coach of the Croatian national football team is likely to be one of the top 10 most demanding and desirable jobs in Croatia. So, how much do they earn?
HNS President Davor Šuker and Croatia national team coach Zlatko Dalić reached an agreement today that confirms Dalić’s position as the Croatia coach through the World Cup in Russia next year. While the details of the contract will be known next week at the official signing, it has been speculated that the agreement should be good for four years and until the qualifications for Euro 2020 are completed. There is no question that Dalić, faced with an incredible task in such short time, deserved this position, reports Tportal.hr on November 14, 2017.
While the job is desirable in Croatia, it comes with a list of grueling demands. That said, it makes us wonder: How much do the coaches of Croatia earn? Let’s take a look at the Croatia national team coaches over the last ten years.
We’ll start with Slaven Bilić, coach of Croatia from 2006 to 2012. When Bilić took over the national team in 2006, he had a salary of 5,000 EUR per month (about 37,000 HRK). In the six years of his mandate, Bilić signed several new contracts on many occasions and eventually received 12,000 EUR per month (approximately 110,000 HRK). HNS also sponsored a flat for him in Zagreb. As he had one of the weakest salaries for national team coaches in the world, Bilić tried to negotiate an agreement with HNS for slightly higher premiums. Bilić qualified for Euro 2008 and 2012 with Croatia, but he did not qualify for the World Cup in 2010.
Bilić was replaced by Igor Štimac who earned more than his predecessor on a monthly basis. Štimac allegedly had a 20,000 EUR salary (about 150,000 HRK). Niko Kovač then replaced Štimac, and, from the start, was there only to take over Štimac's contract. As Kovač succeeded through Croatia's additional qualifications (against Iceland, if you recall) to take Croatia to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, he was worthy of a richer contract. Thus, by the end of his mandate, Kovač allegedly received a salary of 25,000 EUR (about 190,000 HRK) per month.
Ante Čačić is the latest Croatia coach in this series. At the beginning of his mandate, his monthly pay was allegedly equal to 16,000 EUR (about 120,000 HRK). He initially justified his salary by taking the national team to the Euro in France in 2016 and was rewarded with a raise. After a satisfactory performance at the Euro, his salary doubled to 32,000 EUR (about 240,000 HRK). HNS President Davor Šuker was pleased that Čačić and his team progressed at the very beginning of the World Cup 2018 qualifications, and while Croatia was leading their qualifying group, Šuker offered Čačić a new contract that guaranteed 60,000 EUR a month (around 470,000 HRK)!
In the same contract, Čačić allegedly had a clause which guaranteed his salary for 12 months in the event of his dismissal. This amounts to 720,000 EUR or about 5.4 million HRK!
No one expects HNS to offer Dalić a contract at the level of the world's most expensive coaches, and once you see the numbers, you'll see why.
Joachim Löw, the coach of the current world champion - Germany, receives an annual salary of 3.2 million EUR. The new coach of Brazil, Tite, receives 2.8 million EUR, as does the Russia coach Stanislav Čerčesov. Fernando Santos, the coach of the current European champion, Portugal, is said to have an annual contract of 2.5 million EUR, and former Dinamo coach and the current Japan manager, Vahid Halilhodžić, receives 2 million EUR a year, as does the England coach Gareth Southgate. Meanwhile, the coach of one of the greatest football wonders of the last few years, Iceland’s Helmir Hallgrimsson, works for an annual salary of 400,000 EUR.
After all of this, Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić should no receive less than 750,000 EUR. But really, who's to say?
Excerpts taken from Tportal.hr
