Mehmed Baždarević

Željezničar

Born in Višegrad, FPR Yugoslavia, present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, Baždarević's professional playing career started in Željezničar in 1978. He was part of the team that managed to reach the UEFA Cup semi-finals in 1985 under the guidance of Ivica Osim. In the 1980–81 season, Željezničar reached the Yugoslav Cup final (Marshal Tito Cup final), with 20-year-old Baždarević scoring two goals in a 2–3 loss to another Bosnian side Velež Mostar. The venue of the final was Red Star Stadium in Belgrade played in front of 40,000 football fans. Baždarević played more than 300 games for the club.

Sochaux

In 1987, Baždarević moved to French club Sochaux alongside compatriot Faruk Hadžibegić. He stayed at the club until 1996. He collected more than 350 appearances for Sochaux in various competitions.

Later career and retirement

After Željezničar and Sochaux, Baždarević played for Nîmes (1996–97 season) and Swiss side Étoile Carouge (1997–98 season) before he announced his retirement in the summer of 1998. As a player, Baždarević was targeted by many clubs including Barcelona, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund.

Baždarević played for the national teams of two countries. He played for the Yugoslavia junior, Olympic and under-21 teams. He captained the under-20 national team that took part in the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship. His debut for the senior Yugoslavia national team came in 1983 in a friendly match against France. He collected 54 caps and scored four goals for the national team. He represented the Yugoslavia at UEFA Euro 1984 playing in all the team's games at the tournament. Baždarević began to play for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team in 1992 after Bosnia and Herzegovina gained independence. However, the team was not recognised by FIFA until 1995 in part due to the Bosnian War. He made his official debut for them in a September 1996 FIFA World Cup qualification match away against Greece and has earned a total of 2 caps, scoring no goals. His second and final international was a month later against Croatia.

Early career

From 1 July 1998 to 30 June 2003, Baždarević worked as Sochaux assistant manager to Jean Fernandez and Guy Lacombe before taking over as manager of reserve sides at the club.

Istres

Baždarević's first job as a manager was at Istres. He guided the club to its biggest success – entering the French Ligue 1 in 2004, which secured him a best Ligue 2 Manager of the Year award. During this stint, he started working with Stéphane Gilli, who became his assistant manager for 17 years.

Étoile

On 16 July 2005, Baždarević took over Tunisian side Étoile du Sahel. He reached the 2005 CAF Champions League final with the club. Baždarević was fired by Etoile on 12 April 2006, after a 1–0 home defeat to USM Monastir in their final league game which cost them the Tunisian championship.

Al-Wakrah

Baždarević was employed as manager of Qatar Stars League club Al-Wakrah in 2006.

Grenoble

In December 2007, Baždarević became the manager of French side Grenoble where he arrived on recommendation of his mentor, Ivica Osim, who knew Grenoble's Japanese owners from working with them in J.League with JEF United Chiba. He rejected offers from top league clubs Le Mans and Nice to take over Grenoble. At the end of the 2007–08 Ligue 2 season, Grenoble, led by Baždarević, gained promotion to the Ligue 1, for the first time in their history. Under Baždarević, the club reached the French Cup semi-finals during the 2008–09 season. In September 2010, he…

Baždarević's wife, Marina Baždarević, was born in Belgrade, Serbia. He met his wife in 1979 on an airplane from Japan going back to Belgrade. Nine months later, they met again on another flight from Tunisia to Belgrade and after the second meeting they started dating. Their daughter, Téa Baždarević, works as a journalist in France.