Olić :: Ivica Olic :: Bundesliga 2008/2009

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Ivica Olić (Croatian pronunciation: ; born 14 September 1979) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is an assistant coach of the Croatia national team. During his career, Olić played for German Bundesliga clubs such as Hamburger SV, VfL Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich, as well as CSKA Moscow, winning the 2004–05 UEFA Cup for the latter, and also for the Croatia national team. Olić primarily played as a striker but could also operate as a winger. He has been described as a relentless pursuer of the ball and possessing "power and a decent bit of pace with him". Former Croatia manager Slaven Bilić described him as a typical "match-winner" and "king of important matches" due to his ability to score in important matches against big opponents. Named the Croatian Footballer of the Year in 2009 and 2010, Olić appeared with Bayern Munich in two UEFA Champions League finals, in 2010 and 2012. Olić represented Croatia at three FIFA World Cups–in 2002, 2006 and 2014–and two UEFA European Championships–in 2004 and 2008; earning his 100th cap on 16 November 2014, before retiring from international football in 2015. He started his coaching career in 2017, joining the coaching staff upon appointment of Zlatko Dalić as Croatia national team head coach. He helped the team reach the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final and qualify for UEFA Euro 2020, interrupting his tenure with the team to briefly coach his former club CSKA Moscow. Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License - Full article