Miodrag Radulović (Serbian Cyrillic: Миодраг Радуловић; born 23 October 1967) is a Montenegrin professional football manager and former player who is the coach of the Lebanon national team.

Miodrag Radulović
Radulović as Zob Ahan manager in 2020
Personal information
Date of birth (1967-10-23) 23 October 1967 (age 57)
Place of birth Titograd, Montenegro, Yugoslavia
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Lebanon (manager)
Youth career
1980–1988 Budućnost Titograd
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988 Sutjeska Nikšić 2 (0)
1989–1991 Budućnost Titograd 17 (1)
1991–1993 Hajduk Kula 50 (10)
1994 Budućnost Titograd 7 (0)
1994–1995 Zemun 24 (3)
1995 Pierikos
1996–1998 Budućnost Titograd 31 (0)
Managerial career
2001–2003 Zeta
2003–2004 Borac Banja Luka
2002–2004 Serbia and Montenegro U21 (assistant)
2004 Serbia and Montenegro Olympic (assistant)
2005–2006 Serbia and Montenegro U19
2006–2007 Boavista
2007–2010 Montenegro U19
2010 Pakhtakor Tashkent
2010–2011 Dynamo Moscow
2011–2012 Budućnost Podgorica
2012 Kazma
2013 Atyrau
2014–2015 Al Jahra
2015–2019 Lebanon
2019 Myanmar
2020 Zob Ahan
2020–2023 Montenegro
2023– Lebanon
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

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Born in Titograd, Montenegro, his football career began in 1980 at Budućnost Titograd. He went on to play for Sutjeska Nikšić in the Yugoslav Second League in the first half of the 1988–89 season, and then moved to Budućnost Titograd during winter break and played with them in the Yugoslav First League till 1991.[1] Then he played with Hajduk Kula, Zemun, Pierikos and Degerfors IF.

Managerial career

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Early career

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He started his managerial career as an assistant to Nikola Rakojević at Zeta and Borac Banja Luka,[2][3] and was an assistant to Željko Petrović at Portuguese side Boavista in 2006.[4]

He also assisted Vladimir Petrović with the Serbia and Montenegro U21 team that qualified for the Olympic Games in Athens 2004.[5] He then managed the Serbia and Montenegro U19 team from 2005 to 2006. He was also coach and scout for Montenegro national football team.

 
Miodrag Radulovic at a press conference for Pakhtakor Tashkent

He managed Uzbek League team FC Pakhtakor Tashkent from January to April 2010, finishing second in the league and qualifying for the Round of 16 of the 2010 AFC Champions League. On 3 May, almost a week before Pakhtakor's round of 16 clash with Al-Gharafa, he resigned, citing family reasons and that he was invited to work at a "European club with rich history and big ambitions by a close friend."[6] That club turned out to be FC Dynamo Moscow. He was an assistant at Dynamo Moscow from April 2010 to April 2011.

In 2011, Radulović signed for Montenegrin First League club Budućnost Podgorica. He won the league in the 2011–2012 season with the most wins and the record number of points and goals in the league.

In June 2012, Radulović signed for Kuwaiti Premier League club Kazma.[7][8]

Lebanon

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Miodrag Radulović during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup group stage game against Qatar

He was appointed as new coach of Lebanon in 2015, following the departure of Italian manager Giuseppe Giannini.[9] While he failed to qualify Lebanon to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, he successfully led them to their first ever AFC Asian Cup through qualification in 2019.[10] Thus, he registered as the first Montenegrin to help a team qualify to a major tournament.

On 9 January 2019, Radulović coached Lebanon's first group stage game in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup against Qatar, losing 2–0.[11] After the match, Radulović fell into a disagreement with Bassel Jradi and subsequently ruled him out of the national team for the rest of the tournament.[12][13] In the second match, he lost once again against Saudi Arabia by the same score;[14] he was fined between $5,000 and $7,000 by the AFC for protesting during the game.[15] In the final game of the group stage Radulović led Lebanon to their 4–1 win against North Korea, their first in the competition's history. However, the three points weren't enough as Lebanon were knocked out of the competition, losing out to Vietnam in the third-place ranking on the fairplay rule.[16]

Radulović was also the supervisor for the Lebanon national under-23 team during the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualification. On 26 March 2019, the LFA announced that they would not renew his contract terminating on 1 May 2019 and that they would be looking to replace him with another foreign manager.[17]

Myanmar

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On 20 April 2019, Radulović was appointed by the Myanmar Football Federation (MFF) as new head coach for the Myanmar national team.[18] According to the official announcement, the MFF gave Radulović and his assistant coach a contract valid until December 2020. The position as head coach of Myanmar had been vacant for four months, after the MFF parted ways with their former head coach Antoine Hey.[19]

However, he was sacked in October 2019, only six months after being appointed.[20] Radulović's debut versus Singapore was a success winning 1–2. Under Radulović, Myanmar's performance in the 2022 World Cup qualification wasn't as good as he expected from debut, with away losses to Mongolia[21] and to Kyrgyzstan.

Zob Ahan

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On 14 January 2020, Radulović was named coach of Iranian club Zob Ahan, signing a one-and-a-half-year deal.[22] He would be reunited with goalkeeper Mehdi Khalil, who he coached as manager of the Lebanon national team.[23] Radulović left Isfahan following the COVID-19 pandemic, and didn't return to Iran;[24] he was replaced by Croatian coach Luka Bonačić.[25]

Montenegro

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On 28 December 2020, Radulović was appointed head coach of the Montenegro national team ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[26] His tenure with his country's national team ended in December 2023 after Montenegro failed to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2024.[27]

Return to Lebanon

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On 11 December 2023, a few days after his resignation as coach of Montenegro, he was re-appointed coach of Lebanon to prepare for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup following the departure of Nikola Jurčević.[28]

Career statistics

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Managerial

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As of match played 19 November 2024
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Pakhtakor   1 January 2010 3 May 2010 13 7 1 5 053.85
Budućnost Podgorica   1 July 2011 25 June 2012 37 28 5 4 075.68
Kazma   1 July 2012 31 December 2012 10 2 4 4 020.00
Atyrau   25 December 2012 8 November 2013 32 10 11 11 031.25
Al-Jahra   1 March 2014 30 April 2015 24 15 5 4 062.50
Lebanon   8 May 2015 20 April 2019 24 12 6 6 050.00
Myanmar   20 April 2019 21 October 2019 4 1 0 3 025.00
Zob Ahan   14 January 2020 14 June 2020 5 2 1 2 040.00
Montenegro   29 December 2020 11 December 2023 32 10 8 14 031.25
Lebanon   11 December 2023 Present 13 4 3 6 030.77
Total 194 91 44 59 046.9

Honours

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Manager

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Budućnost Podgorica

References

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  1. ^ Stats from Yugoslav Leagues at B92
  2. ^ "Pozajmica od komšija". blic.rs. 19 December 2015.
  3. ^ "Miodrag Radulović: Regionalna liga donosi kvalitet". glassrpske.com. 9 August 2011.
  4. ^ "Zeljko Petrovic assume Boavista". publico.pt. 21 August 2006.
  5. ^ "FSSCG: Nagrade za mlade". b92.net.
  6. ^ Coerts, Stefan (3 May 2010). "Miodrag Radulovic Resigns As Pakhtakor Boss". Goal.com. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  7. ^ "Miodrag Radulovic signed for Kazma". Al Rai (in Arabic). Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  8. ^ "Miodrag Radulovic signed for Kazma" (in Arabic). Al Anba. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  9. ^ "Radulovic to lead Lebanon's qualification charge | AFC". 30 August 2017. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  10. ^ FIFA.com. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking - News - Radulovic's Lebanon continue to climb". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  11. ^ "Group E: Qatar 2-0 Lebanon". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  12. ^ "Jradi se posvadio s izbornikom i iznenadio Hajduk u Turskoj". www.24sata.hr (in Croatian). 16 January 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  13. ^ "HAJDUKOVAC OTKRIO KAKO JE DOŠLO DO VELIKOG SUKOBA U REPREZENTACIJI 'Neću te više stavljati u momčad, sjedi na klupu do kraja prvenstva i gotovo!' - Sportske Novosti". sportske.jutarnji.hr. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  14. ^ "Group E: Lebanon 0-2 Saudi Arabia". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  15. ^ "خبرگزاری فارس - AFC سرمربی لبنان را نقره داغ کرد". خبرگزاری فارس. 13 January 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  16. ^ "Group E: Lebanon 4-1 DPR Korea". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  17. ^ "مباراة أخيرة للجهاز الفني". lebanonfg.com. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  18. ^ "MFF appoint Radulovic as head coach". aseanfootball.org. 20 April 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  19. ^ "Miodrag Radulovic confirmed as Myanmar national team coach". Myanmar Times. 22 April 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  20. ^ "Myanmar sacked Miodrag Radulovic, re-invited the former head coach at the AFF Cup 2018". www.livesportasia.com. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  21. ^ "Mongolia edges Myanmar in World Cup qualification match". The Myanmar Times. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  22. ^ "Montenegrin Miodrag Radulovic named Zob Ahan coach". Tehran Times. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  23. ^ "Mehdi Khalil interview: debut at Zob Ahan". FA Lebanon. 25 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  24. ^ "Zob Ahan Coach Radulovic Will Not Return to Iran - Sports news". Tasnim News Agency. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  25. ^ "Luka Bonacic Named Zob Ahan Coach - Sports news". Tasnim News Agency. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  26. ^ "Miodrag Radulović je novi selektor Crne Gore". Sportklub (in Serbian). 28 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  27. ^ "Miodrag Radulović is no longer the coach of Montenegro: I am leaving proud". Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  28. ^ "Coach Radulovic returns to Lebanon job a month before Asian Cup". Reuters. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  29. ^ "Montenegro - M. Radulović - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
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