Radojko Avramović

.

Achievements

In his playing days he earned one cap for the Yugoslavia national football team.

His most memorable achievements include leading Kuwait's youth and Olympic team to the final rounds of the Sydney Olympics in 2000. [ cite web | title=It's Avramovic's Turn To Roar | work=Singapore Sports Council | url=http://www.ssc.gov.sg/SportsWeb/sw_mc_details.jsp?artid=5702&catname=Features|accessdate=30 December | accessyear=2005]

Avramovic started his football career with Borac Čačak. As a goalkeeper Raddy played for several years in British football, including a spell in the old First Division with Notts County. Before that for years he turned out for NK Rijeka of the Yugoslav First League. He finished out his playing career in OFK Beograd

Towards the end of 2001, he took over from Berti Vogts to become Kuwait's national coach. Four months later, Kuwait were crowned West Asian Games champions and he led Kuwait to the quarter-finals of the 2002 Busan Asian Games. However, Kuwait terminated his contract when in December 2002, Kuwait failed to reach the knockout stages of the Arab Cup. [ cite web | title=Saudis grab golden victory | work=BBC Sport | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/world_football/2638711.stm|accessdate=8 January| accessyear=2003]

He then became coach for the Singapore National football team in 2003 and subsequently led them to the ASEAN Football Championship (at that time known as Tiger Cup) on 16 January 2005 with a 5-2 aggregate win over favourites Indonesia in the finale.cite news|title = Avramovic signs new Singapore deal|url = http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200601/01/eng20060101_232172.html|work = People's Daily|accessdate= 2006-01-01]

Recent friendly matches against second string Denmark national team and Kuwait national team proved to be difficult for Raddy as he managed a loss in Singapore and draw in Kuwait City, Kuwait respectively. He failed to lead Singapore to the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, although there were some credible results against China and Iraq in the qualifiers.

In the 2006 Asian Games held in Doha, the Singapore U-23 squad did not perform to expectations, bowing out in the first round with just a solitary goal to its name. Avramovic was left to rue a case of what could have been, if the Young Lions (U-23) had taken their chances. Still, the inability to beat an understrengthed Indonesia team perhaps had justifed Avramovic's labelling of some players as 'slackers'. [ cite web | title=A necessary painful trek| work=todayonline.com | url=http://www.todayonline.com/articles/156363.asp|accessdate=23 November | accessyear=2006]

In 2007, Radojko Avramovic guided Singapore towards back-to-back triumphs in the ASEAN Cup, when Singapore edged Thailand 3-2 on aggregate over a two-legged final, at the same time establishing a 15-match unbeaten run in the competition under him stretching back to 2004. [ cite web | title=Disappointed Thais expect coach Phalajivin's exit| work=soccernet.espn.go.com | url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=406726&cc=3888|accessdate=4 February | accessyear=2007]

After the back-to-back ASEAN Cup titles, he is a favourite among Singapore fans who hail him as a "miracle worker"Fact|date=May 2007, churning out credible results against Asian football powerhouses with a small talent pool and limited resources, most recently, in 2008, Singapore beat Kuwait 2-0, and drew with Australia 0-0.

Managerial statistics

Avramovic has selected a total of 64 different players and handed international débuts to 27.

Those 27 players are :
#Baihakki Bin Khaizan
#Kamal Nasir A Haja
#Muhammed Ruhaizad Bin Ismail
#Mustaqim Bin Manzur Ahmed Khan
#Muhammad Ridhuan Bin Muhamad
#Agu Casmir, Sazali Salleh
# Hassan Bin Abdullah Sunny
#Ishak Bin Zainol
#Muhammad Khairul Amri Bin Mohammad
#Itimi Dickson
#Faizal Bin Abdul Hamid
# Jaslee Bin Hatta
#Tengku Mushadad Bin Tengku Mohamed
#Fazrul Nawaz s/o Shahul Hameed
#Shi Jiayi
#Juma'at Bin Jantan
#Mohd Isa Halim
#Fahrudin Mustafic
#Bah Mamadou
# Muhammad Fadhil Bin Mohd Salim
#Ismail Yunos
# Sevki Bin Sha'ban
# Hafiz Osman
#John Wilkinson
# Hariss Harun
#Aleksandar Duric
#Qiu Li

Future doubts

In September 2007. An article surfaced in a local football magazine, Football Weekly stating that Singapore’s football hero Radojko Avramovic could well be on his way to seeking greener pastures and in search of a new challenge when his current contract runs out in December this year. The tell-tale signs are written all over the wall. It was also written that two months ago, Avramovic was asked to head to the negotiation table by Football Association of Singapore general secretary Steven Yeo to discuss a possible extension to his contract. But Avramovic asked for some time to decide on his future with Singapore. [ cite web | title=A hero, but Raddy could well be heading for greener pastures| work=footballweekly.com.sg | url=http://footballweekly.com.sg/pdf/elcritico.pdf|accessdate=16 September | accessyear=2007|format=PDF]

Contract extension

A day before Singapore's game in the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers game against Tajikistan, an official from the Football Association of Singapore was said that Avramovic was set to sign another 3-year extension to his expiring. The news was greeted with cheers from local football fans, who had seen the success garnered by the national team, was all down to his hardwork and losing him would be difficult to bear. [ cite web | title=Raddy set to stay| work=kallang.com | url=http://kallangroar.com/16294-post119.html|accessdate=26 March | accessyear=2008]

References