Former Croatia manager and Dinamo Zagreb star Zlatko “Cico” Kranjcar died on Monday at the age of 64, the Croatian Football Association (HNS) reported.
“Kranjcar, the legendary Croatian footballer and coach … died in Zagreb,” the Federation said in a statement without giving further details.
The Zagreb native was hospitalized last month with liver problems, according to Croatian news agency ‘HINA’.
A brilliant striker, Kranjcar played for Dinamo Zagreb from 1973 to 1983 before joining Rapid Vienna in 1984, with whom he twice won the Austrian championship.
After retiring from playing, Kranjcar returned to the helm of Dinamo, which he led to the league-cup double in 1996 and 1998.
He was the national team coach from 2004 to 2006, but was sacked after Croatia failed in the World Cup group stage in Germany.
Kranjcar then spent 18 months at the head of Montenegro then worked in particular for the Iranian clubs of Persepolis Teheran and Sepahan Ispahan and Qatari Al Ahli.
He briefly took over Dinamo in 2016, before ending his coaching career at the helm of Iran’s Under-23 squad between 2018 and 2019.
His son Niko, 36, is also a former international footballer, whom he had under his command at the 2006 World Cup.