Samir Toplak

Samir Toplak (born 23 April 1970) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. He is the manager of Croatian First Football League club Varaždin.

Samir Toplak
Personal information
Date of birth (1970-04-23) 23 April 1970
Place of birth Varaždin, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Varaždin (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1998 Varteks
1998–2002 VfL Bochum 69 (3)
2002–2005 Varteks
2005–2006 Graničar Tučenik
National team
1994 Croatia 2 (0)
Teams managed
2003–2005 Varteks (youth)
2005–2007 Varteks (assistant)
2010–2011 Varaždin
2011–2012 Cibalia
2012–2013 Gorica
2013–2014 Zelina
2014–2019 Inter Zaprešić
2020– Varaždin
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Born in Varaždin, Toplak spent most of his playing and managerial career in his hometown club Varteks Varaždin.

Club career

Toplak started his career with Varteks Varaždin and spent the first ten seasons of his career there. After proving himself to be one of the best defenders in the Croatian first division, Toplak transferred to Bundesliga club VfL Bochum.[1] He spent four seasons in Germany, floating between first and second division. Toplak returned to Varteks in summer of 2002, for the last season of his top level football career.[1] In 2003, he moved to lower league side Graničar Tučenik and stayed there until the summer of 2006.[1]

Managerial career

Four years after retirement, Toplak took over as Varteks Varaždin manager, previously working as youth coach, assistant manager and club director. He led the young team, consisted mainly from Varaždin's home grown players, to a successful Europa League campaign beating FC Lusitanos and Iskra-Stal before they were stopped in the third qualifying round by Romanian powerhouse Dinamo Bucureşti in a narrow two leg encounter. But the nice European story eventually led to misery as the club went bankrupt and was dissolved.

In August 2011 Toplak took over another Croatian first division club, HNK Cibalia. In the 2011–12 Prva HNL, Toplak led Cibalia to a top table position and the semi-finals of the Croatian Cup. However, due to disagreements with Cibalia's Ultras, Toplak chose to leave Vinkovci in July 2012.

In December 2012 Toplak was appointed as manager of the ambitious second division side, HNK Gorica. Gorica's first half of the season was disastrous, and they finished in relegation zone. Toplak was given an assignment to bring the club back to the top of the chart. After failing to move Gorica out of the relegation zone, Toplak resigned on 20 April 2013, six rounds before end of the season.

After leaving Gorica, Toplak took over the managerial position in another second division side, NK Zelina. After a disastrous 2013–14 season, during which Zelina struggled on the bottom of the table, Toplak resigned in April 2014.

Two unsuccessful spells in Gorica and Zelina did not leave Toplak without a job for a long time, as he was appointed head coach of the second division side, Inter Zaprešić. Inter and Toplak's primary goal was to secure promotion to the First League and this goal was accomplished by winning a title in the 2014–15 Croatian Second League. They played in the First League the following season, their only goal being to stay in the First League. However, they did better than anyone would've expected, securing the 5th spot on the chart. Since then, they have managed to stay in the First League. 2013-2019 NK Inter Zaprešić 2020- Varaždin

Personal life

In 1994 Toplak married his girlfriend of two years, Vesna. Two years later, they had their first daughter, Lana, who now works for Venquis heading up a team in Germany. Their second daughter, Bianka, was born three years later in Bochum, Germany. In 2004 Toplak settled down with his family in a small village outside of Varaždin.

Career statistics
As of 28 September 2014[2][3]
Club performance League Cup Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Croatia League Croatian Cup Total
1992–93NK VarteksPrva HNL270
1993–94281
1994–95290
1995–96240
1996–97140
1997–98281
Germany League DFB-Pokal Total
1998-99VfL BochumBundesliga23120251
1999-002. Bundesliga15110161
2000-01Bundesliga10000100
2001-022. Bundesliga17110181
Croatia League Croatian Cup Total
2002–03NK VarteksPrva HNL220
2003–04NK VarteksPrva HNL
2004–05NK VarteksPrva HNL
2005–06Graničar TučenikČetvrta HNL
Total Croatia
Germany 65340693
Career total

References
  1. "Toplak, Samir". Kicker (in German). Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  2. "Samir Toplak". Fussball Daten (in German). Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  3. "Samir Toplak". National Football Teams. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
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