Marino Pušić (born 18 August 1971) is a Bosnian-Croatian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current manager of Ukrainian Premier League club Shakhtar Donetsk. Besides football, he was also a player and a manager in competitive futsal.[1]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Marino Pušić | ||
| Date of birth | 18 August 1971 | ||
| Place of birth | Mostar, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Shakhtar Donetsk (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Red Star Belgrade | |||
| –1989 | Velež Mostar | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1989–1990 | De Graafschap | 0 | (0) |
| 1990–1991 | Red Star Belgrade | 0 | (0) |
| 1991–1992 | Velež Mostar | ||
| 1992–1993 | De Graafschap | 0 | (0) |
| 1993–1994 | Rheden | ||
| 1994–1995 | 1. FC Köln II | ||
| 1995–1996 | Eupen | 6 | (0) |
| 1996–2000 | Babberich | ||
| 2000–2001 | De Treffers | ||
| 2001–200? | Doc Shop (futsal) | ||
| 200?–200? | LZV (futsal) | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 200? | LZV (futsal) | ||
| 2007–2008 | FC Blok/Carrillion Boys (futsal) | ||
| 2009–2010 | Leekster Eagles (futsal) | ||
| 2010–2013 | Vitesse/AGOVV (futsal) | ||
| 2013–2014 | NAC Breda (assistant) | ||
| 2015 | Inter Baku (assistant) | ||
| 2015–2018 | Twente (assistant) | ||
| 2018–2019 | Twente | ||
| 2019–2021 | AZ Alkmaar (assistant) | ||
| 2021–2023 | Feyenoord (assistant) | ||
| 2023– | Shakhtar Donetsk | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
Club
As a player, Pušić played for De Graafschap, VV Rheden, 1. FC Köln II, and KAS Eupen.[2]
He was part of the Red Star Belgrade squad that won the 1990–91 European Cup, but was still too young to feature in any of their games. After fleeing the Yugoslav Wars for the Netherlands he rejected a move to Croatia Zagreb in 1999 when he played for Dutch Hoofdklasse side Babberich.[3] Pušić later became a club legend at Babberich, when he scored both goals in the 1996 Dutch Amateur Cup final against SHO in De Kuip.[4]
Managerial career
Pušić was a trainer in the Vitesse/AGOVV Football Academy and assistant-manager with NAC Breda, Inter Baku en FC Twente.[5]
On 18 October 2017, he was appointed interim manager at FC Twente after his predecessor René Hake was forced to leave.[6] On 29 October 2017, Gertjan Verbeek was presented as the new manager, after which Pušić fell back in his role as assistant manager. On 26 March 2018, he was promoted to the interim manager position again, as Verbeek was fired.[7] As interim head coach, Pušić failed to save FC Twente's season and finished last in the Eredivisie,[8] thus relegating to the Eerste Divisie. As of the 2018–19 season, Pušić was promoted to head coach.
After finishing in first place and becoming the champions of the Eerste Divisie, and thus securing promotion back to the Eredivisie, Pušić was sacked on 7 May 2019.[9] He was then recruited to become the assistant manager for AZ Alkmaar in May 2019.[10]
In January 2021, Feyenoord announced to have signed Pušić as assistant-manager, starting in the summer of 2021. As manager Arne Slot was previously sent away by AZ Alkmaar for negotiating with Feyenoord, Pušić was sent away by AZ Alkmaar as well.[11]
On 24 October 2023, Pušić left Feyenoord to become the new head coach of Ukraine club Shakhtar Donetsk.[12] On 11 May 2024, he guided the club to their 15th league title in the 2023–24 season, following a 1–0 victory over second-placed Dynamo Kyiv.[13]
Managerial statistics
- As of 25 May 2024[14]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W% | ||||
| FC Twente |  | 18 October 2017 | 30 October 2017 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 66.7 |
| 26 March 2018 | 6 May 2019 | 48 | 29 | 7 | 12 | 87 | 55 | +32 | 60.4 | ||
| Shakhtar Donetsk |  | 24 October 2023 | Present | 29 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 61 | 28 | +33 | 72.4 |
| Total | 80 | 52 | 10 | 18 | 155 | 86 | +69 | 65.0 | |||
Honours
Manager
FC Twente
Shakhtar Donetsk
Assistant manager
Feyenoord