GNK Dinamo Zagreb Academy

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Dinamo Zagreb II
Full nameGrađanski nogometni klub
Dinamo Zagreb II
Founded27 December 1967; 56 years ago (27 December 1967)
GroundStadion Hitrec-Kacian
Capacity5,000
ChairmanMirko Barišić
LeagueDruga HNL
2020–21Druga HNL, 13th
WebsiteClub website

GNK Dinamo Zagreb Academy, also known as Hitrec-Kacian (Croatian pronunciation: [xîtrets kâtsijaːn]), are the youth team of Dinamo Zagreb. The academy was founded on 27 December 1967. There are a total of ten age categories within the academy, the oldest being the Junior Team (under-19) and youngest being the Zagići II Team (under-8). They have produced many of the Croatia national team stars including Luka Modrić, Vedran Ćorluka, Eduardo, Robert Prosinečki and Zvonimir Boban.[1]

History[edit]

The first junior team was formed in 1945 and the coach was the famous Građanski Zagreb goalkeeper Maks Mihelčić. Soon after that, Márton Bukovi joined the youth squad as an expert coach, but left after two years following his disappointment with the disbanding of Građanski. The junior team won a treble in 1950 (Zagreb's, Croatian and Yugoslav championships) under the leadership of Mirko Kokotović.[2]

In 1952 Branko Horvatek started training one of the best junior generations the club ever had. Some of the famous players that played in that generation were Dražan Jerković, Mladen Košćak, Marijan Kolonić and Mladen Klobučar. The decision to form the youth academy Hitrec-Kacian was brought on 27 December 1967 with Horvatek being elected as its first director.[2] Apart from him, many other famous Croatian coaches worked with the generation that was very successful in the period of 1972-1974 in Yugoslav junior competitions. Some of them include: Zorislav Srebrić, Marko Jurić, Pero Dujmović, Vladimir Čonč, Ivan Đalma Marković, Mirko Belić, Rudolf Cvek and Zdenko Kobešćak.[2]

Honours[edit]

Domestics[edit]

Croatian football league system
  • Croatian Cup U-19
    • Winner (7): 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013
  • Croatian Cup U-17
    • Winner (4): 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
  • Croatian Cup U-15
    • Winner (3): 2015, 2016, 2018
Yugoslav football league system
  • Yugoslav Championship U-19
    • Winner (5): 1950, 1955, 1972, 1973, 1974
  • Croatian Championship U-19
    • Winner (17): 1950, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1986
  • Croatian Championship U-17
    • Winner (2): 1959, 1985
  • Yugoslav Cup U-19
    • Winner (2): 1967, 1973
  • Croatian Cup U-19
    • Winner (5): 1963, 1967, 1968, 1973, 1978

Internationals[edit]

Modern times[edit]

After the formation of HNL in 1991. Dinamo youth teams play important role with 6 U19 and 9 U17 titles (as of 2010).[3] Since the mid-2000s Dinamo's youth academy is considered one of the best in Europe with their teams winning notable international tournaments.[4] Some of the former Dinamo youth players include Croatian internationals Vedran Ćorluka, Luka Modrić, Eduardo da Silva, Niko Kranjčar, Dejan Lovren, Milan Badelj, Ivan Kelava, Mateo Kovačić and Šime Vrsaljko.

Notable academy graduates[edit]

UEFA Youth League record[edit]

Season Stage Round Opponent Home Away Agg.
2015–16 Champions League Path GS England Arsenal 0–2 2–1 1st out of 4
Germany Bayern Munich 0–1 2–1
Greece Olympiacos 2–2 3–1
Knockout stage R16 Belgium Anderlecht 2–0 0–3 (awd.)[5][6]
2016–17 Champions League Path GS Italy Juventus 2–1 1–0 4th out of 4
France Lyon 1–2 0–2
Spain Sevilla 2–4 1–1
2018–19 Domestic Champions Path 1R Romania Viitorul Constanța 2–0 1–0 3–0
2R Kazakhstan Astana 3–1 1–1 4–2
Knockout stage PO Russia Lokomotiv Moscow 1–1 (5–4 p)
R16 England Liverpool 1–1 (4–3 p)
QF England Chelsea 2–2 (2–4 p)
2019–20 Champions League Path GS Italy Atalanta 1–0 0–2 2nd out of 4
England Manchester City 1–0 2–2
Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 1–0 1–1
Knockout stage PO Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 0–0 (4–3 p)
R16 Germany Bayern Munich 2–2 (6–5 p)
QF Portugal Benfica 1–3
2020–21 Knockout stage R64 Norway Rosenborg Tournament cancelled
2022–23 Champions League Path GS England Chelsea 4–2 0–4 3rd out of 4
Italy Milan 1–2 0–3
Austria Red Bull Salzburg 2–1 0–2
2023–24 Domestic Champions Path 1R Turkey İstanbul Başakşehir 2–1 3–1 5–2
2R Switzerland Basel 0–0 0–2 0–2

Players[edit]

GNK Dinamo Zagreb II[edit]

As of 14 January 2023[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH Faris Krkalić
— DF Croatia CRO Leon Sopić
— FW Montenegro MNE Andrija Kolundžić
No. Pos. Nation Player
— FW Croatia CRO Vito Batistić
— FW Serbia SRB Luca Bigboy
— MF Croatia CRO Jovan Blagojevic

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Natjecanja po uzrastima" (in Croatian). Dinamo Zagreb. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  2. ^ a b c "Football school info". Dinamo Zagreb. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  3. ^ "prvaci" (in Croatian). HNL. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  4. ^ "news" (in Croatian). Dinamo Zagreb. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  5. ^ Match originally finished 0–2 in favour of Dinamo Zagreb, but was awarded by UEFA as 3–0 win for Anderlecht due to Dinamo Zagreb fielding suspended player Matija Fintić.
  6. ^ "UEFA rejects Valencia penalty shootout protest after Chelsea youth game". ESPN FC. 29 February 2016.
  7. ^ "Druga Momčad | Dinamo Zagreb". GNK Dinamo (in Croatian). Retrieved 20 August 2022.

External links[edit]

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