Darko Nestorović

Darko Nestorović
Personal information
Date of birth	4 April 1965 (age 59)
Place of birth	Kakanj, SFR Yugoslavia
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team
1985–1989	Čelik Zenica
1989–1990	Rad
1990–1991	Rijeka
1991–1992	Panserraikos
1992–1993	Mogren
1994–1995	Spartak Subotica
1995	HamKam
1997	Hong Kong Golden
1999	Umeå
Total
Managerial career
2002–2004	Radnik Bijeljina
2004–2005	Drina Zvornik
2006–2010	Rudar Prijedor
2010–2011	Sloboda Mrkonjić Grad
2011–2013	Radnik Bijeljina
2013–2014	Sutjeska Foča
2014-2015	Rudar Prijedor
2015–2017	Bosnia and Herzegovina U21
2017-2018	Al-Arabi
2018–2019	Zvijezda 09
2019–2020	Al-Arabi
2020–2021	Radnik Bijeljina
2021–2022	Kazma
2022–2023	Al-Wehdat
2023–2024	Al-Arabi
2024	Emirates Club
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Darko Nestorović (Serbian Cyrillic: Дарко Несторовић; born 4 April 1965) is a Bosnian professional football manager.

Playing career

Born in Kakanj, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nestorović played for Čelik Zenica, Rad and Rijeka in the former SFR Yugoslavia.^[1]

After Rijeka and the breakup of Yugoslavia, he played abroad for Panserraikos in the Greek First Division, HamKam in the first league of Norway, Hong Kong Golden in the first league of China, FC Umea in the first league of Sweden. In the first league of Serbia and Montenegro, he played for FK Spartak Subotica and FK Mogren. In his playing career, he was a representative of all national teams of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a youth representative of Yugoslavia in the generation of Darko Pančev, Dragan Stojković, Mitar Mrkela, Aleksandar Stojanović, and with that generation he qualified for the European Championship. He also remained as Celik's all-time top scorer. He played in the UEFA Cup with FK Rad and was the scorer in a 2–1 victory over Olympiacos in Belgrade. Abroad, he was a member of the Hong Kong national team.

Managerial career

After ending his playing career, Nestorović stayed in football as a professional manager, starting off at Radnik Bijeljina. After Radnik, he managed Drina Zvornik then Rudar Prijedor.

With Rudar Prijedor, Nestorović achieved the greatest success in the history of the club. In three seasons, he introduced a team from the second league to the first league, and the following year to the premier league of Bosnia and Herzegovina. With the same players, he was in the middle of the Premier League table. He was twice chosen as the best coach of the year in the selection of Sportski žurnal, as well as by his fellow coaches. Then he managed Sloboda Mrkonjić Grad, Radnik Bijeljina, who he promoted to the Bosnian Premier League by winning the 2011–12 First League of RS.

While at Radnik Bijeljina, Nestorović was coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina U23 Olympic national team, Sutjeska Foča and Rudar, before becoming head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 national team on 27 December 2014.^[2] Nestorović stayed as head coach until 10 mart 2017.

He then became manager of Kuwait Premier League club Al-Arabi on 13 August 2017,^[3] working alongside Kuwaiti manager Mohammed Ebrahim Hajeyah. On 5 September 2018, he became the new manager of newly promoted Bosnian Premier League club Zvijzeda 09.^[4]

Nestorović took over the team that was last in the standings with only three points and that everyone had already seen in the second league. In a very short period, he stabilized the team and with five consecutive victories in the championship led the team to the sixth place in the table and saved relegation. Even after making decent results with the club, Nestorović decided to leave Zvijezda on 11 March 2019.^[5] On 6 September 2019, he returned to Al-Arabi. Nestorović took over Al Arabi, who were also last in the Kuwait First League table and were in a very difficult situation. He eventually managed to lead the team to third place and also played with Al Arabi in the final of the Prince Cup and was first in the League Cup. Al Arabi played the most beautiful football in Kuwait during that period.

Nestorović once again became manager of Radnik Bijeljina on 24 November 2020.^[6] On 16 April 2021, he decided to resign as manager of Radnik for private reasons.^[7] On 14 June 2021, Nestorović became the coach of Kazma, another club in the Kuwait Premier League.^[8]

With Kazma, Nestorović was the autumn champion of the Kuwait First League and played in the semi-finals of the Emir Cup. After twenty years, Kazma was at the top of Kuwaiti football. During that period of his stay in Kazma, Nestorović was a candidate for the selector of the National Team of Kuwait.

2023 Won the Jordanian Super Cup with Al Wehdat. In the two final games Al Faisali won 2-1 and 1-0. I left the team in second position in the Jordan championship.

With FC Arabi, he was the autumn champion of Kuwait and played in the semi-finals of the Emir Cup.

Managerial statistics

As of 29 September 2024^[9]

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
Team	Nat	From	To	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W%
Bosnia and Herzegovina U21		27 December 2014	10 March 2017	13	2	5	6	8	19	−11	015.4
Al-Arabi		13 August 2017	31 December 2017	13	4	4	5	19	18	+1	030.8
Zvijezda 09		5 September 2018	11 March 2019	16	6	5	5	13	13	+0	037.5
Al-Arabi		3 September 2019	30 June 2020	26	14	4	8	39	28	+11	053.8
Radnik Bijeljina		24 November 2020	16 April 2021	10	2	3	5	10	16	−6	020.0
Kazma		1 August 2021	21 February 2022	20	10	5	5	28	17	+11	050.0
Al-Wehdat		19 March 2023	17 August 2023	16	10	4	2	18	12	+6	062.5
Al-Arabi		3 November 2023	1 April 2024	20	13	4	3	45	18	+27	065.0
Emirates Club		27 July 2024	29 September 2024	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4	000.0
Total				136	61	34	41	180	145	+35	044.9

Honours

Manager

Rudar Prijedor

Radnik Bijeljina

First League of RS: 2011–12

AL-Wehdat SC

Jordan Super Cup: 2023

References

^ STats from Yugoslav First and Second Leagues at zerodic.com
^ A. Pašić (27 December 2014). "Nestorović novi selektor mlade reprezentacije BiH" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
^ A. Pašić (13 August 2017). "Nestorović pronašao inostrani angažman" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
^ E. Čaušević (5 September 2018). "Darko Nestorović novi trener Zvijezde 09" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
^ S. Mlaćo (11 March 2019). "Darko Nestorović napustio klupu Zvijezde 09!" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
^ H.H. (24 November 2020). "Darko Nestorović novi trener Radnika iz Bijeljine" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
^ K.H. (16 April 2021). "Radnik iz Bijeljine ostao bez trenera uoči važnog meča sa Željezničarom" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
^ "كاظمة يستقر على داركو لقيادة البرتقالي (Arabic)".
^ "Darko Nestorović manager profile". 29 September 2024.

External links

Darko Nestorović at WorldFootball.net

[1] STats from Yugoslav First and Second Leagues at zerodic.com

[2] A. Pašić (27 December 2014). "Nestorović novi selektor mlade reprezentacije BiH" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 31 May 2020.

[3] A. Pašić (13 August 2017). "Nestorović pronašao inostrani angažman" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 13 August 2017.

[4] E. Čaušević (5 September 2018). "Darko Nestorović novi trener Zvijezde 09" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 5 September 2018.

[5] S. Mlaćo (11 March 2019). "Darko Nestorović napustio klupu Zvijezde 09!" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 11 March 2019.

[6] H.H. (24 November 2020). "Darko Nestorović novi trener Radnika iz Bijeljine" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 24 November 2020.

[7] K.H. (16 April 2021). "Radnik iz Bijeljine ostao bez trenera uoči važnog meča sa Željezničarom" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 16 April 2021.

[8] "كاظمة يستقر على داركو لقيادة البرتقالي (Arabic)".

[9] "Darko Nestorović manager profile". 29 September 2024.

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