Mladen Zizovic: Top European football manager collapses and dies mid-game

A top tier European football manager has collapsed midway through a game and died, leaving grief-stricken players sobbing on the field.

Twenty-two minutes into Radnicki 1923’s match against Mladost in Serbia, 44-year-old Mladen Zizovic had a heart attack on the sidelines and died hours later after being rushed to hospital.

The game was paused when Zizovic first collapsed and later restarted. But it was called off entirely when news broke the respected manager had died.

Vision of the match shows devastated players on the pitch breaking down in tears on hearing the tragic news.

The Bosnian was appointed to the manager position on October 23, and it was just his third game at the helm.

Star Radnicki player Mehmed Cosic has revealed Zizovic mentioned feeling unwell in the lead up to the game. He had complained about fish served for the team’s lunch that day and refused to eat more of it.

“I’m replaying the movie in my head. He was giving me instructions, turned around and at one point I saw that he was talking to the referee by the benches. Then he went towards our bench, turned to the others and said “I’m not feeling well, I’m not feeling well”, Cosic told Bosnian news site Faktor.

“He fell, you saw everything else. In the video that appeared on social networks, you can also hear screams.”

He said the game continued with players hoping for the best.

“It was clear that that wasn’t it, but we said that we were playing for him and that we wanted to reward him with a victory. We weren’t focused, we were in disbelief, but we didn’t want to disappoint him.

“We believed that he would come back and be with us again, and that we would celebrate the victory. Then there was complete shock. The referee suddenly stopped the game. Someone said ‘he died’. Everything stopped in an instant.”

The team has been given a week off to grieve, with Zizovic’s funeral planned for Thursday.

Tributes have flowed for Zizovic, with the Union of European Football Associations among those recognising his contribution.

“On behalf of the European football community, we extend our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of @RFK1923

“Head coach Mladen Žižović. The Bosnian manager passed away yesterday at the age of 44, leaving behind a legacy as a player and manager.”

The club he coached in Europe last season, Borac, wrote, “Boss, Our Ziza, We can’t believe that you left us”.

“We are shaken by the terrible news that reached us at Platanova 6 and we refuse to admit that we will no longer see you smiling, that we will no longer hear you making jokes at your own expense and that of others, that we will no longer listen to you talk about the football you gave your life to.

“You left us at the age of 44, and we can only remember every moment you spent at the City Stadium. First as a player, and then as a coach who achieved the greatest European success in our history.

“We will remember that you gave your best to Borca and Banja Luka and that together we wrote stories for eternity.

“It’s hard to admit that you’re gone. Life is cruel and takes the best of us too soon.

“It remains for us that you live through us and that we pass on the story of Mladen Zizovic, a man, a husband, a father, a brother, a son, a coach and a football player.

“Young man, may your glory be eternal. Banjaluka and Borac will forever remember you.”