After Two European Golds, Croatian Heads to Serbia

Instead of resting by the sea or in the mountains after the sporting excitement, Croatian U-20 water polo head coach Zoran Bajić is already heading to Belgrade today, where he will take charge of a formidable rival to Croatian clubs. Bajić, a two-time European champion coach, celebrated with the U-19 squad two years ago and with the U-20 team this summer, while in between he led Croatia to a third-place finish at the World Youth Championship.

Novi Beograd, a club founded by former world's best water polo player Aleksandar Šapić, now the mayor of Belgrade, changed coaches twice last season. After Radanović and Mirović, Šapić briefly took charge of the first team while simultaneously serving as Belgrade's mayor.

Best Conditions in a Three-Decade Career

Bajić told Večernji list how the contact with the club came about. "I was recognized by Aleksandar Šoštar, the sports director of Novi Beograd, once one of the world's best goalkeepers. After consulting with Aleksandar Šapić, the founder of this young club and once the world's best water polo player, they invited me to be their guest, to get to know each other better and possibly find common ground. In the end, we agreed on a two-year collaboration, and these are the best conditions I've received in a career spanning three decades. My wish is to leave a mark, both human and professional."

The Croatian expert is not fazed by the fact that the club changed coaches frequently last season. "Šapić is no bogeyman; he simply wants the best coaching solution for his club," Bajić said, adding that he is not concerned by stories that Šapić 'eats' coaches.

"I'm not afraid of challenges, and I'm not interested in tales like the one that Šapić 'eats' coaches. As a child of Zagreb's streets, my only fears were related to raising my own family and whether I'd be there for them in tough times. I have no other fears."

The Mayor's Energy and the Coaching Formula

Bajić particularly highlighted the impression Šapić made on him. "I haven't seen a person with so much energy in a long time. During the day, he handled the mayor's duties, and in the evening, he looked at training sessions as if he had no other obligations that day."

Interestingly, last season Miodrag Mirović worked at that club, now an assistant coach at Mladost under Hrvoje Hrestak, who took over the head coach role at Mladost when the management sacked Zoran Bajić in early April.

Gold from Varna and the Zagreb Welcome

With his players, Bajić celebrated not only in the Bulgarian Black Sea resort of Varna but also at the reception at Franjo Tuđman Airport. He reflected on the path to gold and the challenges the national team faced.

"Given that we lacked sparring because we had ten of these players competing in the final of the World Cup in Sydney this summer, where we were surprisingly good, we still didn't have a true picture of this squad's value. Especially since Pavlić, Čubranić, and Brubnjak, who we didn't have available for this age group, stood out at that tournament. So we were searching for ourselves during the tournament, and in some group matches, we made quite a few technical errors like bad passes and counter-fouls, and practically, so to speak, we shot ourselves in the foot. When we minimized those errors, the boys showed serious mental maturity, which led us to the gold."

Croatian Water Polo School as a Foundation

Asked about the formula for achieving team chemistry, Bajić explained his working philosophy. "I wouldn't want to praise myself, although some artistic impression of my 'brush' is probably visible somewhere. We worked methodologically and didactically, according to the demands of modern water polo. There's also some of that Croatian defiance, sporting pride, which gives us the strength to be the best when it's toughest and most important. It's a symbiosis of some old postulates from the water polo of the former Yugoslav school, in the vein of Ratko Rudić, Nikola Stamenić, and also the current Croatian senior head coach Ivica Tucak. There's no room for idleness, inappropriate behavior, or indiscipline; all that is 'thrown into the lard'."

Celebration with Three Conditions

An example of discipline is also seen in how he allowed the team to celebrate after winning the European gold in Varna. "I told the boys they had freedom until morning under three conditions: I don't want to deal with the police, the military, or emergency services. Don't have anyone call me, or you'll go home by bus. Overall, they are made of good material, both humanly and sportingly."

Finally, he congratulated colleagues Hrvoje Koljanin and Bruno Sabioni, coaches of this summer's world junior and cadet champions. "Congratulations to my colleagues, and this Croatian water polo summer certainly belongs in the Guinness Book of Records. I don't know if any country has achieved this before. It means that the youth development system in Croatia exists, and the Federation is doing a good job."