Maccabi Tel Aviv FC is pleased to announce the appointment of Mladen Krstajic as Head Coach.
Mladen Krstajic (47) was a professional football player in Serbia and Germany where he played for Werder Bremen for four seasons playing in 112 matches during which he won the Championship in 2004 before joining Schalke 04 where he played for five seasons making 183 appearances and became captain. After returning to Serbia and playing for two seasons at Partizan Belgrade, Krstajic retired in 2011 having represented 3 different national teams: Yugoslavia (20 appearances), Serbia and Montenegro (27 appearances) and Serbia (11 appearances). He began his coaching career as an assistant for the Serbia national team before being appointed as the Serbia national team coach between 2017-2019 and in 2021 returned to coach FK TSC Backa Topola of the Serbian SuperLiga.
Owner, Mitch Goldhar, stated, “Mladen possesses the qualities we value at Maccabi; work ethic, professionalism and ambition to win. These character traits propelled Mladen to the highest level in Europe and will benefit the Club in the pursuit of our goals. We all warmly welcome Mladen and his assistants with our unified support.”
Mladen Krstajic, said, “I would like to thank Mitch for entrusting me with the responsibility of coaching Maccabi Tel Aviv. I am humbled to join the most successful Club in Israel, a Club with a rich history and tradition. As I have tried to do throughout my life, I will work hard and diligently to help the Club achieve success. I am looking forward to start work immediately as there is much work to do.”
Mladen will be joined by his assistants, Vladimir Radenkovic, Stefan Jankovic and Professor Dr Marko Stojanovic, who will all arrive in Israel subject to completion of all the necessary formalities.
Mitch Goldhar added, “I would like to thank Barak Itzhaki for accepting the responsibility of interim manager when asked, without hesitation. He has performed his duties professionally, displaying again strong loyalty and commitment to the Club. Shortly, he will return to his role as Head of Football and work closely with Mladen and the rest of the Club’s Management.”
