Introduction
Bojan Hodak (born 4 May 1971), is a former Croatian professional footballer and coach, who is currently managing PSM Makassar.
Early life
Hodak was born and raised in Zagreb, Croatia, as the second child in a family with a strong military background. His father and brother were both army officers there. In his early years he spent most time playing basketball and football, not preferring one from the other as he excelled in both. There was neither a prominent figure that encouraged him, nor was there any history of sportsmen in his family, but Hodak carried on for fun, joining his friends. However at the age of 16, his local club NK Trnje began paying him for his services and he duly gave up basketball to focus his time and energy in football.
Managerial career
UPB-MyTeam
His coaching career began in Malaysia in 2006 with the now-defunct UPB-MyTeam, where he guided them to promotion into the Malaysian Super League. There he was responsible for the development of UPB-MyTeam's very young squad, which produced many Malaysian national players, including Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, Shakir Shaari, Bunyamin Umar, Syed Adney Syed Hussein, Stanley Samuel, Azmi Muslim, Nazrin Nawi and Azamuddin Akil.
Phnom Penh Crown
With Phnom Penh Crown FC he won the Cambodian League and qualified for the AFC President's Cup Final Round for the first time in Cambodian football history.
Shandong Luneng
With Shandong Luneng Taishan he won the Reserve CSL and he was assistant coach in the First team that lost the Chinese FA Cup final 2-1 to Tianjin Teda.
Kelantan
Hodak was appointed manager and head coach of Kelantan on February 2012. He made Kelantan history during his debut season, guiding them to a historic treble of the Malaysian FA Cup, Malaysian Super League and Malaysia Cup. The team also qualified for the 2012 AFC Cup quarter-finals where they lost to Arbil FC of Iraq, 3-6 on aggregate. In his second season with Kelantan, after losing six key players still team retained the FA Cup, but lost he league championship to LionsXII and Malaysia Cup final to Pahang FA. He leaves the team after the conclusion of the 2013 season.
Johor Darul Takzim
With Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. he won the 2014 Malaysia Super League and qualified for the AFC Cup. Collect 44 point from 22 match and beat 1-0 sarawak at stadium Negeri Sarawak Kuching. In January 2015 he won Charity Shield after JDT beat Pahang 2-0.
Penang
Hodak was appointed CEO of Penang in May 2016 with target to save Penang FA who was bottom of Malaysian Super League with only 6 point's in 11 matches. He signed Nenad Bacina as Head Coach, changed 3 players and results suddenly improved. In 2nd half of the season Penang FA was one of the best teams winning 16 point's with only Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. and Kedah winning more point's in that 11 matches. Team managed to stay in Malaysian Super League but Hodak left at the end of the season and Penang FA was relegated next season winning only 12 points in 22 matches.
Malaysia U19 National Team
With Malaysia U-19, Hodak achieved best results in the history by winning AFF U-19 Championship in 2018. Before that, in 2017 he was runner Up in same age group and manage to qualify for AFC U-19 Championship 2017.
PSM Makassar
On the last day of 2019 (31 December 2019), PSM Makassar officially announced Bojan Hodak as their new coach for the upcoming 2020 season.
Honours
- UPB MyTeam FC
- Malaysia Premier League (1): Runner-up 2007
- Phnom Penh Crown
- Cambodian League (1): Champion 2011
- Kelantan FA
- Malaysia Super League (1):Champion 2012
- Malaysia FA Cup (2): Champion 2012, 2013
- Malaysia Cup (2): Champion 2012; Runner-up 2013
- Malaysia Charity Shield (1): Runner-up 2013
- Shandong Luneng
- China FA Cup (1): Runner-up 2011
- Johor Darul Ta'zim
- Malaysia Super League (1): Champion 2014
- Malaysia Charity Shield (1): Champion 2015
- Malaysia Cup (1): Runner-up 2014
- Malaysia National Team U19
- 2017 AFF U-18 Youth Championship (1): Runner-up 2017
- 2018 AFF U-19 Youth Championship (1): Champion 2018
Managerial stats
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| UPB-MyTeam F.C. | Malaysia | 2006 | 2009 | 81 | 37 | 15 | 29 | 45.7 |
| Phnom Penh Crown FC | Cambodia | 2010 | 2011 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 71.4 |
| Shandong Luneng | China | 2011 | 2012 | |||||
| Kelantan FA | Malaysia | 2012 | 2013 | 90 | 53 | 21 | 16 | 58.9 |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. | Malaysia | 2014 | 2015 | 38 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 60.5 |
| Malaysia U-19 | Malaysia | 2017 | 2019 | 17 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 64.7 |
| PSM Makassar | Indonesia | 2020 | - | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 66.6 |
| Total | 246 | 138 | 53 | 55 | 056.10 | |||
Personal life
He is married to his wife Junie Hodak née Tan. They have a son named Luka.