Robert Rubčić (born 2 November 1963) is a Croatian retired footballer and manager.
Playing career
Rubčić played for HNK Rijeka for much of his career, collecting 183 league caps between 1982 and 1996. He was the team captain for five years, and played one match for the unofficial Croatia national football team (since Croatia was still part of Yugoslavia at the time). On 22 December 1990, in a friendly match against Romania, in his hometown of Rijeka, he came on in the 86th minute as a substitute for Zlatko Kranjčar.Croatia won the match 2–0.[1]
Managerial career
During his managerial career, he led Croatian clubs NK Orijent, NK Crikvenica, and HNK Rijeka,[2] and also acted as the assistant coach for the Croatia national football team, as well as the sport director and scout for Rijeka. In September 2010, he took over as the head coach of Bangladesh. He signed a 1-year contract, becoming the 14th foreigner to lead the national team.[3]
As coach, he preferred fast plays with lots of running, but also emphasized technical aspects of the game.[4] His formation of choice was 4-2-3-1.[5]
At the 2010 Asian Games, Bangladesh played in group E and suffered three losses, prompting the Bangladesh Federation to part ways with Rubčić on 14 June 2011.
In November 2015, he was announced as the new manager of Istra 1961, replacing Igor Pamić.[6]