Miroslav Blažević, the former head coach of the Croatian national football team, who won third place in the  World Cup 1998 with this team, has passed away. Blažević became the head coach of Team Melli.  in charge of the Iranian national team, but he could not lead this team to the 2002 World Cup.

Ćiro accepted an offer to lead the Iranian national team midway through the 2002 World Cup qualification process. Coming in ahead of the final qualifying round, he quickly developed a following among many of the Iranian fans. Ćiro kept the 3–5–2 formation that Iran had played with previously in the 96 Asian Cup, in which the Iranian national team had won third place. He also introduced new players to Team Melli such as Rahman Rezaei, Javad Nekounam, and Ebrahim Mirzapour. Known as a loudmouth and showman, Blažević stayed true to form by claiming he would hang himself from the goalposts if Iran failed to beat Ireland in the deciding qualification playoff for the 2002 World Cup.^[16] Ireland won 2–1 on aggregate, the defeat that marked the end of Blažević’s time in Iran as his assistant Branko Ivanković took over.

According to the Croatian website vecernji, Blajević battled prostate cancer for a long time but ultimately lost the battle.

Blažević was supposed to celebrate his 88th birthday tomorrow. This coach had experience not only in the Iranian national team but also in the Mes Kerman team in 2011.

He is always remembered fondly by the players in the early 2000 era as a colorful character and a tactician.

God bless his soul.