Petar Šegrt is Croatian, grew up in Baden-Württemberg and became a globetrotter. He is currently coaching Tajikistan successfully at the Asian Cup. The state is considered one of the most repressive in the world. Šegrt confirms this. But he likes the country, and the country loves “Einstein.”
Eight teams are still there, and Baden-Württemberg is still well represented among the coaches. In the case of Srečko Katanec, this is a bit far-fetched, as the Slovenian was born in Ljubljana when the city was still part of Yugoslavia. Katanec played one season in Germany and was quite successful, reaching the UEFA Cup final with VfB Stuttgart in 1989. Today, the 60-year-old Katanec is training the Uzbekistan national team, with whom he will face hosts Qatar in the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup on Saturday (February 3, 2024).
Asia Cup, quarterfinals arrow right
Jürgen Klinsmann is called upon to coach South Korea a day earlier. For him it’s against Australia. Klinsmann, 59, was born in Göppingen and played for the Stuttgarter Kickers and also VfB. Because he was very successful there and also with the national team as a player and team leader, he is even a recipient of the Order of Merit of the state of Baden-Württemberg.
A Croatian from the countryside
Petar Šegrt was born in Đurđevac, Croatia, when it was still part of Yugoslavia. But he grew up in Calw in Baden-Württemberg, went to school there and played football there. The clubs in his active career are all in Baden-Württemberg, the most famous being SV Waldhof Mannheim. As a coach he then moved away from the Ländle, to the Ruhr area, for example to MSV Duisburg and VfL Bochum, but always youth or second row.
Šegrt took on his first positions as head coach in Austria, but also at smaller clubs. His first job with a national association was in Georgia. He even stayed when the war with Russia ended in 2008, even though his girlfriend had asked him and Jogi Löw had advised him to leave.
Petar Šegrt was Georgia’s national coach. He only went to a club in Bali in 2010, followed by another in Indonesia, then one in Bosnia-Herzegovina. This was followed by a position as national coach in Afghanistan, then in the Maldives. Petar Šegrt has been coaching the Tajikistan national team since 2022. He led them to the Asian Cup for the first time and immediately reached the quarter-finals. He will face Jordan on Friday from 12.30 p.m. German time.
The eternal president has a successor in mind – his son
The day before is full of the usual things such as press conferences and final training, meetings with the team. Something extraordinary is coming up tomorrow, not just the game. Due to the extraordinary success, Emomali Rakhmon will visit the delegation in Qatar.
Rahmon is president and has been in power since 1992. He is called the “leader of the nation” and has had the laws changed several times so that he can stay that way for as long as possible. He chose one of his sons as his successor. Tajikistan is considered one of the most repressive states. The former republic of the Soviet Union, which borders Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China, ranks low in most human rights indices.
“The common people are free, everyone is very friendly”
In an interview with the Austrian newspaper “Standard”, Šegrt once said, when asked whether he would coach any national team, regardless of what it was like: “No! You can no longer separate a national team from politics.”
How does this relate to his work with Tajikistan?
“We don’t need to discuss the fact that there is an elite there, like in other countries. What we read about Tajikistan is also true. But the ordinary people are free, everyone is very friendly. There is no talk about politics either “, says Šegrt in a telephone conversation with Sportschau, the evening before the game.
In every sentence he draws a sharp distinction between the vast majority of around 9.5 million Tajiks who he and his players would have put into euphoria: “It’s a sensation for everyone what we’re currently achieving.”
The country of Tajikistan, where he sometimes spends “two months at a time” before returning home to Baden-Württemberg, is “beautiful,” especially because the landscape is so “wild.” However, this also makes his job of observing the players more difficult. The roads are in poor condition, there is no train, and air traffic is also very limited.
Scouts from Germany
Eleven of his players work abroad, in Bulgaria, Moldova and Malaysia. One earns his money in Iran. He is so good that he can also play in Germany for a club in the bottom half of the Bundesliga. There are many scouts on site, including from Germany: “The usual suspects.”
Šegrt puts the chances of winning in the quarter-finals at “50:50”, and in the World Cup qualification there was a 1-1 draw at home against Jordan.
The 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada will be held with 48 teams. Tajikistan definitely has a chance. The association, which is led by the president’s son, has not yet extended the contract with Šegrt, which expires after the Asian Cup. “Tajikistan is definitely my first point of contact,” laughs Šegrt, because he doesn’t like empty phrases at all.
“I had to do something again”
Petar Šegrt is grateful to the association that he got the job in 2022. “I sat at home for two years because of Corona. I had to do something again, I had to earn money again.”
Thanks to Wikipedia, anyone who searches for the name Petar Šegrt on the Internet will come across a photo in which most football fans will probably recognize Dragoslav Stepanović, the former coach of Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen. “Yes,” says Petar Šegrt, he has heard that many times.
Petar Šegrt: “In Tajikistan they call me ‘Einstein’.”
However, his current appearance has earned him a different nickname: “In Tajikistan they call me ‘Einstein’.”
