Mladen Bartolović

Mladen Bartolović (born 10 April 1977) is a Bosnian professional football coach and former player. A Bosnian Croat by descent, Bartolović opted to play for Bosnia and Herzegovina national team internationally.

Club career
Born in Zavidovići, Bartolović played basketball until the age of 16. However, as basketball came to a standstill during the Bosnian war, he turned to football. He began his professional career in 1996 at Segesta Sisak and moved to Croatian Football League club Cibalia Vinkonci two years later.

In the 2000–01 season, he went to German club 1. FC Saarbrücken in the 2. Bundesliga for a season-long loan and scored six goals in 33 appearances for the club. He then returned to Cibalia. He played for Dinamo Zagreb in the 2003–04 season and won the 2003–04 Croatian Football Cup with the club. In the following two seasons, he played for city rivals NK Zagreb. From 2006 to 2009, he played for Hajduk Split.

He moved to Foolad Khuzestan in summer 2009, becoming a player in the starting lineup for the team in his first season in the Iran Pro League. After one year, he returned to Cibalia until 2015, when he decided to end his playing career. He scored 78 goals in 338 Croatian Football League matches.

International career
Bartolović made his debut for Bosnia and Herzegovina in a June 2003 European Championship qualification match away against Romania. Between 2003 and 2008, he earned a total of 17 caps. His final international game was a November 2008 friendly match against Slovenia.

Coaching career
After his playing career, Bartolović initially worked as a youth coach at Cibalia. Prior to the 2016–17 season, he was appointed as the coach of third division club Bedem Ivankovo.

In March 2017, he became head coach of Cibalia Vinkovci's first team, taking over from Peter Pacult, who had previously been sacked after five games without a win. At the time Bartolović took over, Cibalia were threatened with relegation from the Croatian Football League, as they were in last place and seven points behind the relegation play-off spot. By the end of the 2016–17 season, the team had won eleven points under Bartolović and qualified for the relegation play-offs. The play-off matches against HNK Gorica were won 2:0 and 3:1 and Cibalia successfully avoided relegation.

He was sacked in March 2018 after a 5-1 defeat to HNK Rijeka, but continues to work for Cibalia Vinkovci as head scout and youth coordinator.

In 2021 it was reported that Bartolović is fighting a serious illness.