The former Lokomotiva coach arrives at Rujevica after Simon Rožman left the club on Saturday. Recall, Rijeka suffered a 0:1 defeat to Hajduk in the 23rd round of the HNL on Saturday.
Goran Tomić came to Rujevica on Sunday. The Šibenik native, who did a top job with Lokomotiva last season, finishing 2nd in the HNL with a spot in the Champions League, recently lost his engagement in China, and ideally fits into the “long-term solution” Rijeka is after. In the Cup final last summer, Tomić lost with Lokomotiva against Rijeka and Rožman in Šibenik.
Tomić left Lokomotiva in early January to succeed Giovanni van Bronckhorst on the bench of Chinese Premier League Guangzhou City. His visa to China was denied after he contracted COVID-19.
Rijeka was taken over by Slovenian expert Simon Rožman in September 2019, when he succeeded Igor Bišćan, who went to the U-21 national team. In the first season on the Rijeka bench, Rožman won the Cup, beating Lokomotiva 1:0 in the final, and won third place in the Croatian championship. Only 12 days ago, he signed to extend his contract with Rijeka.
“Goran Tomić is the new coach of the Croatian Football Club Rijeka. Tomic signed a contract for a year and a half with the possibility to extend for another year. Goran, welcome,” announced Rijeka on its Twitter page.
HNK Rijeka presented Goran Tomić at a press conference at 2 pm.
“I was given a great honor and opportunity to lead one of the largest Croatian clubs. I want to be the coach of a great club and fight for trophies and the highest goals and I thank you for the trust and honor that was shown to me,” said Tomić.
“As soon as Rijeka’s call came, I didn’t hesitate for a second. I come full of energy and confidence in the desire to turn the situation around for the better. I will do everything in cooperation with the headquarters to achieve the goals of Rijeka. There is quality in the team and I will do everything possible in a short period of time to be ready,” he added.
Sports director Ivan Mance also wished the new coach all the best.
“At the beginning, we want to thank Simon Rožman for his cooperation, the results show how good he was. He achieved great success, won the Croatian Cup, and achieved placement in the Europa League group stage. I am happy that our first and only candidate for coach has become the coach of Rijeka. Goran, I wish you all the luck in the world and a lot of success.”
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