Sablic died, and Yatai and Cangzhou issued condolences

The reporter reported coldly This is sad news for Yatai and Cangzhou fans. Serbian coach Sablic, who has coached these two Chinese Super League teams, passed away yesterday at the age of 64.

Yatai and Cangzhou posted an obituary on the club's official social media, expressing deep condolences, and he has come to China four times, three of which are in Yatai and one in Cangzhou. Also posting an obituary was Sablic's playing days and long-serving coaching career at Cypriot giants Atletico Greek.

Sablic played as a midfielder during his playing days, breaking the monopoly of Belgrade's duo of Red Star and Partizan in 1988/89 to help Vojvodina win their second Yugoslav league title, with his team-mates including free-kick maestro Miha. Subsequently, he joined Atletico Greeks in Cyprus, where he won three Cypriot league titles. After retiring from Atlético Greeks in 1996, he took up the reins and coached the team. In the summer of 1996 he returned to Vojvodina as sporting director, and in the summer of 2000 he returned to Atletico Greek, although neither of these spells was short.

Before moving to China at the end of 2011 to coach Yatai, Sablic had been in Cyprus and had coached four teams on six occasions. In the 2006/07 season, he led the small team Ahena National to four consecutive hurdles and qualify for the Toto Cup, reaching the UEFA Cup for the first time in the team's history.

In his first season in charge of Yatai, Sablic focused on attacking football, and eventually finished sixth in the Chinese Super League, his best result in three seasons since finishing runners-up in 2009. At that time, Yatai was only 1 point less than the fourth-place Guizhou Ren, and missed the AFC Champions League qualification. But after the season, Yatai did not keep Sablich.

From May 2013 to April 2014 and from June to December 2019, Sablic coached Yatai twice. In 2013, he went out to fight fires after Li Shubin led the team to fight fires after the first 10 rounds of winlessness, and was lucky to be relegated in the last game. This time, Yatai kept him, but at the beginning of the 2014 season, 7 games, 1 win, 2 draws and 4 losses, he was disgraced.

In the summer of 2019, Sablic replaced Chen Jingang to lead the team to the top, once unbeaten in 10 games and 6 consecutive wins to the top of the Central League. Unfortunately, in the penultimate round, he was still in second place, and when he won the last game to overtake, he lost the game, and Sablic hung up the seal.

Among the former South coaches of the Chinese Super League, Sablic is not well-known compared with Santraci, Cosa, Tuba, Peter, Antich, etc., but there are also highlight moments. In the 2013 and 2014 seasons, Sablic led Yatai to defeat Evergrande twice, including a 3-0 lead in the away face of Evergrande in 2014, and finally won 3-1.

Sablic is a humble man whose tactical style emphasizes the combination of physical fitness and physical scramble, and has been well received by Yatai fans and players alike. It's just that when he coached Yatai, he was one step away from the set goal twice, which is a pity.

In November 2021, Sablic coached Cangzhou and successfully activated Oscar Jr., scoring 7 goals in the second stage of the relegation play-offs, and Cangzhou was successfully relegated ahead of schedule. In the second half of the 2022 season, he signed N'Golo Kante again, and the Guinean center forward scored 14 goals and 6 assists in 16 Super League games, including a 4-3 away victory over leaders Wuhan Three Towns to stage a big four, and became famous. Cangzhou was relegated again as he wished, but unfortunately Sablic failed to get a contract extension and had no choice but to leave.

Sablic has been coaching in China for 12 years, accumulating 4 years. He once said that he was very obsessed with Chinese culture, but he had been idle since he left China early last year, and he never thought about dying of cancer. Although Sablic is not a big name, he is more impressed in European and Serbian and Cypriot football circles. But at least in the history of Yatai and Cangzhou, Sablic has left his mark.