Article by Eduard Apostol, Maria Olteanu – Published Saturday, January 24, 2026, 09:55 / Updated Saturday, January 24, 2026 09:56
Zeljko Kopic (48 years old) had a double reason to be happy on Friday evening. Dinamo, his team, won in Sibiu and climbed, at least for one night, to first place in the Superliga. Many kilometers away, his son Vito was performing in Belgium.
Dinamo won 2-1 in the 23rd round of the Superliga, away from Hermannstadt, thanks to the sensational “double” scored by Raul Opruț. The “Dogs” have provisionally climbed to first place and are waiting for the result of the Universitatea Craiova – FC Botoșani match, to see if they remain on the first step of the Superleague or not.
In addition to the joy caused by the success in Sibiu, Zeljko Kopic also had reasons to celebrate at home. His son, Vito, went on the ramp in Belgium at Olympic Charleroi U21.
Son of Kopic, “one man show” in Belgium
Vito Kopic (18) had a fabulous game on Friday night, scoring no less than three goals and an assist in Olympic Charleroi U21's 4-2 win over RFC Liege U21, contributing virtually to every success for the Belgians.
Its result is all the more important, as the son of the Croatian technician recently got over an injury.
The very good form shown at the U21 national team brought Vito to the attention of the first team of Olympic Charleroi, a team that plays in the second Belgian league.
Vito, a 1.85m forward, played last season for the Cluj University youth team. In the summer of 2025 he took the step abroad and reached an agreement in Belgium.
In the past, Zeljko Kopic, the coach of the “dogs”, did not want to get into unwanted controversies through a possible transfer of his son to Dinamo.
“I said that he is part of a very good academy, part of a good club in Romania. It depends on him, I want him to be healthy because he had a lot of problems recently, to be happy there and enjoy football,” said Kopic, in September 2024.
Vito had a difficult operation in the last three years, he went through delicate moments. He is my child, he wants to be a footballer. But school is also very important to him. From my point of view, school comes first, he has to finish it first, then we'll see about football.
He also does music school, as a child. Yes, I wanted him to be close to me, but Dinamo was not an option to come, from the very beginning. I don't like mixing things, stories.
– Zeljko Kopic, in an interview for GSP.ro, in January 2025
