Early years Avramović moved to Asia in 1991. He was placed in charge of
Oman's age group teams from 1993 to 1998. In August 1998, he was appointed as assistant coach to
Kuwait, and as coach of their Olympic squad a year later. He guided the
Olympic squad through the
Asian qualifiers to the
2000 Summer Olympics. Following the departure of
Berti Vogts in February 2002, Avramović took over as national coach of Kuwait. He led the senior team to their first
West Asian Games title in April, and the under-23 team to the quarter-finals of the
2002 Asian Games in October, which they lost 1–0 to eventual silver medalists
Iran. His contract was however terminated when in December when hosts Kuwait failed to reach the semi-finals of the
2002 Arab Nations Cup. From February to July 2003, he coached Omani outfit
Muscat Club to the
2002-03 Omani League title.
Singapore In December 2002,
Singapore failed to achieve their target of reaching the
2002 AFF Championship final. The results included a 4–0 loss to traditional rivals
Malaysia at the former
National Stadium and Singapore exited the competition on an inferior goal difference at the group stage. Coach
Jan B. Poulsen was sacked in the aftermath and after a six-month search, Avramović was appointed as coach of Singapore's senior and
under-23 teams on a two-and-a-half-year contract in July 2003. He took charge of his first game with a 4–1 international friendly win over
Hong Kong in August. The
Lions started their
2004 AFC Asian Cup qualifying campaign with two defeats to Avramović's former team, Kuwait in September. They gained their first points with a win and a draw over
Palestine. A 2–0 defeat to
Qatar in November dashed their hopes of reaching the finals. In the post-mortem, Avramović stated his emphasis on developing more young players for the national squad. Singapore were drawn in the same group as
Japan,
India and
Oman for the
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification in 2004. They finished bottom of Group 3 with a win and five losses, including two narrow defeats to
2000 AFC Asian Cup winners Japan and a 7–0 trashing by Oman in
Muscat on 9 June. The 2004 AFF Championship draw pitted Singapore against
Indonesia,
Cambodia,
Laos and co-hosts
Vietnam in Group A. Despite a record of four wins in eighteen matches, the FAS gave their assurance that Avramović would not be sacked even if he failed to meet the target of reaching the tournament final. Avramović 2004 AFF Championship squad included naturalised players
Daniel Bennett,
Agu Casmir and
Itimi Dickson. Singapore drew 1–1 with Vietnam in their opening match, following it up with a 2–2 stalemate against Indonesia. A 6–2 win over Laos and a 3–0 defeat of Cambodia ensured their passage to the semi-finals as group runners-up. Singapore faced
Myanmar in the semi-finals, registering a 4–3 win in the first leg in a game where first-choice striker
Indra Sahdan was suspended and questions were raised over the eligibility of a Myanmar player. A 4–2 extra-time win over 8-man Myanmar in the home leg put the Lions through to the finals where they faced Indonesia. Singapore achieved a 3–1 win at
Senayan in the first leg, followed by a 2–1 win at
Kallang on 16 January 2005. Singapore clinched the trophy on home soil and their second international title after their
1998 tournament triumph. The Lions were honoured for their Cup win with the Team of the Year award at the Singapore Sports Awards 2005. The FAS's offer of a new two-year contract in May 2005 amid interest in the service of the coach by other Middle Eastern and Asian teams was not taken up by Avramović, who lamented the lack of stronger competitive matches for the national team and little support for the players. In June, Avramović announced a shortlist of 40 players for the
Southeast Asian Games in November. As part of their preparations,
Singapore entered the inaugural
AFF U-23 Youth Championship held in September, finishing runners-up behind
Thailand. Although the under-23 squad contained nine players that won the 2004 Tiger Cup, they failed to progress beyond the group stage of the
2005 Southeast Asian Games. Despite earlier speculation of his departure, Avramović signed a two-year contract extension in December. In 2006, Singapore were placed in the same group as
Iraq,
China and
Palestine for the
2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification. They defeated Iraq 2–0 in February but lost the next game by a solitary goal to Palestine. Although Singapore lost only to an injury time goal to China and drew the return fixture at home, their 4–2 defeat to Iraq in October confirmed their absence at the 2007 Games. Following an appeal by the FAS, the
SNOC gave the green light for Singapore's participation in the under-23 football competition at the
2006 AFC Asian Games in November. This marked the first time in 16 years that the football team was sent to the Asian Games. Although the Young Lions were boosted by the addition of naturalised players
Shi Jiayi and Itimi Dickson, they failed to clear the first hurdle, ending up third in their group after draws with
Syria and
Indonesia, and a loss to
Iraq. Singapore co-hosted the
2007 AFF Championship with Thailand. They began their title defence with a goalless draw against Vietnam on 13 January. Two days later, striker
Noh Alam Shah scored seven goals in an 11–0 national team record win over Laos. Singapore advanced to the semi-finals after topping their group following a 2–2 draw with Indonesia. They met Malaysia in the semi-finals, progressing on a penalty shootout after extra time following 1–1 stalemates in both legs. Singapore took on Thailand, a team they had not defeated in a competitive fixture for 30 years, in the finals. They beat Thailand 2–1 in the first leg on 31 January, in which the Lions converted a controversial penalty on 83 minutes and the Thai players staged a walk-out as a protest before returning 15 minutes later. Thailand were leading 1–0 in Bangkok before a
Khairul Amri scorcher won the tie 3–2 on aggregate and gave Singapore back-to-back tournament wins. With the final win, Singapore established an unbeaten run of 15 matches under Avramović dating back to the 2004 tournament and a tournament record of 17 matches without a loss going back to 2002. Avramović scouted
Hariss Harun and handed him his international debut in a friendly against
North Korea on 24 June 2007. Avramović would later describe Hariss as an "exceptional player". Singapore were drawn against Palestine in the
first round of the
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification. The Lions won the first match 4–0 and were awarded a 3–0 walkover win in the home leg after Palestine failed to turn up for the fixture. On 1 November, Avramović called up striker
Aleksandar Đurić, who was not on the FAS's
Foreign Sports Talent Scheme and had gained Singaporean citizenship in September for non-footballing reasons. Đurić made his international debut at the age of 37 years and 89 days against
Tajikistan in the first leg of the
second round of the World Cup qualifiers on 9 November, contributing with an immediate impact by scoring both goals in a 2–0 victory. Hours prior to kick-off in the same match, national team captain
Aide Iskandar announced his immediate retirement from international football. Aide had been suspended from the national team and missed a friendly against
UAE and the World Cup qualifier against
Palestine after he was banned for insulting a domestic league referee in August. Singapore defeated Tajikistan 3–1 on aggregate to reach the
third round for the first time. Avramović then led the Singapore under-23 team at the
2007 Southeast Asian Games in December where they won the bronze medal. Their performances in 2007 won the Lions and Avramović the Team of the Year and the Coach of the Year awards at the Singapore Sports Awards respectively. Avramović was only the third football coach after
Choo Seng Quee and Jita Singh to achieve the coaching honour. The World Cup third qualifying round draw grouped Singapore with
Uzbekistan,
Saudi Arabia and
Lebanon, with fixtures starting in February 2008. Despite two wins over Lebanon, the gulf in quality was evident in a 7–3 home defeat to Uzbekistan. Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan also had 3–0 victories awarded in place of 2–0 and 1–0 wins respectively as a result of Singapore fielding an ineligible player. Defending champions Singapore started the
2008 AFF Championship The first leg of the semi-finals against Vietnam ended in a goalless draw. Singapore then conceded a late goal in the home leg to bow out of the competition to the eventual tournament winners. Singapore were placed in Group E of the
2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification along with Thailand,
2008 West Asian champions
Iran and runners-up
Jordan. They were trounced 6–0 away to Iran in January 2009 but defeated Jordan 2–1 at home two weeks later. Singapore lost 3–1 to Thailand at
Kallang in November; the reverse fixture saw Singapore defeat Thailand 1–0. Further losses to Iran and Jordan in early 2010 condemned Singapore to the bottom of the group. Avramović considers Singapore's failure to qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup as his biggest regret as Singapore coach. Their next assignment was the
2010 AFF Championship in December. Singapore were held to a shock 1–1 draw with
the Philippines in their Group B opener and needed an injury-time goal to defeat Myanmar 2–1 in the next match. Co-hosts and defending champions Vietnam's solitary goal in the third match meant that Singapore failed to progress to the knockout stages since 2002. Following the disappointing exit at the Suzuki Cup amid reports of ill-discipline in the players, The FAS specified their targets of reaching the third round of the World Cup qualifiers and a spot in the 2012 Suzuki Cup final. Singapore were drawn against traditional rivals Malaysia in the
second round of the
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification. On 23 July 2011, Singapore defeated Malaysia 5–3 at the
Jalan Besar Stadium. The Lions held Malaysia to a 1–1 draw in Kuala Lumpur five days later to progress 6–4 on aggregate to the next round. The
third round draw assigned Singapore to the same group as
Iraq,
Jordan and
China. Singapore lost all their matches and ended bottom of the group, scoring two goals and conceding twenty. The 7–1 defeat to Iraq in February 2012 led to calls for Avramović to step down and had him consider rejecting a contract renewal. Despite receiving two coaching offers, Avramović decided to stay on as national coach. On 11 April 2012, Singapore dropped to their lowest ever FIFA ranking of 158. The poor run continued with friendly match defeats to Malaysia and the Philippines, a first in 40 years. In October 2012, it was reported that Avramović and the FAS had come to a mutual agreement that his contract would not be extended, regardless of the team's performance at the
2012 AFF Championship. Singapore were drawn with co-hosts Malaysia, Indonesia and Laos in Group B. On 21 November, the FAS announced the 22-man final squad, with Avramović selecting only five defenders for the tournament. Singapore opened their campaign with a 3–0 win over defending champions Malaysia. Despite a 1–0 loss to Indonesia in the next match, Singapore managed to top the group with a narrow 4–3 win over Laos. The semi-finals showdown pitted Singapore against the Philippines. The first leg in Manila ended in a stalemate. In the return leg,
Khairul Amri scored the only goal of the game to send Singapore through to the finals. The finals set up Singapore against Thailand, both three-times winners of the tournament against each other. Singapore established a two-goal lead going into the second leg with a 3–1 home victory over Thailand on 19 December. Prior to the second leg, Avramović confirmed earlier reports that he would step down as coach of Singapore after the tournament. Although Thailand won by a goal in Bangkok three days later, the 3–2 aggregate win confirmed Singapore as the record 4-times winners of the Cup and a third tournament win for Avramović. Following the end of the 2012 AFF Championship, the FAS announced Avramović's departure as national coach.
Myanmar In February 2014, Avramović was appointed as
Myanmar's national coach on a one-and-a-half-year contract. On 17 October the
Myanmar Football Federation announced that they were parting ways with Avramović, and that he was being replaced by
Gerd Zeise who had led Myanmar to the
2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Home United In July 2019, he was revealed as the head coach of Home United. However, his stint was abruptly cut short a month later in August after his diagnosis with
lung cancer became public. == Personal life ==