EHF EURO Croatia 2018 Official Magazine

Official Sponsors 

EHF Partners 

National Suppliers 

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OFFICIAL FRESH 

FOOD PARTNER

Dear handball friends, 

Dear fans, 

On behalf of the European Handball Federation, I would like to offer you all a very warm welcome to 

Croatia and to the Men’s EHF EURO 2018. 

Over the next two weeks, hundreds of thousands of handball fans will descend on the championship’s 

four host cities of Split, Poreč, Zagreb and Varaždin to witness EHF EURO 2018 for themselves. Millions 

more people will also follow the action on television, radio and online around the world. With Europe’s 

best 16 national teams in action and the sport’s top stars competing in Croatia, experience tells us that 

we have a thrill-packed tournament, full of drama and suspense, ahead of us. 

This event – the 13th edition of the Men’s EHF European Championship – marks a special moment in the 

history of the competition, which was first played back in 1994 in Portugal. Croatia already welcomed 

Europe’s top teams in 2000 and this year they will become the first nation to host the Men’s EHF EURO 

for a second time. 2018 also signals the end of an era: this will be the last men’s final tournament to 

be played with 16 teams. From 2020, when the event will be hosted by Sweden, Austria and Norway, 

24 teams will be competing for the title. This expansion also offers teams an extra incentive this time 

around because the 2018 champions will qualify directly to the next EHF EURO. 

In 2016 we enjoyed tremendous success at the Men’s EHF EURO in Poland, with record numbers of 

spectators and a global cumulative TV audience of over 1.65 billion people. I am confident that the 

Men’s EHF EURO 2018 will be just as successful. Handball occupies a very special place in the hearts 

and minds of the people of Croatia thanks to the sport’s long and successful tradition in the country. 

Add to this the wealth of experience that our hosts, the Croatian Handball Federation, already have in 

organising major handball events, not only previous EHF EURO events but also World Championships, 

and we have a recipe for success. 

The organisation of a major event such as the EHF EURO would not be possible without the hard work 

and dedication of the many hundreds of staff, officials and volunteers behind the scenes. I would like to 

particularly thank the Croatian Handball Federation and the organising committee as well as partners 

and sponsors for all of their efforts over the past weeks, months and years to ensure the perfect 

organisation of the event. 

Finally, I would like to wish all 16 teams competing at EHF EURO 2018 the very best of luck and I join 

handball fans around the world in looking forward to another exciting event as Croatia prepares to be 

taken over by the ‘Hypnotic Game’! 

Yours in sport, 

Michael Wiederer 

EHF President 

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Welcome t

to Croatia! 

Dobrodošli u Hrvatsku! 

OUR SPORTS HALLS ARE 

PLACES OF ZERO TOLERANCE 

TOWARDS DISCRIMINATION 

AND VIOLENCE

Dear handball friends, 

Welcome to hypnotic handball! 

It is a great honour for me to welcome you all to the second EHF European Championship tournament 

Croatia is hosting. 

We are proud of the fact that we will be the first country in Europe to have been given the chance 

to organise this big and important competition for the second time. This comes as a proof of the 

great cooperation we are having with the EHF throughout the years. Trust is the perfect foundation for 

everything. 

In 2000, we welcomed the EHF EURO in Zagreb and Rijeka. Since then the competition got bigger – but 

so did we. In 2000, we hosted 12 national teams and now we will host 16. In 2000, we welcomed you 

all in Zagreb and Rijeka and now we will do it in Zagreb, Split, Varaždin and Poreč, who have all been 

gathering organisational experience at the Men’s World Championship 2009. 

Other big events we also hosted, like the Women’s World Championship 2003, the EHF EURO 2000 and 

the Women’s EHF EURO 2014, are all making us feel motivated to once again face the challenge, but 

also obligated to have everything working on the highest possible level. 

Apart from the organisational aspect, the Men’s EHF EURO 2018 is also a competitive challenge for us 

as this is the only gold medal missing in our rich trophy room filled with Olympic, World Championship 

and EHF EURO medals. Besides our national teams, we have also been highly successful on club level 

with the likes of Zagreb, Podravka, Metković and Bjelovar, as well as with multiple best player awards 

for Ivano Balic and Domagoj Duvnjak. All these details contribute to the complete picture of Croatian 

handball successes. 

I would like to welcome you all once again and I hope you will enjoy our country as well as everything 

the best in European handball has to offer. 

Tomislav Grahovac 

President of the Croatian Handball Federation 

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Michael Wiederer 

Tomislav Grahovac 

Table of contents 

Men’s EHF EURO 2018 Qualification 

Schedule 

List of Referees and Officials 

Group A - Split 

Spaladium Arena Split 

Croatia 

Sweden 

Serbia 

Iceland 

Group B - Poreč 

Žatika SC 

France 

Belarus 

Norway 

Austria 

Interview - Lino Červar 

Group C - Zagreb 

Arena Zagreb 

Germany 

FYR Macedonia 

Montenegro 

Slovenia 

Group D - Varaždin 

Varaždin Arena 

Spain 

Denmark 

Czech Republic 

Hungary 

Short EHF EURO history 

EHF EURO quiz 

EHF EURO 2018 official song 

chief editor: 

editorial board: 

art director: 

design: 

photo: 

layout: 

Dražen Pinević 

EHF, Jelena Bagarić, Bruno Pinević 

Jozo Čabraja 

Vladimir Fric 

Uroš Hočevar, Jozo Čabraja, EHF 

Katal media d.o.o. 

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Photo credit: Jozo Čabraja/HRS 

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TEAMS MATCHES GOALS DIFF PTS 

T W D L 

Denmark 6 5 1 0 194:135 59 11 

MEN’S 

EHF EURO 

QUALIFICATION 

GROUP 1 

Hungary 6 4 1 1 174:156 18 9 

Netherlands 6 2 0 4 155:179 -24 4 

Latvia 6 0 0 6 129:182 -53 0 

02.11.2016. Hungary vs Latvia 24:16 

03.11.2016. Denmark vs Netherlands 29:20 

06.11.2016. Netherlands vs Hungary 27:28 

06.11.2016. Latvia vs Denmark 23:36 

03.05.2017. Latvia vs Netherlands 27:29 

04.05.2017. Hungary vs Denmark 25:25 

07.05.2017. Netherlands vs Latvia 25:24 

07.05.2017. Denmark vs Hungary 35:27 

14.06.2017. Netherlands vs Denmark 24:36 

15.06.2017. Latvia vs Hungary 23:35 

18.06.2017. Hungary vs Netherlands 35:30 

18.06.2017. Denmark vs Latvia 33:16 



T W D L 

T W D L 

Belarus 6 3 2 1 177:152 25 8 

Spain 6 6 0 0 202:130 72 12 

Serbia 6 3 2 1 175:173 2 8 

Austria 6 3 0 3 176:186 -10 6 

GROUP 2 

Romania 6 2 0 4 151:160 -9 4 

Poland 6 1 2 3 171:189 -9 4 

02.11.2016. Belarus vs Romania 23:26 

03.11.2016. Poland vs Serbia 32:37 

06.11.2016. Serbia vs Belarus 27:36 

06.11.2016. Romania vs Poland 28:23 

04.05.2017. Belarus vs Poland 32:23 

04.05.2017. Romania vs Serbia 22:23 

07.05.2017. Poland vs Belarus 27:27 

07.05.2017. Serbia vs Romania 27:22 

14.06.2017. Serbia vs Poland 34:34 

15.06.2017. Romania vs Belarus 22:32 

18.06.2017. Poland vs Romania 32:31 

18.06.2017. Belarus vs Serbia 27:27 

GROUP 3 

Bosnia Herzegovina 6 2 0 4 160:162 -2 4 

Finland 6 1 0 5 154:214 -60 2 

02.11.2016. Austria vs Finland 27:31 

02.11.2016. Spain vs Bosnia Herzegovina 30:21 

05.11.2016. Finland vs Spain 21:36 

06.11.2016. Bosnia Herzegovina vs Austria 22:23 

03.05.2017. Austria vs Spain 29:30 

04.05.2017. Finland vs Bosnia Herzegovina 27:32 

06.05.2017. Spain vs Austria 35:24 

07.05.2017. Bosnia Herzegovina vs Finland 34:23 

14.06.2017. Bosnia Herzegovina vs Spain 19:25 

14.06.2017. Finland vs Austria 36:39 

17.06.2017. Spain vs Finland 46:16 

17.06.2017. Austria vs Bosnia Herzegovina 34:32 



T W D L 

T W D L 

Fyr Macedonia 6 3 1 2 174:158 16 7 

Germany 6 6 0 0 173:137 36 12 

Czech Republic 6 3 0 3 161:161 0 6 

Slovenia 6 3 1 2 162:148 14 7 

GROUP 4 

Iceland 6 3 0 3 163:163 0 6 

Ukraine 6 2 1 3 152:168 -16 5 

02.11.2016. Fyr Macedonia vs Ukraine 27:21 

02.11.2016. Iceland vs Czech Republic 25:24 

05.11.2016. Czech Republic vs Fyr Macedonia 35:28 

05.11.2016. Ukraine vs Iceland 27:25 

03.05.2017. Ukraine vs Czech Republic 26:23 

04.05.2017. Fyr Macedonia vs Iceland 30:25 

06.05.2017. Czech Republic vs Ukraine 32:25 

07.05.2017. Iceland vs Fyr Macedonia 30:29 

14.06.2017. Czech Republic vs Iceland 27:24 

15.06.2017. Ukraine vs Fyr Macedonia 27:27 

18.06.2017. Iceland vs Ukraine 34:26 

18.06.2017. Fyr Macedonia vs Czech Republic 33:20 

GROUP 5 

Portugal 6 2 1 3 148:165 -17 5 

Switzerland 6 0 0 6 138:171 -33 0 

02.11.2016. Slovenia vs Switzerland 32:27 

02.11.2016. Germany vs Portugal 35:24 

05.11.2016. Switzerland vs Germany 22:23 

06.11.2016. Portugal vs Slovenia 26:26 

03.05.2017. Slovenia vs Germany 23:32 

04.05.2017. Switzerland vs Portugal 25:27 

06.05.2017. Germany vs Slovenia 25:20 

07.05.2017. Portugal vs Switzerland 27:22 

14.06.2017. Portugal vs Germany 26:29 

14.06.2017. Switzerland vs Slovenia 20:33 

17.06.2017. Slovenia vs Portugal 28:18 

18.06.2017. Germany vs Switzerland 29:22 



T W D L 

T W D L 

Sweden 6 5 0 1 166:125 41 10 

France 6 5 0 1 191:169 22 10 

Montenegro 6 2 3 1 158:168 -10 7 

Norway 6 4 0 2 196:163 33 8 

GROUP 6 

Russia 6 1 3 2 149:160 -11 5 

Slovakia 6 0 2 4 146:166 -20 2 

02.11.2016. Russia vs Slovakia 31:31 

03.11.2016. Sweden vs Montenegro 36:21 

05.11.2016. Slovakia vs Sweden 17:21 

06.11.2016. Montenegro vs Russia 24:24 

03.05.2017. Slovakia vs Montenegro 27:27 

03.05.2017. Russia vs Sweden 21:29 

06.05.2017. Sweden vs Russia 25:21 

06.05.2017. Montenegro vs Slovakia 31:30 

14.06.2017. Montenegro vs Sweden 28:24 

14.06.2017. Slovakia vs Russia 24:25 

17.06.2017. Russia vs Montenegro 27:27 

17.06.2017. Sweden vs Slovakia 31:17 

GROUP 7 

Lithuania 6 3 0 3 163:179 -16 6 

Belgium 6 0 0 6 175:214 -39 0 

02.11.2016. Norway vs Belgium 35:26 

03.11.2016. France vs Lithuania 37:20 

06.11.2016. Belgium vs France 37:38 

06.11.2016. Lithuania vs Norway 32:29 

03.05.2017. Norway vs France 35:30 

03.05.2017. Belgium vs Lithuania 29:33 

06.05.2017. France vs Norway 28:24 

07.05.2017. Lithuania vs Belgium 33:28 

14.06.2017. Lithuania vs France 25:26 

14.06.2017. Belgium vs Norway 27:43 

17.06.2017. Norway vs Lithuania 30:20 

17.06.2017. France vs Belgium 32:28 

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Make some extra noise for 

The UN climate goals need all the support they can get. Grundfos cares 

particularly about goal 6 and goal 13, which focus on clean water and 

fighting climate changes. The UN climate goals need all the support they 

can get. Grundfos cares particularly about UN goal 6 Clean Water and 

Sanitation and UN goal 13 Climate Action. 

During the Grundfos Match of the Day we will make donations to 

projects that supports these goals. 

Read more at 

www.grundfos.com/goal6and13 

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Gorenje 

SCHEDULE 

Preliminary Round 

GROUP A GROUP B GROUP C GROUP D 

SPLIT POREČ ZAGREB VARAŽDIN 

CRO Croatia FRA France GER Germany ESP Spain 

SWE Sweden BLR Belarus MKD FYR Macedonia DEN Denmark 

SRB Serbia NOR Norway MNE Montenegro CZE Czech Republic 

ISL Iceland AUT Austria SLO Slovenia HUN Hungary 

12.01. 18:15 SWE : ISL 

12.01. 18:15 BLR : AUT 

13.01. 17:15 GER : MNE 

13.01. 18:15 ESP : CZE 

20:30 CRO : SRB 

20:30 FRA : NOR 

19:30 MKD : SLO 

20:30 DEN : HUN 

14.01. 18:15 SRB : SWE 

14.01. 18:15 AUT : FRA 

15.01. 18:15 SLO : GER 

15.01. 18:15 HUN : ESP 

20:30 ISL : CRO 

20:30 NOR : BLR 

20:30 MNE : MKD 

20:30 CZE : DEN 

16.01. 18:15 SRB : ISL 

16.01. 18:15 FRA : BLR 

17.01. 18:15 GER : MKD 

17.01. 18:15 CZE : HUN 

20:30 CRO : SWE 

20:30 NOR : AUT 

20:30 MNE : SLO 

20:30 ESP : DEN 

Main Round 

GROUP 1 GROUP 2 

ZAGREB 

VARAŽDIN 

1.A 1.C 

1.B 1.D 

2.A 2.C 

2.B 2.D 

3.A 3.C 

3.B 3.D 

FINALS 

ZAGREB 

BRONZE MEDAL MATCH 

28. 01. / 18:00 

*The basic schedule for the Main Round is: 18:15 and 20.30 (matches to be assigned 

accordingly). The match times for 24.01. are 16:00, 18:15 and 20:30. 

Semi-finals and Placement Matches 

ZAGREB 

5TH PLACE 26.01. 15:30 3.I : 3.II 

SEMI-FINAL 1 26.01. 18:00 1.I : 2.II 

SEMI-FINAL 2 26.01. 20:30 1.II : 2.I 

GOLD MEDAL MATCH 

28. 01. / 20:30

LET’S CHEER 

TOGETHER, 

LET’S CHEER 

FOR HANDBALL! 

JOIN #SIMPLYFANS 

AND #GORENJE. 

Nikola Karabatić 

Gorenje, one of the leading European home appliance 

manufacturers and a proud sponsor of the upcoming EHF 

European Handball Championship, commits to fair cheering 

under the hashtag #simplyfans. Become a part of Gorenje’s 

#simplyfans movement that brings together handball fans 

of all nationalities. 

simplyfans.eu 

OFFICIAL SPONSOR 

13 

Gorenje_rokomet_oglas_A4.indd 2 23/11/2017 15:36:17

Referees Men’s EHF EURO 2018 

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Officials for EHF EURO 2018 

Group A (Split) 

Jerzy Eliasz - Chairman EHF MC / POL - Representative 

Jan Kampman - CC / DEN - Competitions 

Miroslaw Baum - DEL / POL – Refereeing 

Urmo Sitsi - CoH / EST – Site Operations 

Group B (Porec) 

Henrik La Cour - EHF Treasurer / DEN - Representative 

Marco Trespidi - BC / ITA - Competitions 

Jiri Konecny - DEL / CZE - Refereeing 

Alin-Sergiu Cirligeanu - DEL / ROU - Site operations 

Group C (Zagreb) 

Ole Jorstad - Chairman EHF BC / NOR - Representative 

Viktor Konopliastyi - CoH / UKR - Competitions 

Helmut Wille - DEL / AUT - Refereeing 

Peter Olsson - DEL / SWE - Site operations 

Group D (Varazdin) 

Bozidar Djurkovic - Chairman EHF CC / SRB - Representative 

George Bebetsos - BC / GRE - Competitions 

Vladimir Sokol - DEL / CRO - Refereeing 

Nicolae Vizitiu - CoA / MDA - Site operations 

Representation 

Michael Wiederer - EHF President / AUT 

Predrag Boskovic - EHF Vice-President / MNE 

Henrik La Cour - EHF Treasurer / DEN 

Bozidar Djurkovic - Chairman EHF CC / SRB 

Jerzy Eliasz - Chairman EHF MC / POL 

Ole Jorstad - Chairman EHF BC / NOR 

Martin Hausleitner - EHF Secretary General 

IHF Representative 

Frantisek Taborsky - IHF Executive Committee / CZE 

Central Tournament Management 

Michael Wiederer - EHF President / AUT 

Predrag Boskovic - EHF Vice-President / MNE 


Martin Hausleitner - EHF Secretary General (EHF Office) 

Monika Flixeder – EHF EURO Events (EHF Office) 

Competitions Delegation 


A: Jan Kampman - CC / DEN 

B: Marco Trespidi - BC / ITA 

C: Viktor Konopliastyi - CoH / UKR 

D: George Bebetsos - BC / GRE 

Refereeing Management 

Dragan Nachevski - CC / MKD 

A: Miroslaw Baum - DEL / POL 

B: Jiri Konecny - DEL / CZE 

C: Helmut Wille - DEL / AUT 

D: Vladimir Sokol - DEL / CRO 

First instance – Disciplinary Commission 

Panos Antoniou - CoH / CYP 

Second instance - Jury 

Markus Plazer – CoA / AUT* 

Chairmanship can be taken over by another Court 

of Appeal member for reasons of neutrality 

Andrei Gousko and Siarhei Repkin 

(Belarus) 

Vaclav Horacek and Jiri Novotny 

(Czech Republic) 

Oscar Raluy and Angel Sabroso 

(Spain) 

Lars Geipel and Marcus Helbig 

(Germany) 

Gjorgji Nachevski and Slave Nikolov 

(FYR Macedonia) 

Sorin-Laurentiu Dinu and Constantin Din 

(Romania) 

Matija Gubica and Boris Milosevic 

(Croatia) 

Martin Gjeding and Mads Hansen 

(Denmark) 

Stevann Pichon and Laurent Reveret 

(France) 

Vaidas Mazeika and Mindaugas Gatelis 

(Lithuania) 

Duarte Santos and Ricardo Fonseca 

(Portugal) 

Evgeny Zotin and Nikolay Volodkov 

(Russia)

15

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17

SPLIT 

photo: Ante Verzotti 

Split is the business, administrative and cultural centre of Dalmatia (200,000 inhabitants). A city 

and a harbour in the middle of Dalmatia, located on a peninsula between the Kaštelan bay and 

the Split canal. After the fall of Salona, the citizens found shelter inside the palace walls. Soon a 

new settlement emerged: in 1069 Split was annexed to Croatia by King Petar Krešimir IV. In 1420 

Split recognized the Venice protectorate. After the fall of Venice, Split and the rest of Dalmatia fell 

under the Austrian rule, which in 1805 gave it to France. In 1882 the Croatian government was 

established in Split. 

At the beginning of the 20th century, Split had become the most important harbour in the east 

coast of the Adriatic. The Diocletian’s Palace is the heart of the interior part of the town, where all 

important historical buildings can be found. It is one of the best-known historic inheritances in the 

Adriatic coast, and in 1979 UNESCO officially added the site to its World Heritage List. 

Split is a city of sports, known from tennis (Goran Ivanišević), football, basketball (Toni Kukoc), but 

also handball of course (Ivano Balić). 

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Capacity 11,000 seats 

Spaladium Arena took its name from the Latin name for Split and was opened on 27 December 

2008 - just in time for the following month’s Men’s World Championship. 

Among the events held here since are a Davis Cup quarter-final tie between Croatia and Serbia, 

MMA and K-1 combat events, home games of basketball side KK Split, and the Group A matches 

at the UEFA Futsal EURO 2012. 

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CROATIA 

Hrvatski rukometni savez 

Metalceva 5/III, 

10.000 Zagreb, Croatia 

www.hrs.hr 

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The only gold missing 

The only gold medal Croatia are missing is the European one. 

Despite taking part in every EHF EURO tournament all the way back from 1994 and winning three bronze medals 

and two silvers, taking World Championship gold in Lisbon (2003) and two Olympic golds in Atlanta (1996) and 

Athens (2004), they never managed to claim the European title. 

This will be their second attempt in front of their own fans. The first time was back in 2000 when they ended up 

in sixth place, which resulted in them missing the 2000 Olympic Games, the only major championship they did 

not qualify for in the period between 1994 and the Sydney Olympics. 

At the last EHF EURO in Poland, Croatia won bronze. But after they failed to get on the podium at the Olympics 

in Rio Olympics and at the World Championship in France, Lino Cervar, under whom Croatia won multiple gold 

medals, replaced Zeljko Babic as the head coach. 

Cervar brought some experienced players back into the team – Mirko Alilovic, Igor Vori, Igor Karacic, Ivan Cupic 

and Marko Kopljar. They will, alongside the younger, talented players, try to finally make the dream come true. 

Cervar’s most important names will be Domagoj Duvnjak and Luka Cindric. First is the key player of THW Kiel, 

and second the leader of reigning Champions League title holders Vardar, who also have both Cupic and Karacic 

in their roster. Biggest question for Cervar was whether Duvnjak and Kopljar will be ready after both underwent 

knee surgeries. The Croatian coach also had to accept the fact he will not be able to count on either Ivan 

Sliskovic or Filip Ivic due to illness and injury. However, the fact that Croatian players are playing significant roles 

at European giants like Vardar, Veszprem, Kiel, PSG, Kielce, Berlin, Meshkov, PPD Zagreb and Schaffhausen 

clearly proves the quality coach Cervar has at his disposal. 

One player on his 28-man list can also become the only Croatian player to win the treble - current captain Igor 

Vori was also a part of the gold medal winning teams from Portugal and the Athens Olympics. 

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Croatia qualified for the EHF EURO directly as a host 

BEST 

7 

Alilovic 

Strlek 

Vori 

Cupic 

Duvnjak 

Cindric 

Kopljar 

LINO CERVAR 

Head Coach 

Lino Cervar is the most successful coach in the history 

of Croatian handball. After a seven-year-long absence, 

he returned to the Croatia bench in 2017. Cervar 

coached the national side from 2002 to 2010, leading 

Croatia to the World Championship title in 2003 and 

Olympic gold one year later. He also led Croatia to 

silver medals at the World Championships in 2005 and 

2009, and EHF EUROs in 2008 and 2010. 

After leaving Croatia, Cervar went to Skopje, where he 

coached Metalurg, became Macedonian citizen and 

took over the Macedonian national team in 2016. 

Cervar started his coaching career in Novigrad, from 

where he left to Umag. He led his first team abroad in 

Klagenfurt, Austria, in the early 1990s, before coaching 

the Italian men’s national side. In 2000, Cervar returned 

to Croatia to lead Zagreb and became national team 

coach two years later. 

DOMAGOJ DUVNJAK 

Key Player 

Domagoj Duvnjak is one of the most famous Croatian 

players in history. He started handball at the age of 10 

in his birth town, Djakovo, from where he moved to 

Zagreb. Duvnjak stayed in Zagreb for three years and 

in that period he became one of the youngest players 

ever to put on the Croatian national team jersey. 

His transfer from Zagreb to Hamburg in 2009, when he 

was only 21, was one of the biggest ever and made him 

the world’s most expensive handball player at the time. 

In Hamburg, Duvnjak won the VELUX EHF Champions 

League in 2013 and was named World Handball Player 

of the Year 2013. After playing for Hamburg for five 

years he moved to Kiel, where he still is today. 

At 29, Duvnjak already went through three Olympic 

campaigns – Beijing 2008, London 2012, where he led 

Croatia to a bronze medal, and Rio de Janeiro 2016. 

He has won two silver and two bronze medals at EHF 

EURO events, along with silver and bronze at World 

Championships. 

22


1994. Portugal 3rd place 

1996. Spain 5th place 

1998. Italy 8th place 

2000. Croatia 6th place 

2002. Sweden 16th place 

2004. Slovenia 4th place 

2006. Switzerland 4th place 

2008. Norway 2nd place 

2010. Austria 2nd place 

2012. Serbia 3rd place 

2014. Denmark 4th place 

2016. Poland 3rd place 

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 

1995. Iceland 2nd place 

1997. Japan 13rd place 

1999. Egypt 10th place 

2001. France 9th place 

2003. Portugal 1st place 

2005. Tunis 2nd place 

2007. Germany 5th place 

2009. Croatia 2nd place 

2011. Sweden 5th place 

2013. Spain 3rd place 

2015. Qatar 6th place 

2017. France 4th place 

player position birth club m / g 

Ivic, Filip GK 1992 PGE Kielce (POL) 43/0 

Stevanovic, Ivan GK 1982 Schaffhausen (SUI) 50/1 

Pesic, Ivan GK 1989 Meshkov Brest (BLR) 41/1 

Alilovic, Mirko GK 1985 Veszprem (HUN) 164/0 

Strlek, Manuel LW 1988 Kielce (POL) 135/466 

Mihic, Lovro LW 1994 Wisla Plock (POL) 19/30 

Mandic, David LW 1997 Izvidjac (BiH) 0/0 

Horvat, Zlatko RW 1984 PPD Zagreb 147/436 

Vida, Ivan RW 1995 Dubrava 0/0 

Cupic, Ivan RW 1986 Vardar (MKD) 137/511 

Maric, Marino LP 1990 Melsungen (GER) 46/96 

Musa, Zeljko LP 1986 Magdeburg (GER) 97/72 

Kontrec, Tin LP 1989 PPD Zagreb 15/20 

Beciri, Kristian LP 1994 Celje PL (SLO) 0/0 

Vori, Igor LP 1980 PPD Zagreb 240/587 

Gojun, Jakov LB 1986 Füchse Berlin (GER) 161/80 

Jaganjac, Halil LB 1998 Metalurg (MKD) 2/0 

Mamic, Marko LB 1994 PGE Kielce (POL) 38/60 

Mandalinic, Stipe LB 1992 Füchse Berlin (GER) 31/36 

Duvnjak, Domagoj CB 1988 THW Kiel (GER) 184/602 

Karacic, Igor CB 1988 Vardar (MKD) 51/126 

Jotic, Lovro CB 1994 Aalborg (DEN) 11/9 

Cindric, Luka CB 1993 Vardar (MKD) 37/83 

Kopljar, Marko RB 1986 Füchse Berlin (GER) 147/305 

Stepancic, Luka RB 1990 PSG (FRA) 55/119 

Vuglac, Mario RB 1992 PPD Zagreb 2/4 

Ivic, Sime RB 1993 Wisla Plock (POL) 6/15 

Buntic, Denis RB 1982 Pick Szeged (HUN) 129/290 

OLYMPIC GAMES 

1996. Atlanta 1st place 

2004. Athens 1st place 

2008. Beijing 4th place 

2012. London 3rd place 

2016. Rio de Janeiro 5th place 

photo: Jozo Čabraja 

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SWEDEN 

Svenska Handbollförbundet 

Östgötagatan 98D 

Se-116 64 Stockholm 

www.svenskhandboll.se 

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New yellow submarine 

A huge handball name, probably Europe’s biggest of all time. Four-time European champions in the time when 

Bengt Johansson and his team ruled the handball world with Olympic gold being the only medal they never won 

- despite playing in four finals. However, perfection is a strangely rare thing and probably the reason why the 

‘Bengan Boys’ led by Magnus Wislander, Staffan Olsson and Stefan Lövgren did not win it all. Croatia are also 

partly to blame for that, having beaten them in the Olympic final in Atlanta in 1996. 

Sweden are playing great handball with all the work they have put in with youngsters throughout the period of 

almost 10 years clearly paying off. They have been missing out on medals for quite a long time now, with their 

home EHF EURO in Stockholm all the way back in 2002 the last competition they won. Since then, they have 

only earned silver at the London 2012 Olympics but they seem to be more than ready to make that final step 

towards the spotlight. 

A classy team, solid in defence, imaginative in attack. A team, which keeps the pace sky-high throughout the 

match. Their key features are rock-strong defence led by Max Darj and Jesper Nielsen, great goalkeepers Mikael 

Appelgren and Andreas Palicka, who both have Bundesliga experience, quick wingers, who rarely miss, coming 

from THW Kiel (Niclas Ekberg) and Rhein-Neckar Löwen (Jerry Tollbring). Considering their organised attack, 

they are quite fast with great solutions mostly coming from playmaker Jim Gottfridsson and left-hander Albin 

Lagergren. 

Will the ‘yellow submarine’ sail towards the throne in Croatia? They must remember the gold medal they won at 

the EHF EURO 2000 in Zagreb! 

25

Sweden booked a place at EHF EURO 

coming from Qualification Group 6 where they finished 

first ahead of Montenegro, Russia and Slovakia 

BEST 

7 

Appelgren 

Tollbring 

Nielsen 

Ekberg 

Jeppsson 

Gottfridsson 

Lagergren 

KRISTJAN ANDRESSON 

Head Coach 

Born in Sweden in 1981 to Icelandic parents, Kristjan 

Andresson became head coach of the national team 

in September 2016, replacing Ola Lindgren and Staffan 

Olsson. 

Andresson grew up in the city of Eskilstuna, outside of 

Stockholm, and started his playing career at HK Eskil 

before switching to Eskilstuna Guif in the top league 

when he was 19. He played 11 games for Iceland, 

including the 2004 Olympics. 

In 2005, Andresson was forced into early retirement 

due to multiple knee injuries. At the age of 26, in 

2007, he became head coach for Eskilstuna Guif. He 

remained with the club until 2016, reaching the Swedish 

championship finals twice. 

Shortly after he left Eskilstuna Guif, Andresson was 

appointed as the new head coach for the national team, 

leading them in a successful World Championship 2017 

campaign as they finished sixth. 

NICLAS EKBERG 

Key Player 

Right wing Niclas Ekberg scored almost 700 goals for 

Sweden – more than any other player in the current 

squad. The left-hander plays a crucial role in the team. 

He was also responsible for the last-second goal from 

a penalty against Spain in the Olympic Qualification 

Tournament, which secured Sweden a place in Rio. 

The 29-year-old Ekberg began his career with his local 

club, Ystads IF, before moving to AG Kobenhavn for 

two years after which he joined Champions League 

side THW Kiel in 2012. Ekberg’s biggest success with 

the national team is the silver medal won at the 2012 

Olympic Games, where he was the top scorer of the 

competition with a tally of 50. He received the Swedish 

Handball Player of the Year award in 2015 and was 

team captain at the World Championship 2017. 

26


1994 Portugal 1st place 

1996 Spain 4th place 

1998 Italy 1st place 

2000 Croatia 1st place 

2002 Sweden 1st place 

2004 Slovenia 7th place 

2008 Norway 5th place 

2010 Austria 15th place 

2012 Serbia 12th place 

2014 Denmark 7th place 

2016 Poland 8th place 


1961 West Germany 3rd place 

1964 Czechoslovakia 2nd place 

1967 Sweden 5th place 

1970 France 6th place 

1974 East Germany 10th place 


1982 West Germany 11th place 

1986 Switzerland 4th place 

1990 Czechoslovakia 1st place 

1993 Sweden 3rd place 

1995 Iceland 3rd place 

1997 Japan 2nd place 

1999 Egypt 1st place 

2001 France 2nd place 

2003 Portugal 13th place 

2005 Tunis 11th place 

2009 Croatia 7th place 


2015 Qatar 10th place 



Andersson, Mattias GK 1978 Flensburg (GER) 148/0 

Palicka, Andreas GK 1986 RN Löwen (GER) 71/1 

Aggefors, Mikael GK 1985 Aalborg (DEN) 14/0 

Appelgren, Mikael GK 1989 RN Löwen (GER) 60/1 

Thulin, Tobias GK 1995 Redbergslid IK 5/0 

Tollbring, Jerry LW 1995 RN Löwen (GER) 33/107 

Wanne, Hampus LW 1993 Flensburg 4/7 

Frend-Öfors, Emil LW 1994 THW Kiel (GER) 12/20 

Ekberg, Niclas RW 1988 THW Kiel 153/640 

Pettersson, Daniel RW 1992 Magdeburg (GER) 9/25 

Zachrisson, Mattias RW 1990 Füchse (GER) 102/217 

Darj, Max LP 1991 Bergischer (GER) 23/12 

Bergendahl, Oscar LP 1995 Alingsås 5/11 

Pettersson, Fredric LP 1989 Toulouse (FRA) 27/37 

Nielsen, Jesper LP 1989 PSG (FRA) 86/107 

Olsson, Markus LB 1990 Skjern (DEN) 55/109 

Jeppsson, Simon LB 1995 Flensburg (GER) 17/34 

Henningsson, Philip LB 1995 Kristianstad 4/6 

Stenmalm, Philip LB 1992 KIF Kolding (DEN) 55/59 

Östlund, Viktor LB 1992 Holstebro (DEN) 38/96 

Nilsson, Lukas LB 1996 THW Kiel (GER) 40/103 

Gottfridsson, Jim CB 1992 Flensburg (GER) 50/176 

Arnesson, Linus CB 1990 Bergischer (GER) 4/5 

Konradsson, Jesper CB 1994 Skjern (DEN) 41/49 

Freiman, Helge CB 1992 Kristianstad 12/18 

Cederholm, Andreas CB 1990 Minden (GER) 38/66 

Jakobsson, Johan RB 1987 Sävehof 114/250 

Lagergren, Albin RB 1992 Kristianstad 23/57 

photo: Uroš Hočevar 

OLYMPIC GAMES 

1972 Munich 7th place 

1984 Los Angeles 5th place 

1988 Seoul 5th place 

1992 Barcelona 2nd place 

1996 Atlanta 2nd place 

2000 Sydney 2nd place 

2012 London 2nd place 

2016 Rio de Janeiro 11th place 

27

SERBIA 

Rukometni Savez Srbije 

Tošin Bunar 272 

11070 Novi Beograd 

www.rss.org.rs 

28

Old school – new beginning 

Although they have a great tradition, Serbia missed the last two World Championships in Qatar and France as 

well as the Rio Olympics, and finished 15th at the 16-team EHF EURO in Poland. 

They simply lost that something after their silver medal back in 2012 when they hosted the EHF EURO. They 

were looking for the right solution, changed a lot and in the end decided to go with a younger generation, 

which is now a mix of talented players led by a big name like Jovica Cvetkovic. They have a team that can 

surely endanger anyone in Europe. In his roster Cvetkovic has three VELUX EHF Champions League winners – 

goalkeeper Strahinja Milic, line player Mijajlo Marsenic and one of Europe’s best defensive players, Ilija Abutovic. 

Petar Nenadic, Zarko Sesum, Momir Rnic, Nemanja Zelenovic and Marko Vujin make up a solid back line from 

the German Bundesliga to go along with the marvellous right winger Darko Djukic from Polish side Kielce. They 

also have some important Champions League names like Rastko Stojkovic, Rajko Prodanovic and Petar Djordjic 

from Meshkov, Dobrivoje Markovic from PPD Zagreb and young goalie Vladimir Cupara, who currently plays for 

Spanish side Leon but will move to Kielce in 2018. If Jovica Cvetkovic can motivate his squad, they might take a 

big step forward at the EHF EURO in Croatia. They were not here in 2000, but at the World Championship 2009 

they finished eighth. 

29

Serbia booked a place at the EHF EURO coming from 

Qualification Group 2 where they finished second – behind 

Belarus and ahead of Romania and Poland 

BEST 

7 

Cupara 

Markovic 

Marsenic 

Djukic 

Nenadic 

Sesum 

Vujin 

JOVICA CVETKOVIC 

Head Coach 

Head coach Jovica Cvetkovic came into his role in 

October 2016, in what was a difficult moment for the 

Serbian national team as they looked to rebuild for the 

future. Cvetkovic’s work of squad reshaping brought 

in some positive results, including three wins and two 

draws in the EHF EURO 2018 Qualification. 

Cvetkovic is a former player, who was on court during 

the golden era of Yugoslavian handball, winning the 

World Championship in 1986. After his successful 

playing career, he started coaching at club level back 

in 1990. He first became Serbian national coach in 

2006 before leaving the position in 2009 and resuming 

it seven years later. 

PETAR NENADIC 

Key Player 

Petar Nenadic developed from one of Europe’s biggest 

talents into a real leader of the team, which will in 

Croatia try to prove that the silver medal they won at 

the EHF EURO in Serbia six years ago was not just a 

coincidence. They have not pulled it off since but now 

they surely do have the required quality. Playing for 

Füchse Berlin, Nenadic was one of Bundesliga’s best 

scorers with his strong outings earning him a pricy 

transfer to one of Europe’s strongest clubs – Hungarian 

Veszprém. He went through a lot, at Barcelona, Szeged 

and Wisla, but finally proved himself among the best in 

Germany. 

30


1996 Spain 3rd place 

1998 Italy 5th place 





2012 Serbia 2nd place 




1997 Japan 16th place 

1999 Egypt 3rd place 

2001 France 3rd place 







Milic, Strahinja GK 1990 Vardar (MKD) 26/0 

Cupara, Vladimir GK 1994 Ademar Leon (ESP) 8/0 

Ivanisevic, Tibor GK 1990 Skjern (DEN) 6/0 

Milosavljev, Dejan GK 1996 Partizan 5/0 

Markovic, Dobrivoje LW 1986 PPD Zagreb (CRO) 105/211 

Ilic, Nemanja LW 1990 Fenix Toulouse (FRA) 52/87 

Ilic, Vanja LW 1993 Metalurg (MKD) 2/2 

Djukic, Darko RW 1994 Kielce (POL) 31/89 

Radivojevic, Bogdan RW 1993 RN Lowen (GER) 21/35 

Vorkapic, Vukasin RW 1997 Metaloplastika 0/0 

Marsenic, Mijajlo LP 1993 Vardar (MKD) 61/86 

Beljanski, Bojan LP 1986 Bregenz (AUT) 64/59 

Stojkovic, Rastko LP 1981 Meshkov Brest (BLR) 76/159 

Nenadic, Petar LB 1986 Fuchse Berlin (GER) 75/198 

Djordjic, Petar LB 1990 Meshkov Brest (BLR) 12/29 

Rnic, Momir LB 1987 RN Lowen (GER) 94/169 

Jovanovic, Milan LB 1998 Vojvodina 0/0 

Abutovic, Ilija LB 1988 Vardar (MKD) 25/24 

Nenadic, Drasko LB 1990 Fuchse Berlin (GER) 20/17 

Obradovic, Nemanja LB 1991 Wisla Plock (POL) 4/8 

Stevanovic, Darko LB 1997 Partizan 3/5 

Sesum, Zarko CB 1986 Goppingen (GER) 138/368 

Vujic, Stefan CB 1991 Steaua (ROM) 0/0 

Ciric, Stefan CB 1991 Obilic 2/3 

Crnoglavac, Nikola RB 1992 Dobrogea Constanta (ROU) 2/4 

Zelenovic, Nemanja RB 1990 Magdeburg (GER) 54/128 

Stanojevic, Aleksandar RB 1984 Goztepe (TUR) 36/57 

Vujin, Marko RB 1984 THW Kiel (GER) 113/444 

OLYMPIC GAMES 

2000 Sydney 4th place 

2012 London 9th place 

photo: MN Press 

31

ICELAND 

Handknattleikssamband 

Islands 

Engjavegur 6 

104 Reykjavik 

www.hsi.is 

32

Small giant enters with rebuilt squad 

Iceland is without doubt a sporting phenomenon: a small country with so many great athletes, and with national 

teams appearing at final tournaments in football, basketball and handball. The small giant enters the EHF 

EURO with a rebuilt squad and without many of the leaders from Beijing in 2008 and Vienna in 2010, including 

Olafur Stefansson, Robert Gunarsson, Alexander Pettersson and Snorri Gudjonson. 

Gudmundur Gudmundsson, who coached them to all the medals, later went to Denmark climbing the Olympic 

throne but they managed to survive without all of them successfully sticking to their well-known playing style. 

And they won’t give up. They missed Rio but they are back and it is interesting that the EHF EURO 2000 in 

Croatia was actually their very first. 

Today they have a new team full of young players, alongside a whole lot of experience from the world’s strongest 

leagues, led by two All-star team calibre players – playmaker Aron Palmarsson from Barcelona and Gudjon Valur 

Sigurdsson, one of the best wingers of today. It is also important to note that Swedish Kristianstad is competing 

in the VELUX EHF Champions League with names like Olafur Gudmundsson, big and strong line player Arnar 

Arnasson. Janus Smarsson leads the parade in Aalborg along with experienced Arnor Atlasson. Runar Karason 

is delivering some good performances this season wearing Hannover’s jersey. Björgvin Pal Gustavsson is in 

charge of goalkeeping at Bergischer HC along with right wing Arnor Gunarsson. Bjarki Elisson plays at Füchse 

Berlin. This all means head coach Geir Sveinsson has an ambitious and talented team with the potential to win 

medals. The head coach himself used to be a line player. He was the heart and soul of the team, which achieved 

success at the Seoul and Barcelona Olympics, which was the beginning of an amazing story. 

33

BEST 

7 

Iceland booked a place at the EHF EURO as the best thirdplaced 

team from all Qualification Groups, ending up third 

in Qualification Group 4 – behind FYR Macedonia and 

Czech Republic and ahead of Ukraine. 

Gustavsson 

Sigurdsson 

Arnarsson 

A. Gunnarsson 

Gudmundsson 

Palmarsson 

Halgrimsson 

GEIR SVEINSSON 

Head Coach 

Five-time Icelandic handball player of the year Geir 

Sveinsson became coach of the national team in April 

2016. As a player, Sveinsson was line player, a great 

leader at both ends of the court and captain of Iceland 

for eight years, from 1991 to 1999, reaching 340 caps. 

Sveinsson began coaching at his boyhood club Valur, 

then worked with Grótta before leaving for glory abroad 

as so many Icelandic coaches have done in recent 

years. His coaching career continued at Bregenz in 

Austria (2012-2014) and Magdeburg in Germany (2014- 

2016) before taking over at the national team. 

Sveinsson has started shaping a new national squad, 

introducing young players from promising Icelandic 

youth sides as he builds the team around a strong 

defence and smart attacking play. 

ARON PALMARSSON 

Key Player 

He has been the star of the Icelandic team for the last 

few years. The 27-year-old centre back leads Iceland’s 

attack with great vision for the game and a strong 

shot from outside the defence. Palmarsson played a 

significant role when Iceland won the bronze medal at 

the EHF EURO 2010 – so far his biggest achievement 

with the national team. 

Palmarsson played for FH Hafnarfjördur in Iceland 

before joining VELUX EHF Champions League side 

THW Kiel at the age of 19, for the 2009/10 season. After 

claiming two Champions League titles with Kiel, in 2010 

and 2012, he moved to Telekom Veszprém in 2015. With 

the Hungarian club he reached the FINAL4 twice. 

Early in the 2017/18 season, Palmarsson was one 

of the most discussed transfers as he joined record 

Champions League winners FC Barcelona Lassa. 

34







2010 Austria 3rd place 







1964 Czechoslovakia 9th place 







1995 Iceland 14th place 





2007 Germany 8th place 






Gústavsson, Björgvin Páll GK 1985 Haukar 193/10 

Edvardsson, Aron Rafn GK 1989 Bietigheim (GER) 76/4 

Björgvinsson, Ágúst Elí GK 1999 FH 3/0 

Gudmundsson, Hreidar GK 1980 Grótta 146/2 

Sigurdsson, Gudjón LW 1979 RN Löwen (GER) 338/1777 

Sigurmannsson, Stefán LW 1990 Szeged (HUN) 56/64 

Elísson, Bjarki Már LW 1990 Fuchse Berlin (GER) 34/75 

Gunnarsson, Arnór RW 1987 Bergischer (GER) 76/172 

Sigurbjörnsson, Theodór RW 1992 ÍBV 6/4 

Ríkhardsson, Ódinn Pór RW 1997 FH 0/0 

Kristjánsson, Kári LP 1984 ÍBV 129/148 

Gunnarsson, Róbert LP 1980 Aarhus (DEN) 276/773 

Arnarsson, Arnar Freyr LP 1996 Kristianstad (SWE) 19/21 

Gunnarsson, Bjarki Már LP 1988 Stjarnan 61/17 

Ingólfsson, Atli Evar LP 1988 Selfoss 9/9 

Atlason, Arnór LB 1984 Aalborg (DEN) 197/436 

Gudmundsson, Ólafur LB 1990 Kristianstad (SWE) 89/127 

Ingason, Daníel Pór LB 1995 Haukar 3/1 

Gústafsson, Ólafur LB 1989 Kolding (DEN) 22/43 

Jónsson, Elvar Örn LB 1997 Selfoss 0/0 

Pálmarsson, Aron CB 1990 Barcelona (SPA) 113/441 

Smárason, Janus Dadi CB 1995 Aalborg (DEN) 16/24 

Gíslason, Ýmir Örn CB 1997 Valur 4/1 

Kristjánsson, Gísli Porgeir CB 1999 FH 0/0 

Kárason, Rúnar RB 1988 Hannover/Burgdorf (GER) 84/206 

Hallgrímsson, Ásgeir Örn RB 1984 Nimes (FRA) 247/414 

Gudmundsson, Geir RB 1993 Cesson Rennes (FRA) 2/4 

Magnússon, Ómar Ingi RB 1997 Aarhus (DEN) 17/49 


OLYMPIC GAMES 




1992 Barcelona 4th place 

2004 Athens 9th place 

2008 Beijing 2nd place 


35

36

37

POREČ 

Poreč. Parenzo. Or, in Latin: Parentium. In its 2,000-year history, it seems like the whole European 

history has passed through Poreč: Romans, Aquilea, Huns, Byzants, Slovenes, Avars, Ostrogoths, 

Langobards, Franks, Venice, Napoleon, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, Yugoslavia, today Croatia. 

Its major landmark is the sixth-century Euphrasian Basilica, featuring on the UNESCO Wold 

Heritage List since 1997. 

This small peninsula town was inhabited from the pre-historic era. Romans gave it today’s form 

after defeating the native Histrians. Since 1861 Poreč has been the capital of Istria, residence of 

Istrian, i.e. Poreč-Pulan diocese. In the final years of the 19th century and the first decade of the 

20th century, Poreč recorded a sudden and tempestuous development with the construction of the 

town palace, theatre, agricultural school, sport hall (palestra), two beaches, the first hotels. 

After the second world war, tourism in Poreč started to develop rapidly and the town became the 

strongest tourism centre in the east Adriatic coast. Poreč hosted the Women’s World Championship 

in 2003 and the Men’s World Championship six years later. 

38

ŽATIKA SC 


Žatika Sport Centre is a multi-functional hall in Poreč. Built for the Men’s IHF World Championship 

in 2009, it was formally opened on 21 November 2008. 

The building consists of two halls – a large one with a capacity of 3,200 spectators, and a smaller 

one, which is often used for training and warm-up purposes. It also has a fitness centre and 

various facilities to host events and fairs. 

39

FRANCE 

Federation Francaise 

de Handball 

16, avenue Raspail CS 30312 

94257 Gentilly 

www.ff-handball.org 

40

First time without Omeyer and Narcisse 

It is enough to say we are talking about the reigning world champions, the best team of the decade. As always, 

they are among the biggest favourites for going all the way. Croatia is a country France likes to play in because 

here the women won World Championship gold in 2003 and the men in 2009. This is where they first reached the 

EHF EURO semis back in 2000. 

Now France are a bit different without their ‘irreplaceable’ clutch duo - goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer and ‘Air 

France’ Daniel Narcisse. It is clear that this can never be the same team without them but it does not necessary 

have to mean they will be any weaker. With all the younger generations they have developed lately, it looks like 

they will make sure France remain where they belong – on the top. 

These are all players who are playing at some of the best European clubs and who are slowly entering the 

national team in a process started all the way back by Constantini, kept alive by Onesta, and taken with arms 

wide open by Dinart. Defence has always been their forte. The main characters are still Cedric Sorhaindo, Nikola 

Karabatic and his younger brother Luka, who missed the last World Championship and was replaced by Ludovic 

Fabregas – the young line player will, however, not play in Croatia due to injury. 

In attack they will miss Narcisse but they already have Timothey N’Guessan who will, along with Nantes’ engine 

Nicolas Claire, be in charge of taking some weight off Nikola Karabatic’s shoulders. On the right they have young 

World Championship sensation Nedim Remili to go along with “Narcisse Jr.” – Dika Mem from Barcelona or 

Valentin Porte and it is fair to say their right side looks frightening. Also, they still have well-known faces on the 

wing positions, like Michael Guigou, Luc Abalo and Kentin Mahe, who will surely once again deliver. Omeyer and 

Narcisse had to call it a career at one point, Karabatic will do the same sooner rather than later but what matters 

is that France remain a European stronghold even without them. 

41

France booked a place at the EHF EURO coming from 

Qualification Group 7 where they finished first ahead of 

Norway, Lithuania and Belgium. 

BEST 

7 

Gerard 

Guigou 

Sorhaindo 

Porte 

N. Karabatic 

Claire 

Dipanda 

DIDIER DINART 

Head Coach 

After finishing a decorated playing career in 2013, 

Didier Dinart switched immediately to the French 

national squad staff, where he became assistant to 

head coach Claude Onesta. EHF EURO 2014 and World 

Championship 2015 titles followed, making Dinart the 

first member of Les Experts to succeed in retraining to 

the level of his incredible record of accomplishment as 

a player. 

Together with his former teammate Guillaume Gille, 

Dinart took the reins of the France national team after 

the 2016 Olympic Games. The duo claimed the world 

title on home soil in Paris in January 2017 in their first 

major tournament leading the team. 

As a trademark specialist defender, Dinart earned the 

nickname ‘The Rock’ during his days playing in Spain 

for Ciudad Real. With strong ties to his roots from 

Guadeloupe, Dinart organises an annual international 

event in the Antilles to facilitate youth access to highperformance 

sport. 

NIKOLA KARABATIC 

Key Player 

As three-time recipient of the World Handball Player 

of the Year award, in 2007, 2014 and 2016, Nikola 

Karabatic is regarded as one of, if not the, best player 

in French history. With an incredible total of 52 titles 

and multiple individual recognitions, he is perhaps the 

most recognizable handball player in the world. 

Karabatic’s list of achievements includes three Olympic 

gold medals, four world titles and three EHF EURO 

trophies. He has also won the VELUX EHF Champions 

League three times, with Montpellier in 2003, THW Kiel 

in 2007 and FC Barcelona in 2015. Karabatic currently 

plays for PSG Handball, who reached the VELUX EHF 

FINAL4 in 2015/16 and 2016/17. 

Playing at left back or centre back, Karabatic is a 

proven goal machine and team player. He is also a 

strong defender, especially when playing alongside 

his younger brother Luka and team captain Cédric 

Sorhaindo. 

42








2006 Switzerland 1st place 

2008 Norway 3rd place 

2010 Austria 1st place 


2014 Denmark 1st place 






1964 Czech Republic 14th place 




1990 Czech Republic 9th place 

1993 Sweden 2nd place 

1995 Iceland 1st place 

1997 Japan 3rd place 

1999 Egypt 6th place 

2001 France 1st place 

2003 Portugal 3rd place 

2005 Tunisia 3rd place 


2009 Croatia 1st place 

2011 Sweden 1st place 


2015 Qatar 1st place 

2017 France 1st place 


Dumoulin, Cyril GK 1984 Nantes 60/0 

Gerard, Vincent GK 1986 Montpellier 57/4 

Meyer, Julien GK 1996 Chambery 2/0 

Omeyer, Thierry GK 1976 PSG 358/4 

Guigou, Michaël LW 1982 Montpellier 246/872 

Mahe, Kentin LW 1991 Flensburg (GER) 75/242 

Nahi, Dylan LW 1999 PSG 3/5 

Bingo, Arnaud LW 1987 Montpellier 38/56 

Caucheteux, Raphael LW 1985 Saint Raphaël 0/0 

Abalo, Luc RW 1984 PSG 229/725 

Kounkoud, Benoit RW 1997 PSG 15/15 

Lenne, Yanis RW 1996 Barcelona (SPA) 5/7 

Sorhaindo, Cédric LP 1997 Barcelona (SPA) 185/384 

Tournat, Nicolas LP 1994 Nantes 3/0 

Karabatic, Luka LP 1988 PSG 68/77 

Afgour, Benjamin LP 1991 Montpellier 8/17 

N,’guessan Timothey LB 1992 Barcelona (SPA) 49/87 

Accambray, William LB 1988 Veszprem (HUN) 103/219 

Nyokas, Olivier LB 1986 Nantes 32/46 

Bonnefond, Baptiste LB 1993 Montpellier 3/0 

Claire, Nicolas CB 1987 Nantes 14/16 

Karabatic, Nikola CB 1984 PSG 284/1130 

Lagarde, Romain CB 1997 Nantes 0/0 

Mem, Dika RB 1997 Barcelona (SPA) 10/7 

Dipanda, Adrien RB 1988 Saint Raphaël 33/58 

Porte, Valentin RB 1990 Montpellier 82/218 

Remili, Nedim RB 1995 PSG 27/79 

Pelayo, Tom RB 1997 Dunkerque 0/0 


OLYMPIC GAMES 

1992 Barcelona 3rd place 

1996 Atlanta 4th place 



2008 Beijing 1st place 

2012 London 1st place 

2016 Rio de Janeiro 2nd place 

43

BELARUS 

Handball Federation of Belarus 

Surganova str. 2-213 / 

220 012 Minsk 

www.handball.by 

44

Awaken tradition 

The Belarusian handball school led by Spartak Mironovich is one of the best in handball history. Back in the 

day, those were the roots of the great Soviet teams. But after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, everything 

changed. Since then, they have only participated in championships in Portugal in 1994 and Iceland in 1995, and 

were absent from the main stage all the way until the EHF EURO 2008 in Norway. 

At about the same time, Meshkov Brest started growing along with Dinamo Minsk and SKA Minsk. Something 

finally started happening and they made it all the way to where they are today, led by a true legend of the sport, 

Iouri Chevtsov. 

They managed to catch the right rhythm starting at the World Championship in Spain in 2013. Since then they 

have not missed a big competition, growing steadily and developing some new names to help them get back 

to where they belong. Today they have Ivan Matskevich, Viachaslau Saldatsenka, the great line player Artsem 

Karalek, the tall Uladzislau Kulesh, the experienced Siarhei Shylovich, Barys Pukhouski and Dzmitry Nikulenkau, 

who are in charge of the pace, along with wingers Andrey Yurynok, Dzianis Rutenka and Maksim Baranau. 

They finished 10th in Poland, the second time in a row that they had qualified for the main round. Now they have 

what it takes to take an additional step forward. 

45

Belarus booked a place at the EHF EURO coming from 

Qualification Group 2 where they finished first ahead of Serbia, 

Romania and Poland. 

BEST 

7 

Matskevich 

Yurynok 

Karalek 

Rutenka 

Kulesh 

Pukhouski 

Shylovich 

IOURI CHEVTSOV 

Head Coach 

Iouri Chevtsov has been Belarus head coach since 

2009, after his own successful playing career for SKA 

(1977-1991) and one season in Germany with Blau- 

Weiss Spandau. It was in Germany that Chevtsov 

started his coaching career, working with the likes of 

TUSEM Essen and Rhein-Neckar Löwen. 

While playing for the USSR, Chevtsov became world 

champion in 1982 and won Olympic gold in 1988. As a 

player, he was champion of the USSR six times between 

1981 and 1989, three-time winner of the European 

Champions’ Cup (1987, 1989, 1990), two-time winner 

of the Cup Winners’ Cup (1983, 1988), and Super Cup 

champion in 1989. 

As a coach of German clubs, he claimed the national 

title and the German Cup in 1997, along with the EHF 

Cup in 2005. 

Chevtsov has led Belarus at three World Championships. 

He was also at the helm at the EHF EURO 2014 and 

2016. 

ARTSEM KARALEK 

Key Player 

Karalek is without doubt one of the most promising 

line players of today. He is only 21 years old and after 

two years with Saint Raphael in France he will join 

Kielce in Poland next season. 

He is strong, 190 cm tall, with amazing scoring abilities. 

Karalek started in Grodno and already at the age of 

18 left for SKA Minsk. Good outings in Minsk earned 

him a national team invitation as he made his debut at 

the EHF EURO in Poland. After that he left for France 

and is now at only 21 years of age his country’s most 

important player. 

He is the centre of everything, gives an additional 

dimension to an attack full of great shooters and 

is valuable in defence too. He is one of the biggest 

reasons for Belarus to be optimistic ahead of the EHF 

EURO. He has just started and his time is yet to come. 

46







Saldatsenka, Viacheslau GK 1994 Odorhei (ROU) 29/1 

Matskevich, Ivan GK 1991 Meshkov 57/0 

Padasinau, Artsem GK 1989 Gomel 0/0 

Charapenka, Vitali GK 1984 Meshkov 81/0 

Miskevich, Pavel GK 1997 SKA Minsk 0/0 

Brouka, Ivan LW 1980 SKA Minsk 180/572 

Yurynok, Andrei LW 1996 Meshkov 45/118 

Rutenka, Dzianis RW 1986 Meshkov 112/283 

Baranau, Maksim RW 1988 Odorhei (ROU) 123/300 

Babichev, Maxim LP 1986 Motor (UKR) 144/238 

Karalek, Artsem LP 1996 Saint-Raphael (FRA) 41/142 

Shumak, Viachaslau LP 1988 Meshkov 84/130 

Tsitou, Aliaksandar LP 1986 Riihimaen Cocks (FIN) 163/137 

Kulesh, Uladzislau LB 1996 SKA Minsk 37/107 

Bokhan, Viacheslau LB 1996 SKA Minsk 9/3 

Shynkel, Aliaksei LB 1994 Motor (UKR) 20/46 

Nikulenkau, Dzmitry CB 1984 Meshkov 99/171 

Pukhouski, Barys CB 1987 Motor (UKR) 174/758 

Padshyvalau, Aliaksandr CB 1996 SKA Minsk 26/44 

Bachko, Aliaksandr CB 1989 Riihimaen Cocks (FIN) 5/1 

Gayduchenko, Vadim CB 1995 Dinamo (ROU) 23/51 

Harbuz, Hleb CB 1994 SKA Minsk 4/3 

Vailupau, Mikita RB 1995 SKA Minsk 14/39 

Shylovich, Siarhei RB 1986 Meshkov 129/413 

Astrashapkin, Aleh RB 1992 Meshkov 27/37 

Karvatski, Artur RB 1996 Furedi (HUN) 18/51 

Kniazeu, Kiryl RB 1990 Energa MKS (POL) 49/95 

Aliokhin, Mikalai RB 1998 SKA Minsk 8/11 







47

NORWAY 

Norges Handballforbund 

PO Box 5000 

0840 Oslo 

www.handball.no 

48

Back to where it started 

Norway first played at the EHF EURO in Croatia back in 2000 and now, 18 years later, they are coming back as 

one of the biggest title favourites. In Poland they ended up fourth and a year later in France they lost the World 

Championship final. This is yet more proof of their growth – there are no doubts about them because Christian 

Berge is a coach who knows what it takes to put them among the elite, where their women national team has 

already been for a long time. 

Norway have a distinctive style and are one of the fastest teams in Europe. Their successes have affected the 

value of their most important players, who are becoming key players at multiple European teams. The first who 

comes to mind is surely Sander Sagosen – PSG’s playmaker and one of their most important players side by side 

with Nikola Karabatic and Mikkel Hansen. 

Norway also have great shooters such as Espen Hansen, Magnus Rod, Kent Tønnesen, high-class wingers 

Magnus Jøndal and Kristian Bjørnsen, who rarely miss, to go along with the experienced Bjarte Myrhol on the 

line, Christian O’Sullivan and sensational goalie Torbjørn Bergerud, who saved Zlatko Horvat’s penalty in the 

World Championship semi-final last year, putting Norway through to their first final ever. 

49

Norway booked a place at the EHF EURO coming from 

Qualification Group 7 where they finished second 

– behind France and ahead of Lithuania and Belgium 

BEST 

7 

Bergerud 

Jøndal 

Myrhol 

Bjørnsen 

Espen Hansen 

Sagosen 

Tønnesen 

CHRISTIAN BERGE 

Head Coach 

The 44-year-old Christian Berge became head coach of 

Norway in the spring of 2014, taking over from Swedish 

Robert Hedin. Before becoming a coach, Berge played 

63 international matches for Norway between 1997 and 

2006. He also played for German Champions League 

club Flensburg for several years before departing for 

Denmark. 

Berge’s coaching career began with Danish club 

Aarhus, where he started as an assistant. In 2008, he 

returned to Norway to coach Elverum, then became 

coach of youth age category national teams in 2013. 

At the EHF EURO 2016, Berge led the Norway men’s 

team to their first ever semi-final at a major international 

competition. One year later, in January 2017, he took 

them all the way to the World Championship Final, 

where they finished with the silver medal after being 

defeated by hosts France. 

SANDER SAGOSEN 

Key Player 

At the age of just 22, Sander Sagosen is already wellknown 

among handball fans. The back court player 

has followed in his father’s footsteps, who played 14 

matches for Norway in the 1990s. 

Sagosen made his debut on the national team in 2013 

when he was only 18, and confirmed his position as 

a key member of the side very quickly. The versatile 

player was named in the All-star Teams at the EHF 

EURO 2016 and the World Championship 2017. 

After starting his professional career in Norway, 

Sagosen gained his first VELUX EHF Champions 

League experience with Danish club Aalborg, where he 

stayed for three years. In 2016/17, he played a crucial 

role in Aalborg’s third domestic title win in history. 

In the summer of 2017, the young talent moved to 

Champions League powerhouse PSG and, as with 

every step before, impressed from the first day. 

50























2017 France 2nd place 


Bergerud, Torbjørn GK 1994 Holstebro (DEN) 38/0 

Sæverås, Kristian GK 1996 Malmø (SWE) 0/0 

Christensen, Espen GK 1985 Minden (GER) 72/2 

Haug, Robin GK 1998 St. Hallvard 0/0 

Lindboe, Andre LW 1988 Elverum (NOR) 59/96 

Jøndal, Magnus LW 1988 GOG (DEN) 108/291 

Westby, Alexander LB 1993 Bodo HK 2/3 

Schønningsen, Simen RW 1996 Balingen (GER) 0/0 

Gulliksen, Kevin RW 1996 Elverum 3/0 

Bjørnsen, Kristian RW 1989 Wetzlar (GER) 82/376 

Søndenå, Magnus RW 1991 Haslum 11/28 

Gullerud, Magnus LP 1991 Minden (GER) 86/96 

Myrhol, Bjarte LP 1982 Skjern (DEN) 208/630 

Jakobsen, Henrik LP 1992 GOG (DEN) 13/15 

Hykkerud, Joakim LP 1986 Drammen (NOR) 75/71 

Liaba, Mishels LB 1995 Allingsås (SWE) 0/0 

Hansen, Espen Lie LB 1989 Midtjylland (DEN) 130/421 

Sørheim, Goran LB 1990 Drammen 41/38 

Johannessen, Goran LB 1994 GOG (DEN) 33/57 

Eriksen, Inge Aas LB 1984 Kristianstad (SWE) 8/5 

Fredriksen, Magnus CB 1997 Elverum 0/0 

Bielenberg, Henrik CB 1994 Bodo 3/0 

Sagosen, Sander CB 1995 PSG (FRA) 66/245 

O,`Sullivan Christian CB 1991 Magdeburg (GER) 79/107 

Tangen, Eivind RB 1993 Midtjylland (DEN) 54/85 

Reinkind, Harald RB 1992 RN Löwen (GER) 65/141 

Rød, Magnus RB 1997 Flensburg (GER) 19/29 

Tønnesen, Kent Robin RB 1991 Veszprém (HUN) 82/194 

OLYMPIC GAMES 

1972 München 9th place 


51

AUSTRIA 

Österreichischer Handballbund 

Hauslabgasse 24 

1050 Wien 

www.oehb.at 

52

Generation change 

Dagur Sigurdsson is currently head coach of the Japanese national team. He took Germany all the way to the 

European title in Poland two years ago, and before the German adventure, he started the process in Austria 

taking them to the big stage. After he left for Germany, Magnus Andersson led Austria shortly and was later 

succeeded by Patrekur Johannesson because the Austrians liked the look Sigurdsson had given them. However, 

it was time for a generation change. Austria have been focused lately on developing younger players with the 

EHF EURO they will host in 2020 as an additional motivation for everyone. 

They did not take part in any of the last three big competitions – in Poland, Brazil or France. However this time 

they got through the qualification and will try to establish themselves among the best with some great young 

names, like THW Kiel’s Nikola Bilyk and experienced Robert Weber, who has been one of the best Bundesliga 

scorers in past years. There are also some new names in their roster, like Croatian-born goalie Kristian Pilipovic 

and experienced leftie from Portuguese Sporting, Janko Bozovic. Big problem for coach Johannesson is the 

injury to Raul Santos. He will, however, have all the experienced players, who have been a part of the team for a 

long time now, like defensive specialist Vytautas Ziura, goalkeeper Thomas Bauer and line player Fabian Posch. 

A well-balanced team, which can, if given even the smallest opportunity, stun anyone. So far, they have had two 

EHF EURO appearances, and both times they got through to the main round. 

53

Austria booked a place at the EHF EURO coming from 


Spain and ahead of Bosnia Herzegovina and Finland 

BEST 

7 

Pilipovic 

Frimmel 

Weber 

Wagner 

Bilyk 

Bozovic 

Zeiner 

PATREKUR JOHANNESSON 

Head Coach 

In November 2011, Patrekur Johannesson succeeded 

Magnus Anderson and became coach of the Austrian national 

team. Two years later, Johannesson’s first major success was 

qualifying for the EHF EURO 2014. With Johannesson as head 

coach, Austria also qualified for the World Championship 

2015. 

Following qualification for the EHF EURO 2018, Johannesson 

is the most successful national team coach in Austrian 

handball history. The former Iceland national team player 

is known for selecting a perfect mix of experienced players 

and young talents. After key players like Viktor Szilagyi, 

Conny Wilczynski and Roland Schlinger ended their careers, 

Johannesson has formed a powerful young team. 

NIKOLA BILYK 

Key Player 

Tunisian-born centre back Nikola Bilyk won the Super 

Cup, Austrian Cup and domestic championship in his 

last season spent at home playing for HC Fivers WAT 

Margareten. In the summer of 2016, he moved to THW 

Kiel, winning his first major title – the DHB Pokal – with 

the ‘Zebras’ in Germany in his first season. 

At the age of 20, Bilyk inspires coaches, fans and 

teammates with his quality play and calm manner on the 

court. At the Men’s 20 EHF EURO 2014, he was voted 

All-star Team centre back and MVP of the tournament 

and became top scorer with 55 goals. His first game 

for the Austrian senior team was against Germany in 

March 2014. 

54





1938 Germany 2nd place 






Bauer, Thomas GK 1986 Massy (FRA) 126/0 

Pilipovic, Kristian GK 1994 Nexe (CRO) 8/0 

Marinovic, Nikola GK 1976 Schaffhausen (SUI) 165/0 

Bokesch, Markus GK 1991 Linz 0/0 

Aleksic, Goran GK 1982 Bregenz 8/0 

Wöss, Richard LW 1986 TUSEM Essen (GER) 78/113 

Santos, Raul LW 1992 Kiel (GER) 70/284 

Frimmel, Sebastian LW 1995 Westwien 26/43 

Pratschner, Julian LW 1996 Westwien 0/0 

Schopf, Tobias LW 1985 Krems 12/11 

Ranftl, Julian RW 1996 Westwien 5/6 

Klopcic, Marian RW 1992 Bregenz 36/28 

Weber, Robert RW 1985 Magdeburg (GER) 149/638 

Jelinek, Wilhelm LP 1994 Westwien 22/20 

Wagner, Tobias LP 1995 Balingen (GER) 17/26 

Herburger, Lukas LP 1994 Alpla Hard 2/1 

Hermann, Alexander LB 1991 Wetzlar (GER) 65/96 

Neuhold, Christoph LB 1994 Hamm (GER) 22/10 

Kirveliavicius, Romas LB 1988 Coburg (GER) 26/22 

Pomorisac, Dean LB 1988 Ferlach 0/0 

Bilyk, Nikola CB 1996 Kiel (GER) 39/131 

Zeiner, Gerald CB 1988 Alpla Hard 21/44 

Frühstück, Lukas CB 1991 Bregenz 10/4 

Ziura, Vytautas CB 1979 Fivers 96/208 

Feichtinger, Sebastian CB 1992 Krems 2/2 

Zivkovic, Boris RB 1992 Alpla Hard 8/6 

Bozovic, Janko RB 1985 Sporting (POR) 120/287 

Kandolf, Thomas RB 1993 Tirol 9/8 

OLYMPIC GAMES 

1936 Berlin 5th place 

Copyright: ÖHB/Pucher 

55

Teamwork Enthusiasm Dedication 

Few things beat the feeling of sitting on the edge of our seats, 

cheering for our favourite team. 

We have been a main sponsor of the Norwegian Handball 

Federation since 1991. The passion, devotion and – above all 

– the team spirit we see in handball are all things we value 

highly at Gjensidige. Of course we are planning on supporting 

handball for many, many years to come. 

Gjensidige is a leading Nordic insurance group with about 

4000 employees, offering general insurance to customers in 

Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 

For more than 200 years we have worked passionately 

to secure the lives, health and assets of our customers. 

56

HOME OF SPORTS 

SPECIALISTS 

At INTERSPORT, we are passionate about sports. It is 

our own experience that brings our unique service and 

expertise to life. We support all everyday athletes to 

pursue a lifetime of personal achievement, health and 

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in bringing SPORT TO THE PEOPLE. 

VISIT US AT 

www.intersport.com 

57

LINO 

CERVAR 

“OUR GOAL IS TO BE SPECIAL” 

58

He led Croatia to the world title in Portugal in 2003 and to the Olympic gold medal in Athens the following year. Now Lino 

Cervar is back on the Croatian bench for their home Men’s EHF EURO 2018. 

After a seven-year-long absence Lino Cervar is back on the Croatian bench, succeeding Zeljko Babic. 

Croatia took bronze at the Men’s EHF EURO 2016 but failed to meet the expectations at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the World 

Championship 2017 in France. Cervar returned from FYR Macedonia to his homeland on a mission to help Croatia acquire 

the only gold they are missing. 

Cervar calls it “a huge challenge for me. No, I’m still not tired, there is always that something pushing me forward, making 

me dream. I believe I am still learning and it won’t ever stop.” 

What will your blood pressure be like in January? 

“Oh, I don’t even want to think about that. I am fine, 

though there were these problems when I broke my hand, 

then some struggles with my kidneys, but it was nothing 

serious. So far, so good. My blood pressure is fine, too, at 

least the doctors are saying so.” 

What role does the coach have in modern handball? 

“You are not only coaching when you are on the court. 

You also have to take care of both the physical and mental 

health aspects of all players. I believe one can now clearly 

see the results of everything I was, and still am, doing, of 

everyone I directed in the right way. That is also my medal. 

The game is not only about coming to the court, going 

through a training session and that’s it. A pedagogical 

approach is also required. Today I can’t even trick my 

three-year-old grandson into something he doesn’t feel 

like doing, not to mention those who are older than him. 

Younger generations are now watching us, analysing 

everything. They are correcting us, too, and we must learn 

to respect that.” 

They say you are quite strict? 

“I have high standards for both myself and others. No one 

is perfect, I am not perfect, either. But I have never heard 

such complaints on something I did that it would make me 

worried. Croatia is far more than just a flag, coat of arms 

and hymn for me – it is all about its citizens who are all so 

different and so special for me. When you think that way it 

is way easier to work. I have no enemies.” 

Some will say you are quite a philosopher? 

“The coach is the one who has to send the message. A 

gold medal was probably worth a bit more back in the time 

when our country was going through all the changes but 

now the situation is a bit different. Healthy body, healthy 

mind… these are phrases that don’t mean much really but 

my goal is for us to send a message at this tournament. This 

is a team without superstars. We don’t have players who 

are playing main roles in their clubs but we have players 

who are not behaving like superstars. A team without 

superstars is our message, a message why we must invest 

in sports. We have pedagogical reasons behind that as 

well but all in all this is a way of life… We must all take care 

of each other in order to make everything better and easier 

for each individual.” 

How are you dealing with all the comments? 

“It is not the same to comment and to just talk in order to 

make your rating look higher because you are speaking 

about a top-level player or coach. I am not like that, 

successful people never compare but they take what 

is good from everyone’s approach and work. Being 

honest and cultured is the best way for two persons to 

communicate. Politics bring us the power to unite and not 

to rule each other.” 

One can feel the handball euphoria growing in Croatia with 

the EHF EURO coming to the country. Does that pressure 

to perform concern you? 

“The feeling is like: we are good, goals are high, we are hosting 

the event… However, if it was all that easy we would have 

already done it, but we didn’t, and neither did those who are 

claiming it is not hard to actually pull it off. That is why I am not 

interested in any kind of euphoria. The facts are quite clear: 

we did not play in a single final in the last seven years despite 

being consistent. It overall seems we are close but we can’t 

deny some national teams appear to be better. We have some 

unexpected problems now with injuries, with a lack of playing 

time when speaking about certain players, with players from 

the German Bundesliga only arriving after New Year...” 

What do you expect from your players? 

“I expect a clear mind from each and every one of them. I 

expect them to behave responsible, to be aware of the 

situation, aware of the possibilities and aware of the goals 

they are expecting to reach. At this point it doesn’t come 

down to the will because we are all willing to be here now but 

we must be honest with each other. That kind of relationship 

will certainly raise the responsibility level, which would in 

this case be the way of paying the price for success. If they 

are able to do all that, then we have good foundations for 

this tournament. If not, we will be at a disadvantage. Today, 

team players are all that matters. Individuals rarely decide. 

Neither Dragic or Doncic decided anything for Slovenia at the 

last EuroBasket, the team did. Only teams are able to solve 

problems they end up facing. That is why I feel like the sport 

needs a Hall of Fame for teams. If we can build trust the team 

will have in the individual and vice versa, we will make it. The 

strength of the weakest link in the team is actually the strength 

of the team itself.” 

What will the Croatian team be like? 

“Our goal is to be special, because it would be unrealistic 

to expect a surprise in such a short period of time. We must 

surprise with something. We surely do have players for that 

but I will have to keep it a secret for now how we are going to 

do that.” 

What about Croatia’s opponents? 

“The EHF EURO is the strongest handball competition in 

general. It is tough all the way from the group stage. Serbia 

is really good, Sweden too, Norway, France, Belarus. And 

when we add Denmark, Spain or Germany in the mix… To be 

clear, you have to beat everyone to be the best, which reminds 

me of Portugal when we lost to Argentina in the first round 

but then ended up beating everyone else and going all the 

way. Trust me, I am not thinking about the semi-finals at all. 

The next match is always all that matters for me. Those who 

underestimate that kind of approach don’t really know much. 

There are eight steps we want to climb and we must be careful 

when stepping on each one of them.” 

Are you satisfied with the status handball has in Croatia? 

“No. You know, we must make that status better, give handball 

what it deserves compared to other sports. I won’t believe 

anything is getting better until I see the construction works 

begin for our ‘handball dome.’ That would be something we 

would all leave standing for the future generations. Success 

comes and goes, but every day is a new opportunity to make 

things better.” 

59

ZAGREB 

Zagreb is the biggest city and the capital of the Republic of Croatia. It has a population of about one 

million. The city of Zagreb is a scientific, political, administrative, economic and cultural centre of 

Croatia. It is the residence of the Croatian parliament, the president and the Croatian government. 

In written documents, Zagreb was mentioned for the first time in 1094, the year when the first 

Diocese was established. In 1557 Zagreb was mentioned for the first time as the capital of Croatia, 

and it became the capital of the Republic of Croatia on 25 June 1991. It is the date when the 

Croatian parliament proclaimed independence and sovereignty of Croatia, and made Zagreb the 

capital of the country. 

The city of Zagreb has been the organizer of numerous sports’ competitions throughout history, 

including highlights like the Universiade in 1987, the EuroBasket 1989, the Military World Games 

1999, the Men’s EHF EURO 2000, and the Men’s IHF World Championship 2009. 

60


Arena Zagreb is a multi-purpose sports hall located in the southwestern part of Zagreb. The site 

also includes a building complex, the Arena Complex, making it one of the largest shoppingentertainment 

centres in the city. 

The Croatian government and the Zagreb city government held a public tender for the construction 

of a sports hall in order to host games of the World Championship in 2009. It later hosted numerous 

other sporting, cultural, and business events. The construction of the sports hall started on 20 July 

2007 and was completed as planned on 15 December 2008. 

Arena Zagreb won the Structural Design of the Year award at the 2009 World Architecture Festival, 

and the Grand Spectacle award at the Global BBR 2010. 

61

GERMANY 

Deutscher Handballbund 

Strobelallee 56 

44139 Dortmund 

www.dhb.de 

62

Reigning European champions 

Two years ago in Poland the Germans won their second European title. Led by Dagur Sigurdsson, they surprised 

many by going all the way, overcoming several injuries they had to deal with. They grew from match to match 

and in Krakow they completed the final act of a long process, taking the first German gold medal since the world 

title nine years earlier. 

Later they took the bronze in Rio, but the news that Dagur Sigurdsson was set to leave for Japan came as a 

shock. At the World Championship in France, they were knocked out of the competition by Qatar. 

Young Christian Prokop took over and brought the flair from the Poland tournament back to life. And that is the 

best confirmation of their status as one of the title favourites in Croatia. 

A rock-solid defence, great goalkeepers Andreas Wolff and Silvio Heinevetter, lightning fast transition with Uwe 

Gensheimer, Tobias Reichmann and Patrick Groetzki, these are the biggest assets of Prokop’s team. Their 

attack is surely one of the deadliest in the world. Their roster is so wide that Kai Häfner and Julius Kühn, who 

turned out to be two of the most important players at the golden EHF EURO in Poland, have only been added 

after many injury troubles occurred. Germany are coming to Croatia stronger than they were in Poland. 

63

Germany booked a place at the EHF EURO coming from 


Slovenia, Portugal and Switzerland 

BEST 

7 

Wolff 

Gensheimer 

Pekeler 

Groetzki 

Fath 

Weber 

Wiede 

64 

CHRISTIAN PROKOP 

Head Coach 

Appointed in February 2017, the 39-year-old Christian 

Prokop took over where his predecessor Dagur 

Sigurdsson had left without any problems. Under 

his guidance, Germany won all four EHF EURO 

Qualification matches, including two games against 

World Championship 2017 bronze medallists Slovenia. 

The only defeat occurred on his debut, in a test match 

in Sweden. 

Prokop started as a coach at the age of 25 after 

a severe knee injury had ended his playing career 

prematurely. Parallel to his job with the national team, 

Prokop coached German Bundesliga side SC DHfK 

Leipzig until June 2017, before turning his full focus to 

Uwe Gensheimer & Co. He steered Leipzig to the first 

division and was awarded German Handball Coach of 

the Season for 2015/16. 

Prokop’s contract as head coach of the national team 

expires in 2022, and his long-term goal is Olympic gold 

in Tokyo. 

ANDREAS WOLFF 

Key Player 

The EHF EURO 2016 in Poland changed everything 

in Andreas Wolff’s life. It was a surprise that he took 

over the No. 1 role between the posts from Carsten 

Lichtlein during Germany’s campaign, but he went on 

to become perhaps the most crucial element of the 

trophy win. 

After an incredible performance throughout the 

tournament, Wolff was the match winner in the final, 

saving 48 percent of Spain’s shots for Germany to claim 

a 24:17 victory. He was the deserved EHF EURO Allstar 

goalkeeper, which was followed by more awards 

such as German handball player of the year, EHF Player 

of the Month, and even German bearded man of the 

year. Next up were the 2016 Olympic Games, where 

Germany took the bronze. 

Ahead of the 2016/17 season, Wolff transferred to THW 

Kiel, where he is part of one of the best goalkeeping 

duos in the world with Denmark captain Niklas Landin. 

After his contract with ‘Zebras’ will have expired, Wolff 

will join Polish Kielce in 2019.




1998 Italy 3rd place 



2004 Slovenia 1st place 





2016 Poland 1st place 


1938 Germany 1st place 


1958 East Germany 3rd place 






1978 Denmark 1st place 







2003 Portugal 2nd place 


2007 Germany 1st place 


2011 Sweden 11. place 






Wolff, Andreas GK 1991 Kiel 50/6 

Heinevetter, Silvio GK 1984 Füchse Berlin 158/1 

Lichtlein, Carsten GK 1980 Gummersbach 220/1 

Bitter, Johannes GK 1982 Stuttgart 144/1 

Gensheimer, Uwe LW 1986 PSG (FRA) 138/623 

Schiller, Marcel LW 1991 Göppingen 1/7 

Dahmke, Rune LW 1993 Kiel 26/60 

Hornke, Tim RW 1990 Lemgo 10/30 

Reichmann, Tobias RW 1988 Melsungen 65/191 

Groetzki, Patrick RW 1989 RN Löwen 110/304 

Pekeler, Hendrik LP 1991 RN Löwen 64/93 

Wiencek, Patrick LP 1989 Kiel 102/233 

Kohlbacher, Jannik LP 1995 Wetzlar 29/60 

Schmidt, Erik LP 1991 Füchse Berlin 35/38 

Roscheck, Bastian LP 1991 Leipzig 0/0 

Kühn, Julius LB 1993 Melsungen 21/76 

Lemke, Finn LB 1992 Melsungen 55/22 

Michalczik, Marian LB 1997 Minden 1/0 

Janke, Maximilian LB 1993 Leipzig 0/0 

Pieczkowski, Niclas CB 1989 Leipzig 34/37 

Drux, Paul CB 1995 Füchse Berlin 52/106 

Kneule, Tim CB 1986 Göppingen 27/43 

Weber, Philipp CB 1992 Leipzig 3/10 

Fäth, Steffen CB 1990 Füchse Berlin 53/110 

Wiede, Fabian RB 1994 Füchse Berlin 49/95 

Weinhold, Steffen RB 1986 Kiel 95/248 

Häfner, Kai RB 1989 Hannover-Burgdorf 51/123 

Semper, Franz RB 1997 Leipzig 0/0 

OLYMPIC GAMES 

1972 München 6th place 

1976 Montreal 4th place 

1984 Los Angeles 2nd place 


1996 Atlanta 7th place 


2004 Athens 2nd place 

2008 Beijing 9th place 

2016 Rio de Janeiro 3rd place 

65

66 

FYR MACEDONIA 

Macedonian 

Handball Federation 

Bulevar KUZMAN 

JOSIFOVSKI PITU br. 15, 

p. fah 271 

91000 Skopje 

www.macedoniahandball.com.mk

Handball euphoria 

Skopje is a European handball capital – Vardar are the VELUX EHF Champions League winners, Metalurg are 

playing in the Champions League and Kiril Lazarov is one of Europe’s top goal scorers - to put it shortly, the 

whole country is living the handball euphoria. 

What are the roots of all that? Lino Cervar raised Metalurg, Sergey Samsonenko played a vital part with Vardar. 

Zvonko Sundovski and Ivica Obrvan took care of the national team before being succeeded by Lino Cervar. 

However, when Croatia called, he left his position open for Vardar coach Raul Gonzalez. Because of all that, 

Macedonia appear to be stronger than ever. Two generations from Metalurg, a few star players from Vardar, and 

the irreplaceable Kiril Lazarov are, along with Raul Gonzalez, eager to go further than ever. 

What do they have to back it up? Borko Ristovski from Barcelona between the posts, Kiril Lazarov as one of 

Europe’s best scorers - now with Nantes, experienced wingers Dejan Manaskov from Veszprém and Goce 

Georgijevski from CSM Bucuresti. Line player Stojance Stoilov is captain of Vardar, Filip Mirkulovski a playmaker 

in the German Bundesliga, well-known defensive duo Velko Markoski – Aco Jonovski and on top of all of that 

a bunch of promising young players, like Rhein-Neckar Löwen’s Filip Taleski, young Metalurg talent Filip 

Kuzmanovski. 

A few years ago the team was deemed too old to play a complete tournament on the highest possible level. That 

is not the case nowadays, and they could surprise in Croatia the way Vardar did in Cologne at the VELUX EHF 

FINAL4 2017. 

67

FYR Macedonia booked a place at the EHF EURO coming 

from Qualification Group 4 where they finished first ahead 

of Czech Republic, Iceland and Ukraine 

BEST 

7 

Ristovski 

Manaskov 

Georgievski 

Stoilov 

Taleski 

K. Lazarov 

Mirkulovski 

RAUL GONZALEZ 

Head Coach 

Over the last four years, former Spain national team player Raul 

Gonzalez has quickly become one of Macedonian handball 

fans’ favourites. He started coaching HC Vardar in 2014 and 

won all domestic league and Cup titles, two SEHA League 

trophies and the nation’s first ever VELUX EHF Champions 

League title, in 2016/17. 

Gonzalez became head coach of the national team in early 

March 2017, succeeding Lino Cervar. He led the team to their 

best result ever in EHF EURO Qualification as they finished 

on top of Group 4 to secure their place at the EHF EURO in 

Croatia. 

Gonzalez has been closely connected with some of the 

nation’s biggest handball success stories, and he will now 

contest the first EHF EURO in his short coaching career. Next 

season he will become head coach of PSG. 

KIRIL LAZAROV 

Key Player 

Many aspects of the Macedonian team’s game evolve 

around team captain Kiril Lazarov. The 37-year-old lefthanded 

sharpshooter has scored almost 1,300 goals 

in 160 national team appearances and is the most 

important part of the team’s attack. 

Lazarov is the record holder in many prestigious EHF 

EURO and World Championship categories, including 

most goals scored in a single EHF EURO event (61, in 

2012) and most goals in a single World Championship 

(92, in 2009). 

In 2015, while playing for FC Barcelona Lassa, Lazarov 

became the first and only player in the history of the 

VELUX EHF Champions League to break the 1,000-goal 

barrier. He remains on top of the all-time top scorers’ 

rank for Europe’s premier competition. 

After seven seasons spent playing in Spain, he moved 

to French side HBC Nantes in the summer of 2017. 

68







Tomovski, Martin GK 1997 Metalurg 0/0 

Ristovski, Borko GK 1982 Barcelona (SPA) 126/3 

Mitrevski, Nikola GK 1985 Constanta (ROU) 16/0 

Daskaloski, Zlatko GK 1984 Timosoara (ROU) 6/0 

Cvetkovski, Jane GK 1987 Ystad (SWE) 0/0 

Manaskov, Dejan LW 1992 Veszprem (HUN) 38/117 

Ojleski, Goce LW 1989 Eurofarm Rabotnik 27/21 

Georgievski, Goce RW 1987 CSM Bucuresti (ROU) 43/78 

Popovski, Martin RW 1994 Vardar 0/0 

Markoski, Nikola LP 1990 Oroshazi (HUN) 19/10 

Stoilov, Stojance LP 1987 Vardar 32/51 

Pesevski, Zarko LP 1991 Metalurg 11/17 

Lazarov, Filip LB 1985 Besiktas (TUR) 47/133 

Taleski, Filip LB 1996 RN Löwen (GER) 7/8 

Markoski, Velko LB 1986 Constanta (ROU) 44/48 

Kuzmanovski, Filip LB 1996 Metalurg 10/8 

Neloski, Marko LB 1996 Hüttenberg (GER) 0/0 

Dimitrievski, Darko LB 1993 Metalurg 2/2 

Pribak, Nemanja CB 1984 Besiktas (TUR) 13/17 

Krstevski, Goran CB 1996 Eurofarm Rabotnik 0/0 

Tankoski, Mario CB 1998 Metalurg 0/0 

Jonovski, Ace CB 1980 Ratingen (GER) 76/68 

Mirkulovski, Filip CB 1983 Wetzlar (GER) 160/413 

Drogriski, Stefan CB 1994 Eurofarm Rabotnik 2/0 

Manaskov, Martin CB 1994 Prolet 0/0 

Lazarov, Kiril RB 1980 Nantes (FRA) 171/1203 

Velkovski, Martin RB 1997 Metalurg 0/0 

Serafimov, Martin RB 2000 Metalurg 0/0 








69

MONTENEGRO 

Rukometni Savez Crne Gore 

19. Decembar br. 5 

81000 Podgorica 

www.rscg.co.me 

70

Biggest surprise of qualification 

Handball is sport No.1 in Montenegro – mostly because of their women’s national team and Buducnost. However, 

their men’s national team stole a bit of the limelight in the qualification, knocking Russia out of the competition 

- with the decisive match being played in Moscow. It was the biggest upset of the EHF EURO 2018 qualification. 

Experienced coach Dragan Djukic and national team director Blazo Lisicic gathered all the best Montenegrohave 

at the moment, although Zarko Markovic decided to play for Qatar and Vardar’s line player Mijajlo Marsenic went 

with Serbia. 

However, the team looks better than ever. Biggest star is without doubt marvellous shooter Vuko Borozan, with 

right backs Stefan Cavor and Vladan Lipovina, playmaker Bozo Andjelic from Macedonian side Metalurg and 

Vasko Sevaljevic from Bundesliga team Hannover-Burgdorf as important forces. The back line surely is a thing 

they are recognisable for, with Rade Mijatovic from Meshkov between the posts, and with Milos Vujovic and 

Nemanja Grbovic. 

In case they manage to put everything together, Montenegro will be a tough opponent for everyone. The last 

time they got through the preliminary round was 10 years ago at the EHF EURO in Norway - also against Russia. 

In three appearances so far, they still do not have a win but feel the time has come. 

71

Montenegro booked a place at the EHF EURO coming from 


Sweden and ahead of Russia and Slovakia 

BEST 

7 

Mijatovic 

M. Vujovic 

Grbovic 

Lasica 

Borozan 

Sevaljevic 

Cavor 

DRAGAN DJUKIC 

Head Coach 

Serbian-born Dragan Djukic leads Montenegro in their 

fourth EHF EURO campaign after taking the position 

as head coach at the end of 2016. The team began the 

qualification phase under the guidance of Ljubomir 

Obradovic, who resigned after Montenegro gained only 

one point from a draw in the opening two matches. 

Djukic began his career in Serbia with Zupa in 1986, 

working with various club teams in his native country 

throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s before taking 

his first national squad post in 2005. Djukic joined the 

Jordan national team in 2005, and has since coached 

the Switzerland, Great Britain and Israel national sides, 

leading Great Britain at their home Olympic Games in 

2012. He has also previously coached Vardar and MOL- 

Pick Szeged. 

With the successful qualification for the tournament in 

Croatia, the 55-year-old Djukic has secured Montenegro 

their third straight EHF EURO berth. 

VUKO BOROZAN 

Key Player 

Vuko Borozan has risen sharply to prominence 

following his success with HC Vardar in the VELUX EHF 

Champions League 2016/17. That season he raked up 

49 goals for Vardar before finishing the EHF EURO 2018 

Qualification Phase as the second-best scorer. The 

23-year-old tallied 50 goals for Montenegro – only nine 

behind Kiril Lazarov. 

The 203-cm tall left back started to play handball in 

his home town, Cetinje, before joining Croatian RK 

Karlovac, Macedonian Metalurg and then playing 

in Germany with TuS N-Lübbecke. In 2016, he 

transferred to Vardar. With Vardar, Borozan also won 

the Macedonian championship and Cup, as well as the 

SEHA League in 2016/17. 

72






Mijatovic, Rade GK 1981 Meshkov (BLR) 54/2 

Simic, Nebojsa GK 1993 Melsungen (GER) 18/0 

Mijuskovic, Mile GK 1985 Benidorm (SPA) 16/0 

Vujovic, Miljan GK 2000 Gorenje (SLO) 0/0 

Vujovic, Milos LW 1993 Tatabanya (HUN) 27/52 

Markovic, Igor LW 1981 Komlo (HUN) 52/116 

Popovic, Milan LW 1990 No Club 10/11 

Majic, Mirko LW 1989 Zomimak (MKD) 7/6 

Lasica, Marko RW 1988 Timisoara (ROU) 32/31 

Radovic, Mirko RW 1990 Cegledi (HUN) 28/18 

Radojevic, Igor RW 1990 Eger (HUN) 7/1 

Radovic, Luka RW 1997 Vojvodina (SRB) 0/0 

Grbovic, Nemanja LP 1990 Cegledi (HUN) 39/81 

Lazovic, Vuk LP 1988 Dunarea (ROU) 4/2 

Simovic, Nebojsa LP 1993 Dabas (HUN) 4/0 

Campar, Marko LP 1992 No Club 7/3 

Rakcevic, Mladen LP 1982 Dobrogea Sud (ROU) 41/117 

Borozan, Vuko LB 1994 Vardar (MKD) 19/93 

Bozovic, Milos LB 1994 Tatabanya (HUN) 12/19 

Vujovic, Stevan LB 1990 Dobrogea Sud (ROU) 25/46 

Vukicevic, Danijel LB 1991 No Club 5/4 

Sevaljevic, Vasko CB 1988 Tremblay (FRA) 40/188 

Pejovic, Zarko CB 1986 Gorenje (SLO) 25/14 

Andjelic, Bozo CB 1992 Metalurg (MKD) 16/17 

Petricevic, Bogdan CB 1989 Antalyapor (TUR) 21/15 

Cavor, Stefan RB 1994 Wetzlar (GER) 21/45 

Lipovina, Vladan RB 1993 Huttenberg (GER) 21/47 

Perisic, Ivan RB 1990 Cegledi (HUN) 13/7 


2013 Spain 22nd place 

photo: MN Press 

73

SLOVENIA 

Rokometna Zveza Slovenije 

Leskoskova cesta 9e 

1000 Ljubljana 

www.rokometna-zveza.si 

74

World Championship bronze 

sensation 

Slovenia are coming to the EHF EURO as the World Championship bronze medallists from France. In his two and 

a half years in charge, Veselin Vujovic has turned the Slovenian mentality upside down – from ‘it’s participating 

that counts’ to ‘winning is all that matters’. The EHF EURO 2018 will be their fourth big competition in a row and 

Croatia might once again prove to be a happy place for them after they managed to beat the hosts in a fifth place 

match in 2000, booking a spot at the Sydney Olympics. 

For a long time they were dealing with insufficient options on the line player and back positions. However, 

Vujovic has given many players a chance on those specific positions so he now has plenty to choose from. 

Technique and quickness are their greatest qualities. Blaz Janc from Kielce, Miha Zarabec from Kiel, Jure 

Dolenec from Barcelona (recovering after a knee injury and most likely missing the EURO), Gasper Marguc from 

Veszprém, Matej Gaber from Szeged, Darko Cingesar from French Aix, Urban Lesjak, who grew up to be one of 

Champions League’s best goalkeepers playing for Celje, are all along with useful backs Borut Mackovsek and 

Ziga Mlakar key factors for their success on the big stage. 

Zagreb will feel like home for Slovenia, and they will without doubt play in a supportive atmosphere thanks to 

their fans just having to cross the border. 

75

Slovenia booked a place at the EHF EURO coming from 


Germany and ahead of Portugal and Switzerland 

BEST 

7 

Lesjak 

Cingesar 

Gaber 

Gasper Marguc 

Mackovsek 

Zarabec 

Janc 

VESELIN VUJOVIC 

Head Coach 

Following Slovenia’s historic bronze medal at the World 

Championship 2017, Veselin Vujovic joined the ranks of the 

most successful coaches in handball. He was also a great 

player – selected as the first IHF World Handball Player of the 

Year in 1988. 

Vujovic played for Lovćen, Metaloplastika, Barcelona and 

Granollers and has coached Lovćen, Partizan, Ciudad Real, 

Vardar, Al Sadd and Zagreb, as well as the men’s national 

team of Serbia and Montenegro. He is currently leading 

Slovenian club Koper 2013 alongside the national squad. 

Vujovic was Olympic champion with Yugoslavia in 1984 

and world champion in 1986. He also claimed the silver 

medal at the World Championship 1982 and bronze at the 

1988 Olympic Games. In January 2017, he added the World 

Championship bronze medal as coach of Slovenia. 

With Slovenia, Vujovic finished sixth at the Olympic Games in 

Rio de Janeiro and qualified for the EHF EURO 2018, where 

the team will be eyeing another medal. 

BLAZ JANC 

Key Player 

The 21-year-old Blaz Janc is one of the best young 

handball players in Europe. He has been a regular 

member of the senior national squad since 2016 and 

was a key player for Slovenia’s younger age category 

teams before that. 

Janc won the Youth Olympic Games gold medal in 2014 

and silver at the U19 World Championship in 2015, 

where he was a member of the All-star Team. He has 

played 31 games for Slovenia and scored 108 goals, 30 

of them at the World Championship in France, where 

he was the team’s second top scorer and one of the 

crucial players on the path to winning the bronze. 

Currently, Janc plays with VELUX EHF Champions 

League 2015/16 winners Kielce. Previously, he played 

for Celje Pivovarna Lasko (2012-17), Radece and 

Sevnica, a club next to his home town. 

76






2004 Slovenia 2nd place 














2017 France 3rd place 


Kastelic, Urh GK 1996 PPD Zagreb (CRO) 11/3 

Ferlin, Klemen GK 1989 Gorenje (SLO) 23/0 

Lesjak, Urban GK 1990 Celje PL 36/0 

Skok, Matevz GK 1986 PPD Zagreb (CRO) 79/2 

Cingesar, Darko LW 1990 PAUC Aix (FRA) 49/84 

Medved, Niko LW 1990 Gorenje 3/5 

Sostaric, Mario RW 1992 Pick Szeged (HUN) 17/38 

Janc, Blaz RW 1996 Kielce 33/109 

Marguc, Gasper RW 1990 Veszprem (HUN) 89/312 

Blagotinsek, Blaz LP 1994 Veszprem (HUN) 57/70 

Gaber, Matej LP 1991 Pick Szeged (HUN) 111/143 

Suholeznik, Matic LP 1995 Celje PL 0/0 

Zabic, Igor LP 1992 Wisla Plock (POL) 6/6 

Mackovsek, Borut LB 1992 Celje PL 77/161 

Grebenc, Jan LB 1992 Gorenje (SLO) 11/22 

Henigman, Nik LB 1995 Ribnica (SLO) 26/38 

Barisic, Jaman Sasa LB 1982 Nexe (CRO) 11/11 

Potocnik, Gregor LB 1992 Gorenje 5/4 

Vlah, Aleks LB 1997 Koper (SLO) 2/1 

Verdinek, Matic CB 1994 Gorenje 4/8 

Zarabec, Miha CB 1991 Kiel (GER) 36/75 

Bezjak, Marko CB 1986 Magdeburg (GER) 105/190 

Bombac, Dean CB 1989 Kielce (POL) 71/124 

Leban, Patrik CB 1989 Nexe (CRO) 4/8 

Cehte, Nejc RB 1992 Gorenje 4/0 

Dolenec, Jure RB 1988 Barcelona (SPA) 123/440 

Kavticnik, Vid RB 1984 Montpellier (FRA) 181/510 

Mlakar, Ziga RB 1990 Celje PL 10/18 

OLYMPIC GAMES 



2016 Rio de Janeiro 6th place 


77

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VARAŽDIN 

Varaždin is the economically and culturally developed centre of the county and of North West 

Croatia (50,000 inhabitants). It is situated on very busy European crossroads. Besides its favourable 

location it also has a rich monumental and cultural heritage. 

Varaždin is one of the oldest Croatian towns, whose historical name, Garestin, was firstly mentioned 

on 20 August 1181 in a document of Croatian-Hungarian king Bela III. Varaždin is also one of the 

first Croatian towns to get the status of a free royal town. 

Although the Croatian parliament several times gathered in Varaždin in the 16th and 17th century, 

the town had its biggest social, political and economic boom in the second half of the 18th century 

when it became the capital of Croatia (Marie Therese, 1756). 

Nowadays Varaždin can be distinguished by an extraordinary monumental and artistic heritage, 

and with one of the best preserved and richest baroque urban entirety in the continental part of 

Croatia. 

Varaždin is also the town which hosted the very first handball match in Croatia. 

80


The Varaždin Arena is a multi-use indoor arena in Varaždin. The arena was officially opened on 

6 December 2008. It is mostly used for handball and basketball matches, and has a capacity of 

5,200 spectators. It was used as one of the venues during the Men’s IHF World Championship 

2009 as it hosted all Group C matches. 

The arena also hosted various other events, like dancing championships, various expos, schoolrelated 

events, circuses, car shows and concerts. 

81

SPAIN 

Real Federacion Espanola 

de Balonmano 

Calle Ferraz 16; 2nd floor 

28008 Madrid 

www.rfebm.com 

82

EURO rhythm 3-2-? 

Spain are going through changes with a rejuvenation process being the biggest part of them. The last warning 

for something like that to happen was when they failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics. The two-time world 

champions did not win a medal at either of the last two World Championships, though the EHF EURO events 

provided them with some success: bronze from Denmark and silver from Poland. 

Jordi Ribera succeeded Manolo Cadenas as the national team head coach. The wish was for Spain to play 

faster, more aggressive but also try to keep alive their distinctive style, which once brought them to glory. 

A strong defence with specialists Viran Morros and Gedeon Guardiola, the great goalkeeping duo of Gonzalo 

Perez de Vargas – Rodrigo Corrales to replace Arpad Sterbik, the rejuvenated wing positions with David Balaguer 

and Aitor Arino. 

That is where it all begins. Attack is, as always, leaning heavily on the cooperation between back line and 

line player, with Julen Aguinagalde the centre of the team. Considering the back positions, they have the 

experienced Joan Canellas, who is doing a great job at Vardar, Raul Entrerrios, who is one of the most important 

players in Barcelona, and Alex Dujshebaev, whose role is becoming more and more important, bringing that 

extra quickness and agility Ribera wanted and which resulted in them being unbeaten in qualification. 

They were the only team to achieve that, alongside Germany, but were also the most efficient team of the 

qualification. Spain have appeared at all 12 EHF EURO events so far, having won six medals. A golden one, 

however, is still missing. 

83

Spain booked a place at the EHF EURO coming from 


Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Finland 

BEST 

7 

Perez de Vargas 

Rivera 

Aguinagalde 

Balaguer 

Canellas 

Raul Entrerrios 

A. Dujshebaev 

JORDI RIBERA 

Head Coach 

After leading the Brazil men’s national programme 

for several years, Jordi Ribera returned to his native 

Spain to become head coach of the national side in 

September 2016. Ribera achieved significant leaps 

in Brazil’s development during his time at the helm, 

from 2005 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2016, ultimately 

reaching the quarter-finals at the 2016 Olympic Games 

– the Pan American nation’s best result ever. He also 

coached Spanish club Ademar Leon from 2007 to 2011. 

Just as he did with Brazil, Ribera is involved with all 

Spain’s men’s national teams, with the junior and youth 

teams winning gold and silver, respectively, at their 

World Championships in 2017. Following an EHF EURO 

2018 Qualification Phase that saw Spain achieve the 

maximum number of points, Ribera now looks to his 

first major tournament as head coach. 

JULEN AGUINAGALDE 

Key Player 

Irun-born Julen Aguinagalde is one of the long-time 

pillars of the Spanish team. He is widely regarded as 

one of the best line players in the world, making regular 

appearances on All-star teams, including at the EHF 

EURO 2016, the World Championship 2013 (where 

Spain raised the trophy), and the 2012 Olympic Games. 

Aguinagalde is valuable in both offence and defence, 

with movement around the six-metre line and high 

shooting accuracy being his most dangerous attacking 

weapons. 

On a club level, Aguinagalde scored the final goal to 

clinch Kielce’s VELUX EHF Champions League title in 

2016. His biggest achievements with Spain include the 

2013 world title, the EHF EURO 2016 silver medal, and 

bronze medals at the World Championship 2011 and 

the EHF EURO 2014. 

84




1998 Italy 2nd place 

2000 Croatia 3rd place 



2006 Switzerland 2nd place 




2014 Denmark 3rd place 

2016 Poland 2nd place 


1958 DDR 12th place 












2005 Tunis 1st place 




2013 Spain 1st place 




Perez, De Vargas Gonzalo GK 1991 Barcelona 73/0 

Corrales, Rodrigo GK 1991 PSG 31/1 

Sterbik, Arpad GK 1979 Vardar (MAC) 75/0 

Hernandez, Sergey GK 1995 Anaitasuna 2/0 

Fernandez, Angel LW 1988 Logrono 22/56 

Rivera, Valero LW 1985 Barcelona 91/364 

Ariño, Aitor LW 1992 Barcelona 16/23 

Tomas, Victor RW 1985 Barcelona 172/548 

Sole, Sala Ferran RW 1992 Toulouse (FRA) 6/23 

Balaguer, David RW 1991 Nantes (FRA) 16/60 

Odriozola, Kauldi RW 1997 Bidasoa 0/0 

Aguinagalde, Julen LP 1982 Kielce (POL) 161/414 

Bazan, Antonio LP 1996 Anaitasuna 0/0 

Guardiola, Gedeon LP 1984 RN Löwen 107/143 

Figueras, Adrian LP 1988 Granollers 16/34 

Peciña, Inaki LP 1988 Pais d'Aix (FRA) 0/0 

Cañellas, Joan LB 1986 Vardar (MAC) 148/394 

Morros, Viran LB 1983 Barcelona 187/156 

Goñi, Iosu LB 1990 Pais d'Aix (FRA) 26/44 

Garcia, Arnau LB 1994 Toulouse (FRA) 2/2 

Costoya, Alejandro LB 1993 Ademar Leon 8/11 

Dujshebaev, Daniel LB 1997 Celje PL (SLO) 6/6 

Sarmiento, Daniel CB 1983 Saint Raphael (FRA) 84/186 

Entrerrios, Raul CB 1981 Barcelona 227/493 

Dujshebaev, Alex RB 1992 Kielce (POL) 57/132 

Gurbindo, Eduardo RB 1987 Nantes (FRA) 100/125 

Maqueda, Jorge RB 1988 Vardar (MAC) 119/284 

Fernandez, David RB 1996 Ademar Leon 0/0 

OLYMPIC GAMES 


1980 Moscow 5th place 




1996 Atlanta 3rd place 

2000 Sydney 3rd place 


2008 Beijing 3rd place 



85

DENMARK 

Dansk Haandbold Forbund 

Idrættens Hus, 

Brøndby Stadion 2 

2605 Brøndby 

www.dhf.dk 

86

Always good, strong, favoured 

After their Rio Olympics gold medal, Denmark slowed down a bit and changed the coach. Now they are ready to 

get going with Nikolaj Jakobsen in command. It is clear they have one of Europe’s strongest player development 

systems but without good results on the court that would not mean much. They changed a few things going into 

the EHF EURO in Croatia because even they have a few players whose time has passed, but also a few of them 

who are set to make a return. 

Jakobsen’s 28-man squad consists of 12 players from the Bundesliga and two from PSG, and players from 

other Champions League teams like Kristianstad, Skjern and Aalborg, and EHF Cup participant Bjerringbro- 

Silkeborg. That is a lot of talent in one place. Veteran Anders Eggert is no longer present just like line player 

Jesper Noddesbo and left-hander Kasper Sondergaard, but Hans Lindberg is back in the team. 

Everything about Denmark starts with Mikkel Hansen: terrific shooter, scorer and leader. In defence, Denmark 

have brothers Rene and Henrik Toft Hansen alongside PSG’s Henrik Møllgaard, with the remarkable Niklas 

Landin behind them of course. The playmakers will quickly set the pace with Mensah Larsen, Morten Olsen and 

Rasmus Lauge. 

They finished sixth at the last EHF EURO and even worse (10th) at the World Championship 2017, but will be 

looking to come back to where they belong in Croatia. 

87

Denmark booked a place at the EHF EURO coming from 

Qualification Group 1 where they finished first ahead 

of Hungary, Netherlands and Latvia 

BEST 

7 

N. Landin 

M. Landin 

R. Toft Hansen 

Lasse Svan 

M. Hansen 

Mensah Larsen 

Kirkeløkke 

NIKOLAJ JACOBSEN 

Head Coach 

Nikolaj Jacobsen was considered one of the world’s best 

left wings during his time with THW Kiel. After six years 

in the Bundesliga (1998-2004) he returned to Denmark, 

where he was on court for Viborg HK for one year before 

starting as an assistant coach. 

He assisted the head coaches at Viborg and Bjerringbro- 

Silkeborg, then moved to Aalborg Håndbold in 2012 to 

lead the team. Jacobsen guided Aalborg to the Danish 

title in his first season as head coach, then to second 

place the next – building a name as a coach to watch in 

just two years. 

When Rhein-Neckar Löwen’s Gudmundur Gudmundsson 

was appointed Denmark national coach, the German 

club approached Jacobsen. In his first season in 

Germany, Jacobsen finished second in the Bundesliga, 

followed by the title in 2016. 

In 2016/17, Jacobsen won his second consecutive 

Bundesliga title and took charge of the Denmark national 

team. 

MIKKEL HANSEN 

Key Player 

Mikkel Hansen is, without doubt, one of the world’s 

all-time best players. The two-time IHF World 

Handball Player of the Year (2011, 2015) consistently 

features on All-star teams and top scorer lists in major 

competitions on both international and club level. At 

the 2016 Rio Games, where Denmark won their first 

men’s Olympic handball title, he received the Most 

Valuable Player award. He also was the MVP of the IHF 

World Championship 2013 and top scorer of the World 

Championship 2011. Hansen finished as top scorer of 

the VELUX EHF Champions League in 2012 with AG 

Kobenhavn, and in 2016 with PSG Handball. 

He was selected as All-Star left back at the Rio 2016 

Olympic Games, World Championship 2011 and EHF 

EURO 2012 and 2014. On club level, Hansen was part 

of the VELUX EHF Champions League All-star Team in 

2014, 2015 and 2017. 

88






2004 Slovenia 3rd place 

2006 Switzerland 3rd place 

2008 Norway 1st place 


2012 Serbia 1st place 

2014 Denmark 2nd place 





1958East Germany 4th place 










1995 Iceland 19. place 




2007 Germany 3rd place 







Landin, Niklas GK 1988 THW Kiel (GER) 171/5 

Nielsen, Emil GK 1997 Skjern Håndbold 0/0 

Green, Jannick GK 1989 Magdeburg (GER) 96/2 

Møller, Kevin GK 1989 Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) 19/2 

Landin, Magnus LW 1995 KIF Kolding 24/49 

Mortensen, Casper LW 1989 Hannover Burg. (GER) 99/272 

Eggert, Anders LW 1982 Skjern 160/581 

Svan, Lasse RW 1983 Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) 182/421 

Lindberg, Hans RW 1981 Füchse Berlin (GER) 245/668 

Sørensen, Tim RW 1992 Kristianstad (SWE) 2/4 

Zachariassen, Anders LP 1991 Flensburg (GER) 9/15 

Toft, Hansen René LP 1984 THW Kiel (GER) 125/188 

Toft, Hansen Henrik LP 1986 Flensburg (GER) 101/188 

Hald, Jensen Simon LP 1994 Aalborg 13/10 

Saugstrup, Magnus LP 1996 Aalborg 0/0 

Markussen, Nikolaj LB 1988 Bjerringbro-Silkeborg 53/120 

Møllgaard, Henrik LB 1985 PSG (FRA) 117/158 

Hansen, Mikkel LB 1987 PSG (FRA) 177/834 

Damgaard, Michael LB 1990 Magdeburg (GER) 58/137 

Holm, Jacob LB 1995 Ribe-Esbjerg 5/12 

Møller, Lasse LB 1996 GOG 3/0 

Holst, Jensen LB 1994 Aalborg 4/21 

Lauge, Rasmus CB 1991 Flensburg (GER) 87/146 

Mensah, Larsen Mads CB 1991 RN Löwen (GER) 90/189 

Olsen, Morten CB 1984 Hannover-Burgdorf (GER) 59/155 

Kirkeløkke, Niclas RB 1994 GOG 13/22 

Larsen, Martin RB 1992 Aalborg 10/18 

Balling, Peter RB 1990 TTH Holstebro 18/33 


OLYMPIC GAMES 





2008 Beijing 7th place 


2016 Rio de Janeiro 1st place 

89

CZECH REPUBLIC 

Cesky Svaz Hazene 

Bolzanova 1 

11000 Praha 1 

www.chf.cz 

90

Without true leader Filip Jicha 

They missed the EHF EURO in Poland, the Rio Olympics and the World Championship in France. Good enough 

reason for them to reset the team and start all over again with two legends in command – Jan Filip and Daniel 

Kubes. The duo once led defence and attack on the court, along with now retired Filip Jicha. That is surely the 

most important thing that happened with them since they were absent, making them a bit more mysterious for 

the rest of Europe. 

They do not have strong club representatives in Europe like they had earlier with Dukla Prague. It results in a 

mixed roster for Croatia with players like Tomas Mrkva, Tomas Babak and Leos Petrovsky coming from Germany, 

Pavel Horak from Belarus, Jan Sobol and Miroslav Jurka from France, Ondrej Zdrahala from Switzerland, Tomas 

Cip, Jakub Hrstka and Michal Kasal from Slovakia, and Martin Galia from Poland. 

That will probably be the biggest problem for their coaches, who have to make things work without the true 

leader he had in Jicha. However, they are on the right path and the qualifiers have been a proof of that they are 

capable of, leaving a team like Iceland behind them. 

The Czech Republic are looking to at least match their best ever result at an EHF EURO event - placing sixth 22 

years ago in Spain. But even if they fail to do that, they will be eager to become a consistent factor on the big 

stage. 

91

Czech Republic booked a place at the EHF EURO coming from 


FYR Macedonia and ahead of Iceland and Ukraine 

BEST 

7 

Galia 

Hrstka 

Petrovsky 

Jurka 

Horak 

Babak 

Stehlik 

JAN FILIP 

Head Coach 

The 44-year-old Jan Filip leads the Czech Republic 

as co-coach (together with Daniel Kubes) after being 

one of the most important players for the national 

side during his days on court. Filip is historically the 

Czech squad’s best scorer, netting in 991 goals in 200 

international matches. Filip was also one of the most 

dangerous attackers in the Bundesliga at the beginning 

of the 21st century, tallying 1,792 goals in total while 

playing for HSG Nordhorn and other clubs in Germany’s 

top competition. 

He started his coaching career in St. Gallen and became 

part of the Czech Republic national team staff in 2014. 

TOMAS BABAK 

Key Player 

Tomas Babak is a crucial part of the Czech Republic’s 

attacking line-up. Babak started his career with 

Ronal Jicin, where his father and uncle worked as 

successful coaches. Babak was named Czech Talent 

of the Year in 2012 and the most valuable player in the 

domestic league in 2013. Following these individual 

achievements, he moved to TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen, 

and has played for Bergischer HC since 2016. 

The 24-year-old Babak made his senior national team 

debut against Israel in 2013, and has since appeared in 

48 matches, scoring 131 goals in the Czech Republic 

jersey. 

92











Galia, Martin GK 1979 Górnik Zabrze (POL) 172/3 

Adamík, Artur GK 1990 HK Lovosice 3/0 

Mrkva, Tomáš GK 1989 Balingen - Weilstentten 63/0 

Schams, Vít GK 1991 Nové Veselí 0/0 

Hrstka, Jakub LW 1990 Tatran Prešov (SVK) 72/241 

Kotrč, Milan LW 1988 Bergisher (GER) 34/52 

Motl, Jiří LW 1984 Lovosice 89/159 

Sobol, Jan RW 1984 Dijon Bourgogne (FRA) 128/337 

Číp, Tomáš RW 1989 Tatran Prešov (SVK) 47/113 

Jeníček, Štěpán RW 1994 Dukla Praha 2/2 

Jurka, Miroslav RW 1987 Saint Raphaël (FRA) 60/124 

Hanisch, Libor LP 1991 Dessau Rosslau 06 (GER) 10/8 

Petrovský, Leoš LP 1993 Bergisher (GER) 39/109 

Zeman, Štěpán LP 1997 Zubří 95/292 

Šlachta, Petr LP 1993 Dabas VSE KC (HUN) 14/6 

Horák, Pavel LB 1982 Meshkov Brest (BLR) 93/292 

Kasal, Michal LB 1994 Tatran Prešov (SVK) 32/23 

Kývala, Daniel LB 1996 Sporta Hlohovec (SVK) 0/0 

Landa, Jan LB 1986 Lovosice 36/20 

Škvařil, Milan LB 1992 Suhr Aurau (SUI) 24/28 

Babák, Tomáš CB 1993 Bergisher (GER) 46/123 

Bečvář, Roman CB 1989 Elbeflorenc 2006 (GER) 82/185 

Sviták, Jakub CB 1991 Dukla Praha 0/0 

Zdráhala, Ondřej CB 1983 St. Otmar (SUI) 92/280 

Kašpárek, Stanislav RB 1996 Balatonfuredi (HUN) 0/0 

Linhart, Petr RB 1990 HSC 2000 Coburg (GER) 35/85 

Mubenzem, Dieudonné RB 1996 Dukla Praha 0/0 

Stehlík, Jan RB 1985 Talent 90 Plzeň 80/138 









93

HUNGARY 

Magyar Kezilabda Szövetseg 

Könyves Kálmán krt. 76. VI/606 

1087 Budapest 

www.keziszovetseg.hu 

94

With Vranjes but without Nagy 

Hungarian handball belongs to the top in Europe, even though the national team has been lacking great results. 

But, of course, Telekom Veszprém and MOL-PICK Szeged are important actors in European club handball. Head 

coaches have been changing too quickly in order to achieve something bigger. Talant Dujshebaev, who tried to 

turn everything upside down at the EHF EURO in Poland, and Xavi Sabate, who failed to take them to Rio and 

France last year – although they were eventually awarded a wild card. The new name is Ljubomir Vranjes. The 

Swedish legend - and Veszprém coach - will try to make things work without Laszlo Nagy, one of their all-time 

greats who retired from the national team recently. 

That, however, does not necessarily mean that Hungary will be any weaker as they have several players capable 

of leading the team to strong results under Vranjes. 

Roland Mikler, Tamas Ivancsik, Mate Lekai, Iman Jamali and Timuzsin Schuch will come from Veszprém, Zsolt 

Balogh along with Bence Banhidi and Richard Bodo from Szeged, Kornel Nagy and Rudolf Faluvegi from French 

Dunkerque and Nantes respectively. Hungarian youth national teams also proved their worth on the international 

stage lately, which means Vranjes has at his disposal what is needed to achieve big things. The only question is 

whether he will have had enough time going into the EHF EURO 2018. 

95

Hungary booked a place at the EHF EURO coming from 


Denmark and ahead of Netherlands and Latvia 

BEST 

7 

Mikler 

Gazdag 

Harsanyi 

Banhidi 

Bodo 

Balogh 

Lekai 

LJUBOMIR VRANJES 

Head Coach 

Vranjes won three EHF EURO titles (1998, 2000, 2002), a World 

Championship trophy (1999) and an Olympic silver medal 

(2000) as a player with Sweden. After playing in Sweden 

and Spain, Vranjes moved to Germany, wearing the jersey of 

Nordhorn and then, from 2006, Flensburg. Since retiring as a 

player in 2009, Vranjes led Flensburg to win the Cup Winners’ 

Cup 2012 and the German Cup 2015. 

Between these successes, Vranjes pulled off one of the most 

surprising VELUX EHF Champions League title wins. In 2014, 

Flensburg beat FC Barcelona and THW Kiel in Cologne, when 

they were considered underdogs at the VELUX EHF FINAL4. 

Vranjes signed a contract with the Hungarian Federation in 

2017 that keeps him in the job until the 2020 Olympic Games 

in Tokyo, and he also took the position as head coach of 

Telekom Veszprém. 

MATE LEKAI 

Key Player 

Mate Lekai came to prominence in Hungarian handball 

during the London 2012 Olympic Games, when he 

scored the equalising goal against Iceland in the 

quarter-finals, which pushed the match into extra 

time. Hungary went on to finish fourth in the Olympic 

competition – Lekai’s best result with the national team. 

The 29-year-old has also played three World 

Championship campaigns in 2011, 2013 and 2017, and 

two EHF EUROs in 2014 and 2016. 

On club level, Lekai played for PLER, then Szeged and 

Celje, gaining his first Champions League experience, 

before signing with Hungarian record champions 

Telekom Veszprém. His technique and creative 

capability make him the best playmaker in Hungary. 

96




















1986 Switzerland 2nd place 













Mikler, Roland GK 1984 Telekom Veszprém 176/0 

Borbely, Adam GK 1995 Wisla Plock 6/0 

Szekely, Marton GK 1990 Grundfos Tatabanya 21/0 

Bartucz, László GK 1991 Csurgói KK 12/0 

Bóka, Bendegúz LW 1993 Balatonfüredi KSE 5/2 

Fekete, Dávid LW 1996 CYEB Budakalász 0/0 

Gazdag, Tibor LW 1991 Csurgói KK 15/23 

Harsányi, Gergely RW 1981 Grundfos Tatabánya 179/399 

Országh, Ádám RW 1989 Dabas KC VSE 0/0 

Fekete, Bálint RW 1995 MOL-Pick Szeged 1/1 

Hornyák, Péter RW 1995 Balatonfüredi KSE 12/17 

Pásztor, Ákos RW 1991 Grundfos Tatabánya 13/22 

Bánhidi, Bence LP 1995 MOL-Pick Szeged 41/91 

Schuch, Timuzsin LP 1985 Telekom Veszprém 153/76 

Szöllősi, Szabolcs LP 1989 Grundfos Tatabánya 71/96 

Vilovski, Uros LP 1984 Székelyudvarhelyi (ROU) 4/11 

Bodó, Richard LB 1993 MOL-Pick Szeged 40/116 

Jamali, Iman LB 1991 Telekom Veszprém 26/66 

Ligetvári, Patrik LB 1996 Telekom Veszprém 17/11 

Nagy, Kornél LB 1986 Dunkerque (FRA) 131/213 

Faluvégi, Rudolf LB 1994 HBC Nantes (FRA) 12/22 

Császár, Gábor CB 1984 Kadetten Schaffhausen (SUI) 

Lékai, Máté CB 1988 Telekom Veszprém 111/270 

Győri, Mátyás CB 1997 Telekom Veszprém 5/16 

Juhász, Ádám CB 1996 Grundfos Tatabánya 17/49 

Ancsin, Gábor RB 1990 Telekom Veszprém 92/195 

Balogh, Zsolt RB 1989 MOL-Pick Szeged 34/65 

Bartók, Donát RB 1996 TVB Lemgo (GER) 0/0 


OLYMPIC GAMES 

1936 Berlin 4th place 








97

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100 

salminghandball.com

Medal count 

Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total 

Sweden 4 0 0 4 

France 3 0 1 4 

Denmark 2 1 3 6 

Germany 2 1 1 4 

Russia 1 2 0 3 

Spain 0 4 2 6 

Croatia 0 2 3 5 

Serbia 0 1 1 2 

Slovenia 0 1 0 1 

Iceland 0 0 1 1 

Short 


history 

Four times gold for Sweden! 

Croatia is the first country to host the Men’s EHF EURO for a second time. It will be the 13th 

championship, with Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland, Norway, 

Austria, Serbia, Denmark and Poland hosting the previous 12 editions. 

The first four EHF EUROs consisted of only 12 national teams with the format expanding to 16 in 

2002. After the current edition, the number of participants will increase to 24 for the EHF EURO 

2020 in Austria, Norway and Sweden. 

Sweden have won a record four gold medals – from four finals. Bengt Johansson’s special 

generation went for the four-peat led by four-time gold medallists Magnus Wislander, Ola 

Lindgren, Staffan Olsson and Stefan Lövgren. 

The unluckiest team in the history of the competition are Spain, which have six medals in total 

(four silver, two bronze) but are lacking a golden one. Croatia have five medals and lead European 

powerhouses like France and Sweden, though just like Spain, Croatia still do not know what it 

feels like to go all the way. A total of 10 countries have won medals at the previous 12 EHF 

EUROs. 

Only three teams have taken part in each edition so far: France, Spain and Croatia. Russia, 

champions in 1996, have been on this list as well up until now but the EHF EURO in Croatia is 

the first event they are missing. 

101

PORTUGAL 1994 

Semi-finals: Sweden vs Croatia 24:21 

Russia vs Denmark 29:20 

Bronze medal match: Croatia vs Denmark 24:23 

Gold medal match: Sweden vs Russia 34:21 

Final ranking 

1. Sweden 

2. Russia 

3. Croatia 

4. Denmark 

5. Spain 

6. France 

7. Hungary 

8. Belarus 

9. Germany 

10. Slovenia 

11. Romania 

12. Portugal 

MVP: Magnus Andersson (SWE) 

Top Scorer: Vasily Kudinov (RUS) 50 goals 

All-star Team: 

Goalkeeper: Tomas Svensson (SWE) 

Left Wing: Erik Hajas (SWE) 

Right Wing: Pierre Thorsson (SWE) 

Line-player: Dmitri Torgovanov (RUS) 

Left Back: Vasily Kudinov (RUS) 

Centre Back: Magnus Andersson (SWE) 

Right Back: Jan Jorgensen (DEN) 

SWEDEN – GOLD 

Mats Olsson, Tomas Svensson; Ola Lindgren, Per 

Carlén, Erik Hajas, Jerry Hallbäck, Stefan Lövgren, 

Robert Andersson, Pierre Thorsson, Staffan Olsson, 

Magnus Andersson, Tommy Suoraniemi, Robert Hedin, 

Magnus Wislander, Martin Frändesjö. 

HEAD COACH: Bengt Johansson 

SPAIN 1996 

Semi-finals: Russia vs Sweden 24:21 

Spain vs Yugoslavia 27:23 

Bronze medal match: Yugoslavia vs Sweden 26:25 

Gold medal match: Russia vs Spain 23:22 

Final ranking 

1. Russia 

2. Spain 

3. Yugoslavia 

4. Sweden 


6. Czech Republic 

7. France 

8. Germany 

9. Romania 

10. Hungary 

11. Slovenia 

12. Denmark 

Top scorer: Thomas Knorr (GER) 41 goals 

Best goalkeeper: Jaume Fort Mauri (ESP) 

Best player: Talant Dujshebaev (ESP) 

RUSSIA – GOLD 

Andrei Lavrov, Pavel Sukosian, Igor Lavrov, Stanislav 

Kulitschenko, Oleg Kuleschov, Denis Krivoshlykov, Oleg 

Kuleschov, Lev Voronin, Valeri Gopin, Vassili Kudinov, 

Dmitri Torgovanov, Vyacheslav Atavin, Oleg Grebnev, 

Oleg Kisseliev, Serguei Pogorelov, Dmitri Filipov. 

HEAD COACH: Vladimir Maksimov. 

102

ITALY 1998 

Semi-finals: Spain vs Germany 29:22 

Sweden vs Russia 27:24 

Bronze medal match: Germany vs Russia 30:28 (et) 

Gold medal match: Sweden vs Spain 25:23 

Final ranking 

1. Sweden 

2. Spain 

3. Germany 

4. Russia 

5. Yugoslavia 

6. Hungary 

7. France 


9. Lithuania 


11. Italy 

12. FYR Macedonia 

MVP: Daniel Stephan (GER) 

Top scorer: Jan Filip (CZE) 48 goals 


Goalkeeper: Peter Gentzel (SWE) 

Left Wing: Stefan Kretzschmar (GER) 

Right Wing: Johan Petersson (SWE) 

Line-player: Andrei Xepkin (ESP) 

Left Back: Daniel Stephan (GER) 

Centre Back: Talant Dujshebaev (ESP) 

Right Back: Sergei Pogorelow (RUS) 


Jan Stankiewicz, Peter Gentzel, Anders Lindqvist, 

Robert Hedin, Magnus Wislander, Ola Lindgren, Henrik 

Andersson, Andreas Larsson, Staffan Olsson, Ljubomir 

Vranjes, Martin Boquist, Stefan Lövgren, Robert 

Andersson, Thomas Sivertsson, Martin Frändesjö, 

Marcus Wallgren, Johan Petersson, Pierre Thorsson. 


CROATIA 2000 

Semi-finals: Russia vs France 30:23 

Sweden vs Spain 23:21 

Bronze medal match: Spain vs France 24:23 

Gold medal match: Sweden vs Russia 32:31 (ot) 

Final ranking 

1. Sweden 

2. Russia 

3. Spain 

4. France 

5. Slovenia 


7. Portugal 

8. Norway 

9. Germany 

10. Denmark 

11. Iceland 

12. Ukraine 

MVP: Jackson Richardson (FRA) 

Top scorer: Oleg Velyky (UKR) 46 goals 



Left Wing: Rafael Guijosa (ESP) 

Right Wing: Irfan Smajlagic (CRO) 

Line-player: Andrei Xepkin (ESP) 

Left Back: Carlos Resende (POR) 

Centre Back: Jackson Richardson (FRA) 

Right Back: Patrick Cazal (FRA) 


Tomas Svensson, Peter Gentzel, Martin Boquist, 

Magnus Andersson, Magnus Wislander, Ola Lindgren, 

Mattias Andersson, Andreas Larsson, Staffan Olsson, 

Ljubomir Vranjes, Mathias Franzén, Stefan Lövgren, 

Thomas Sivertsson, Martin Frändesjö, Johan 

Petersson, Pierre Thorsson. 


103

SWEDEN 2002 

Semi-finals: Germany vs Denmark 28:23 

Sweden vs Iceland 33:22 

Bronze medal match: Denmark vs Iceland 29:22 

Gold medal match: Sweden vs Germany 33:31 

Final ranking 

1. Sweden 

2. Germany 

3. Denmark 

4. Iceland 

5. Russia 

6. France 

7. Spain 


9. Portugal 

10. Yugoslavia 

11. Ukraine 

12. Slovenia 

13. Switzerland 

14. Israel 

15. Poland 


MVP: Magnus Wislander (SWE) 

Top scorer: Olafur Stefansson (ISL) 58 goals 



Left Wing: Lars Christiansen (DEN) 

Right Wing: Denis Krivoshlikov (RUS) 

Line-player: Magnus Wislander (SWE) 

Left Back: Stefan Lövgren (SWE) 

Centre Back: Daniel Stephan (GER) 

Right Back: Ólafur Stefánsson (ISL) 


Tomas Svensson, Peter Gentzel; Martin Boquist, 

Magnus Andersson, Magnus Wislander, Mathias 

Franzén, Ola Lindgren, Marcus Ahlm, Andreas Larsson, 

Staffan Olsson, Ljubomir Vranjes, Jonas Ernelind, 

Stefan Lövgren, Thomas Sivertsson, Martin Frändesjö, 

Johan Petersson. 


SLOVENIA 2004 

Semi-finals: Germany vs Denmark 22:20 

Slovenia vs Croatia 27:25 

Bronze medal match: Denmark vs Croatia 31:27 

Gold medal match: Germany vs Slovenia 30:25 

Final ranking 

1. Germany 

2. Slovenia 

3. Denmark 


5. Russia 

6. France 

7. Sweden 

8. Serbia and Montenegro 

9. Hungary 

10. Spain 



13. Iceland 

14. Portugal 

15. Ukraine 

16. Poland 

MVP: Ivano Balic (CRO) 

Top scorer: Mirza Dzomba (CRO) 46 goals 


Goalkeeper: Henning Fritz (GER) 

Left Wing: Eduard Kokcharov (RUS) 

Right Wing: Vid Kavtičnik (SLO) 

Line-player: Michael Knudsen (DEN) 

Left Back: Nikola Karabatic (FRA) 

Centre Back: Ivano Balić (CRO) 

Right Back: Volker Zerbe (GER) 

GERMANY – GOLD 

Henning Fritz, Carsten Lichtlein, Christian Ramota; 

Pascal Hens, Mark Dragunski, Jan-Olaf Immel, 

Christian Schwarzer, Klaus-Dieter Petersen, Volker 

Zerbe, Markus Baur, Christian Zeitz, Torsten Jansen, 

Heiko Grimm, Daniel Stephan, Florian Kehrmann, 

Christian Schöne, Steffen Weber. 

HEAD COACH: Heiner Brand 

104

SWITZERLAND 2006 

Semi-finals: France vs Croatia 29:23 

Spain vs Denmark 34:31 

Bronze medal match: Denmark vs Croatia 32:27 

Gold medal match: France vs Spain 31:23 

Final ranking 

1. France 

2. Spain 

3. Denmark 


5. Germany 

6. Russia 

7. Iceland 

8. Slovenia 

9. Serbia and Montenegro 

10. Poland 

11. Norway 

12. Ukraine 

13. Hungary 


15. Portugal 

16. Slovakia 

MVP: Ivano Balic (CRO) 

Best scorer: Siarhei Rutenka (SLO) 51 goals 


Goalkeeper: Thierry Omeyer (FRA) 

Left Wing: Eduard Kokcharov (RUS) 

Right Wing: Søren Stryger (DEN) 

Line-player: Rolando Urios (ESP) 

Left Back: Iker Romero (ESP) 



FRANCE – GOLD 

Thierry Omeyer, Daouda Karaboué, Yohann Ploquin; 

Jérôme Fernandez, Didier Dinart, Geoffroy Krantz, 

Guillaume Gille, Sébastien Bosquet, Bertrand Gille, 

Daniel Narcisse, Olivier Girault, , Nikola Karabatić, 

Christophe Kempé, Joël Abati, Luc Abalo, Michaël 

Guigou. 

HEAD COACH: Claude Onesta 

NORWAY 2008 

Semi-finals: Croatia vs France 24:23 

Denmark vs Germany 26:25 

Bronze medal match: France vs Germany 36:26 

Gold medal match: Denmark vs Croatia 24:20 

Final ranking 

1. Denmark 


3. France 

4. Germany 

5. Sweden 

6. Norway 

7. Poland 

8. Hungary 

9. Spain 

10. Slovenia 

11. Iceland 

12. Montenegro 


14. Russia 

15. Belarus 

16. Slovakia 

MVP: Nikola Karabatic (FRA) 

Top scorers: Nikola Karabatic (FRA), Ivano Balic (CRO), 

Lars Christiansen (DEN) 44 goals 


Goalkeeper: Kasper Hvidt (DEN) 

Left Wing: Lars Christiansen (DEN) 

Right Wing: Florian Kehrmann (GER) 

Line-player: Frank Løke (NOR) 

Left Back: Daniel Narcisse (FRA) 


Right Back: Kim Andersson (SWE) 

DENMARK - GOLD 

Kasper Hvidt, Mikkel Holm Aagaard, Lasse Boesen, 

Lars T. Jørgensen, Jesper Jensen, Lars Rasmussen, 

Lars Christiansen, Lars Møller Madsen, Peter 

Henriksen, Bo Spellerberg, Michael V. Knudsen, Jesper 

Nøddesbo, Lars Krogh Jeppesen, Kasper Søndergaard, 

Joachim Boldsen, Hans Lindberg, Kasper Nielsen. 

HEAD COACH: Ulrik Wilbek. 

105

106 

AUSTRIA 2010 

Semi-finals: France vs Iceland 36:28 

Croatia vs Poland 24:21 

Bronze medal match: Iceland vs Poland 29:26 

Gold medal match: France vs Croatia 25:21 

Final ranking 

1. France 


3. Iceland 

4. Poland 

5. Denmark 

6. Spain 

7. Norway 


9. Austria 

10. Germany 

11. Slovenia 

12. Russia 

13. Serbia 

14. Hungary 

15. Sweden 

16. Ukraine 

MVP: Filip Jícha (CZE) 

Top scorer: Filip Jícha (CZE) 53 

Best defence player: Jakov Gojun (CRO) 


Goalkeeper: Sławomir Szmal (POL) 

Left Wing: Manuel Strlek (CRO) 

Right Wing: Luc Abalo (FRA) 

Line-player: Igor Vori (CRO) 

Left Back: Filip Jicha (CZE) 

Centre Back: Nikola Karabatic (FRA) 


FRANCE - GOLD 

Thierry Omeyer, Daouda Karaboué; Jérôme 

Fernandez, Didier Dinart, Xavier Barachet, Guillaume 

Gille, Bertrand Gille, Daniel Narcisse, Guillaume Joli, 

Nikola Karabatic, Franck Junillon, Luc Abalo, Cédric 

Sorhaindo, Michaël Guigou, Sébastien Bosquet, 

Sébastien Ostertag, Grégoire Detrez. 


SERBIA 2012 

Semi-finals: Serbia vs Croatia 26:22 

Denmark vs Spain 25:24 

Bronze medal match: Croatia vs Spain 31:27 

Gold medal match: Denmark vs Serbia 21:19 

Final ranking 

1. Denmark 

2. Serbia 


4. Spain 


6. Slovenia 

7. Germany 

8. Hungary 

9. Poland 

10. Iceland 

11. France 

12. Sweden 

13. Norway 


15. Russia 

16. Slovakia 

MVP: Momir Ilić (SRB) 

Top scorer: Kiril Lazarov (MKD) 61 goals 

Best defence player: Viran Morros (ESP) 


Goalkeeper: Darko Stanić (SRB) 

Left Wing: Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson (ISL) 

Right Wing: Christian Sprenger (GER) 

Line-player: Rene Toft Hansen (DEN) 

Left Back: Mikkel Hansen (DEN) 

Centre Back: Uroš Zorman (SLO) 

Right Back: Marko Kopljar (CRO) 

DENMARK – GOLD 

Niklas Landin Jacobsen, Marcus Cleverly; Thomas 

Mogensen, Mads Christiansen, Rasmus Lauge 

Schmidt, Lars Christiansen, Nikolaj Markussen, 

Anders Eggert Jensen, Bo Spellerberg, Lasse Svan 

Hansen, Hans Lindberg, René Toft Hansen, Kasper 

Søndergaard, Henrik Toft Hansen, Mikkel Hansen, 

Kasper Nielsen. 

HEAD COACH: Ulrik Wilbek

DENMARK 2014 

Semi-finals: France vs Spain 30:27 

Denmark vs Croatia 29:27 

Bronze medal match: Spain vs Croatia 29:28 

Gold medal match: France vs Denmark 41:32 

Final ranking 

1. France 

2. Denmark 

3. Spain 


5. Iceland 

6. Poland 

7. Sweden 

8. Hungary 

9. Russia 


11. Austria 

12. Belarus 

13. Serbia 

14. Norway 



MVP: Nikola Karabatić (FRA) 

Top scorer: Joan Cañellas (ESP) 50 goals 

Best defence player: Tobias Karlsson (SWE) 


Goalkeeper: Niklas Landin Jacobsen (DEN) 

Left Wing: Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson (ISL) 

Right Wing: Luc Abalo (FRA) 

Line-player: Julen Aguinagalde (ESP) 

Left Back: Mikkel Hansen (DEN) 

Centre Back: Domagoj Duvnjak (CRO) 

Right Back: Krzysztof Lijewski (POL) 

FRANCE – GOLD 

Thierry Omeyer, Cyril Dumoulin; Jérôme Fernandez, 

Igor Anić, Daniel Narcisse, Guillaume Joli, Alix Nyokas, 

Samuel Honrubia, Vincent Gérard, Nikola Karabatić, 

Mathieu Grébille, William Accambray, Luc Abalo, 

Cédric Sorhaindo, Michaël Guigou, Luka Karabatić, 

Valentin Porte. 


Semi-finals: 

POLAND 2016 

Germany vs Norway 34:33 (et) 

Spain vs Croatia 33:29 

Bronze medal match: Croatia vs Norway 31:24 

Gold medal match: Germany vs Spain 24:17 

Final ranking 

1. Germany 

2. Spain 


4. Norway 

5. France 

6. Denmark 

7. Poland 

8. Sweden 

9. Russia 

10. Belarus 


12. Hungary 

13. Iceland 

14. Slovenia 

15. Serbia 


MVP: Raúl Entrerríos (ESP) 

Top scorer: Valero Rivera Folch (ESP) 48 goals 

Best defence player: Henrik Møllgaard (DEN) 


Goalkeeper: Andreas Wolff (GER) 

Left Wing: Manuel Štrlek (CRO) 

Right Wing: Tobias Reichmann (GER) 

Line-player: Julen Aguinagalde (ESP) 

Left Back: Michał Jurecki (POL) 

Centre Back: Sander Sagosen (NOR) 

Right Back: Johan Jakobsson (SWE) 

GERMANY - GOLD 

Andreas Wolff, Carsten Lichtlein; Johannes Sellin, Finn 

Lemke, Tobias Reichmann, Fabian Wiede, Hendrik 

Pekeler, Steffen Weinhold, Martin Strobel, Erik Schmidt, 

Steffen Fäth, Kai Häfner, Rune Dahmke, Julius Kühn, 

Simon Ernst, Nicolas Pieczkowski, Christian Dissinger, 

Jannik Kohlbacher. 

HEAD COACH: Dagur Sigurðsson 

107

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110

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www.lutrija.hr/kladionica 

111

EHF EURO QUIZ 

1. The first EHF EURO was held back in 

1994. Who hosted it and who were crowned 

champions? 

A) Italy – Spain 

B) Portugal – Sweden 

C) Spain – Russia 

2. Which two countries have won the most 

EHF EURO medals? 

A) France and Sweden 

B) Denmark and Spain 

C) Croatia and Germany 

3. Which country has won the most EHF 

EURO gold medals? 

A) France 

B) Denmark 

C) Sweden 

4. Which country has four final appearances 

but has never gone all the way? 

A) Croatia 

B) Spain 

C) Denmark 

5. This is the second time for Croatia to host 

the EHF EURO. When did they host it for the 

first time and who were the champions that 

year? 

A) 1996 – France 

B) 2002 – Russia 

C) 2000 – Sweden 

6. There are two players who have twice 

been named MVP at an EHF EURO. Who 

are they? 

A) Wislander and Karabatic 

B) Balic and Karabatic 

C) Richardson and Balic 

7. Only one player in the history of the EHF 

EURO has become European champion, 

MVP and top scorer. Who is he? 

A) Magnus Wislander 

B) Nikola Karabatic 

C) Lars Christiansen 

8. There is also just one player who became 

MVP and top scorer but failed to won the 

EHF EURO title. Who is he? 

A) Kiril Lazarov 

B) Filip Jicha 

C) Olafur Stefansson 

9. The current European champions are… 

A) Denmark 

B) France 

C) Germany 

10. Which city holds the attendance record 

for an EHF EURO final? 

A) Belgrade (Serbia) in 2012 

B) Stockholm (Sweden) in 2002 

C) Krakow (Poland) in 2016 

11. Who holds the goal-scoring record at a 

single EHF EURO tournament? 

A) Kiril Lazarov 

B) Filip Jicha 

C) Lars Christiansen 

12. Which two teams have met each other 

twice in EHF EURO finals? 

A) Spain and Denmark 

B) France and Croatia 

C) Russia and Sweden 

13. Which was the highest goal difference in 

an EHF EURO final? 

A) 11 

B) 12 

C) 13 

14. The first EHF EURO hosted 12 national 

teams. When was the current 16-team 

format introduced? 

A) In 2000 (Croatia) 

B) In 2002 (Sweden) 

C) In 2004 (Slovenia) 

15. Which is the only EHF EURO host nation 

to win the title at their home tournament? 

A) Sweden 

B) Denmark 

C) France 

16. Which four EHF EURO host nations 

reached the final at their home tournament 

but did not win the title? 

A) Spain, Serbia, Croatia, Denmark 

B) Spain, Slovenia, Serbia, Denmark 

C) Slovenia, Denmark, Croatia, Norway 

17. The most successful coach in EHF 

EURO history is... 

A) Vladimir Maksimov 

B) Claude Onesta 

C) Bengt Johansson 

18. How many countries have won EHF 

EURO gold, and how many countries have 

won a medal of any colour? 

A) 5 and 10 

B) 5 and 11 

C) 5 and 12 

19. How many countries will participate 

in the Men’s EHF EURO 2020 in Sweden, 

Norway and Austria? 

A) 16 

B) 24 

C) 32 

20. Who was the first president of the 

European Handball Federation? 

A) Jean Brihault 

B) Staffan Holmqvist 

C) Michael Wiederer 

How did you do in EURO Quiz? 

All answers correct 

– brilliant! 

Over 17 correct answers 

– very good 

112 

CORRECT ANSWERS: 

1. (B) Portugal – Sweden; 2. (B) Denmark and Spain with 6 each; 3. (C) Sweden with 4; 4. (B) 

Spain; 5. (C); 6. (B) Balic in 2004 and ’06, Karabatic in 2008 and ’14; 7. (B) Nikola Karabatic 

in 2008; 8. (B) Filip Jicha in 2008; 9. (C); 10. (A) 19,800 for Serbia vs Denmark; 11. (A) Kiril 

Lazarov with 61 goals in 2012; 12. (C) 1994 and 2000; 13. (C) 13 goals at Sweden vs Russia 

34:21; 14. (B); 15. A) Sweden in 2002; 16. (B) 1996, 2004, 2012, 2014; 17. (C) Johansson led 

Sweden to four gold medals; 18. (A); 19. (B); 20. (B). 


– good 


– fair enough 

Less than 10 correct answers 

– you should follow us better :)

EHF EURO 2018 official song 

‘On the wings of victory’ 

With just over a month until the Men’s EHF EURO 2018 begins, fans have been given plenty of time to 

learn the lyrics of the event’s official song, which will fill arenas across Croatia from 12 to 28 January. 

For the event, which will take place in Poreč, Split, Varaždin and Zagreb, RTL Croatia and the Croatian 

Handball Federation have joined forces to present the song ‘On the wings of victory’ on Wednesday 

6 December. 

Croatian singer Indira Levak wrote and performs the song, Branimir Mihaljevic is responsible for the 

music, while Branimir Mihaljevic and Denz are the producers. 

The fast and energetic tune portrays the competitive spirit of the championship and is certain to keep 

spectators entertained throughout the whole event. 

113

2017_In

A HIT WITH 

HANDBALL 

Through innovative ideas, inspired concepts and comprehensive 

services, Infront is helping to build the big moments in handball. 

Since 1993, the EHF and Infront have worked 

together in a successful media and marketing 

partnership that has helped to boost the federation’s 

flagship events. 

Continuous improvements, such as a digital media strategy, 

the implementation of LED advertising technology and the 

latest and innovative camera technologies, have delivered 

new perspectives, increased commercial value and even 

more gripping action to fans. 

The EHF EURO is a true showcase for the sport of handball 

and appeals to sponsors, broadcasters and fans alike. 

In 2016, the mens’ event achieved a total cumulative 

audience of 1.65 billion, aired into 175 countries and 

territories worldwide by 75 broadcasters. The last womens’ 

event held in 2016 generated a cumulative TV audience of 

643 million. 

www.infrontsports.com 

Twitter @infrontsports 

2017_Infront_EHF_Euro_ad_A4.indd 1 23.11.2017 10:10:43

ehf-euro.com 

EHF EURO 2018 Channels 

Website 

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YouTube 

www.ehf-euro.com 

www.facebook.com/ehfeuro 

www.twitter.com/ehfeuro 

www.instagram.com/ehfeuro 

www.youtube.com/ehfeuro

EHF EURO Croatia 2018 Official Magazine

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