Hrvoje Horvat Jr.

Hrvoje "Cveba" Horvat (born 16 December 1977) is a Croatian handball coach and retired handball player.

Hrvoje Horvat Jr.
Personal information
Born (1977-12-16) 16 December 1977
Bjelovar, SR Croatia,
SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality Croatian
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position Centre back
Senior clubs
Years Team
 RK Bjelovar
 RK Medveščak
 RK Zagreb
National team
Years Team
 Croatia
Teams managed
2011–2017
 Croatia (youth)
2012–2016
 RK Dubrava
2016–2021
 RK Nexe Našice
2017–2021
 Croatia (assistant)
2021–2023
 Croatia
2022–2023
 HSG Wetzlar
2023–
 Kadetten Schaffhausen
Medal record
Men's beach handball
Representing  Croatia
World Championship
Gold medal – first place2008 Spain
European Championship
Gold medal – first place2009 Norway
Gold medal – first place2011 Croatia

Early life

Born in the family of mother Dunja and father Hrvoje Horvat, one of the worlds best handballplayers of the 20th Century and gold medalist from the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, the younger Hrvoje finished primary and secondary school in his native Bjelovar, while in Zagreb he graduated from the University of Zagreb's Faculty of Kinesiology.[1][2]

Playing career

Horvat started playing handball at ORK Partizan from Bjelovar, where his first coach was Krunoslav "Kuna" Turković.[1] Later he played for RK Zagreb and RK Dubrava, with short stints in Switzerland and Germany. He was a member of national teams of whole age categories under the Croatian Handball Federation, including several appearances for the senior team.[1]

In addition to indoor handball, Horvat also played beach handball, being a member of the senior Croatian national team, with which he won the World Championship in Spain and several gold medals from European championships.[1][3]

Coaching career

After holding the position of player-coach at RK Dubrava until 2012, Horvat started his indoor handball coaching career in the same club in the same year. After saving Dubrava from relegation from the Croatian First League, he led the club to the placement in the final of the 2014 Croatian Cup, which they lost to powerhouse RK Zagreb.[1][4]

In November 2016 Horvat was appointed head coach of RK Nexe Našice, which he led to secure a spot in the final four of the SEHA League in the 2018–19 season and previously won a place in the 2018–19 EHF Cup.[1][5][6]

After Lino Červar became head coach of the Croatia men's national handball team in March 2017, Horvat was appointed his assistant.[7] As a member of his coaching staff he participated in European championships in 2018[1] and 2020, and in World championships in 2019 and 2021. Following the latter tournament where Croatia finished in 15th place, Červar resigned and Horvat was appointed his successor as head coach of the Croatia men's national handball team.[8][2] After the 2023 World Championship the Croatian Handball Federation wasn’t happy with the results of the championship, and he was sacked.[9]

In December 2022 he became head coach of HSG Wetzlar, but was sacked already in April 2023.[10][11]

Personal life

His nickname, like his father Hrvoje, is Cveba,[12] which is the Croatian word for raisin.

Hrvoje Horvat Jr. has two older sisters, Jasenka and Vanja. Jasenka is the widow of the famous handball player, Iztok Puc, and Vanja is the ex-wife of former footballer and now football manager, Zoran Mamić.[12] Horvat's mother, Dunja, passed away in March 2020 from Alzheimer's disease.[13]

Honours

Coach
RK Dubrava

References
  1. Mlinar, Filip (28 March 2019). "Hrvoje Horvat mlađi – rukometnim stopama slavnog oca". zvono.eu (in Croatian). Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  2. Pinević, Dražen (28 January 2021). "Evo tko je novi izbornik Hrvatske! Sin legendarnog rukometaša svoju je rukometnu priču počeo u Bjelovaru". Sportske novosti (in Croatian). Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  3. "Hrvati odlični u Španjolskoj". sportnet.rtl.hr (in Croatian). 10 July 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  4. "Dubrava i CO Zagreb u finalu". Večernji list (in Croatian). 16 May 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  5. "Hrvoje Horvat novi trener RK Nexe". www.balkan-handball.com (in Croatian). 27 November 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  6. "Najbolji regularni dio sezone SEHA Gazprom Lige za Gromove s Krndije" (in Croatian). RK Nexe Našice. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  7. Žurić, Ivan (16 March 2017). "Otkrivamo tko su Červarovi pomoćnici u reprezentaciji; iznenađeni?". tportal.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  8. "Hrvoje Horvat novi izbornik muške seniorske reprezentacije!" (in Croatian). Croatian Handball Federation. 28 January 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  9. "Croatia sack Horvat, Goran Perkovac new head coach og the men's national team". ihf.info. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  10. "Hrvoje Horvat wird neuer Cheftrainer der HSG Wetzlar!". hsg-wetzlar.de. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  11. "HSG Wetzlar trennt sich mit sofortiger Wirkung von Trainer Hrvoje Horvat!". hsg-wetzlar.de. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  12. Tolić, Josip (28 January 2021). "Šogori su mu bili Zoran Mamić i Iztok Puc, a tata je legenda: 'Stalno me uspoređuju s njim'". 24sata (in Croatian). Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  13. "Pretužno! Bivša Mamićeva supruga proživljava najteže dane: 'Mirno spavaj...'". Večernji list (in Croatian). 9 March 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
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