SERBIA
With the pressure of the host role, how will the Serbian team cope? The enormous interest and the well-known fanatic fans will decide how well the team fares in front of a domestic backdrop.
Handball is a very traditional and leading sport in the former Yugoslavia; however in the beginning, after the break-up of the states, countries such as Croatia and Slovenia experienced great successes.
The last Serbian medal won by the team (under Serbia and Montenegro) dates back to 2001 with the bronze medal for their performance at the IHF World Handball Championship in France.
In 2007 and 2008, the team hit an all time low as they failed to qualify for three consecutive top events. Meanwhile, they can play amongst the best, since many of the Serbian stars playing abroad have returned from their self-imposed hiatus playing for the national team.
The biggest problem faced by national team coach Veselin Vukovic right now is that hardly any of his players are not on hand to convene for national team activities as they are spread out across the globe playing for top club teams and thus have to travel when the national team coach calls.
One of Vukovic’s biggest stars is Marko Vujin who plays for the Hungarian top club Veszprem. Additionally, with Momir Illic (currently signed to THW Kiel in Germany) at his disposal, he has a tremendously powerful scoring back player.
However, at the last two major tournaments, the Serbian host of EHF EURO 2012 only managed to minimally promote the team based on performance; at the EHF EURO 2010 in Austria the national team of Serbia was introduced to their first Main Round participation and at the World Championship in 2011, the team ranked 10th.
GETTING TO SERBIA
As the host nation, the national team of Serbia had a direct qualification to the Final Tournament.
KEY PLAYERS
Momir Illic
At 30 years of age, Illic is another powerful back court player who has strength in taking penalty shots. At 198cm, Illic possesses a guard-like quality that he exudes from the left-back position. The qualified electrical engineer has been contracted to THW Kiel since 2009 and in 2010 he won the VELUX EHF Champions League title with the club – his second consecutive title as he won the EHF Cup with VfL Gummersbach. After starting out with several Serbian clubs, Illic moved to Gorenje Velenje in Slovenia in 2004. In 2006 he was the second strongest scorer of the Champions League. Two years later, he moved to VfL Gummersbach before a high profile transfer took him to THW Kiel.
Marco Vujin
With approximately eight goals per match, Vujin was the most effective player of the entire VELUX EHF Champions League 2010/11. Despite this, his team MKB Veszprem was knocked out of the competition by FC Barcelona. Left-handed, Vujin is a classic shooter using every opportunity to score and his height only lends to his talent assisting him to rise above and over his opponents. After starting his career at RK Sintelon, he signed to Dunaferr (HUN) before signing to Veszprem in 2007. In 2012, Vujin will make the move to THW Kiel. He was selected for national team duties and made his debut for Serbia at the age of 19.
THE COACH - Veselin Vukovic
On April 1, 2010, the Serbian Handball Federation had made its choice: Veselin Vukovic (not to be confused with previous national coach and world handball player Veselin Vujovic) was to lead the Serbian national team at the European Championship to be held on home soil and was named as the successor to Sead Hasanefendic. Just like Vujovic, the previous line player Vukovic also was part of the legendary team Metaloplastika Sabac, which won the National Championship European Cup and with this victory the foundation for the Yugoslavian Olympic victory of 1984 and the World Championship title of 1986. Following his active period as a player, Vukovic trained junior national teams from Serbia and Montenegro and then later from Serbia. Under Veselin Vujovic, Vukovic was also already the assistant coach of the men’s national team among other things at the 2004 and 2006 EHF EUROs in Slovenia and Switzerland respectively. Vukovic’s first major tournament as national team coach was the 2011 IHF Men’s World Handball Championship in Sweden.
SERBIA IN ACTION
| Date | Time | Game |
|---|---|---|
| 15.01. | 18:15 | POL vs SRB |
| 17.01. | 20:15 | SRB vs DEN |
| 19.01. | 20:15 | SRB vs SVK |
PAST PERFORMANCE EHF EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1996 | Spain | Bronze |
| 1998 | Italy | 5th place |
| 2002 | Sweden | 10th place |
| 2004 | Slovenia | 8th place |
| 2006 | Switzerland | 9th place |
| 2010 | Austria | 13th place |
FURTHER INFORMATION
Serbian Handball Federation Website: www.rss.org.rs
