Croatia

With two Olympic gold medals and a World championship title, the Croats only need to win a European Championship to complete the collection. They got close to it in 1994 and 2006 (won two bronze medals). Their coach, Lino Cervar, is an outstanding figure of European handball. He will have great players to choose from, but the core of the team – Balic, Dzomba, Lackovic, Vori, etc. – has been unchanged in the last years.

Official Delegation

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The coach: Lino Červar

Fluent in Italian, German and English, Červar is known as the man who can bring any team farther than they have been before! After his successes in Italy, in his position as head coach and chief of men’s teams; he returned to Croatia to take over the national team in 2002 and within 2 seasons he had won a World Championship (Portugal) and Olympic (Athens) gold medals. He is also a seasoned handball lecturer and published author whose circuit includes Austria, France and Slovenia. In Norway, Lino Červar is hoping to add European gold to his cache at the latest edition of the men’s European Championship.

Mirza Dzomba – Right Wing

Having returned to his native Croatia and in particular to HC Zagreb in 2007, Dzomba has played for European top teams in Hungary, Spain and Croatia and has won numerous prestigious awards, trophies, cups and medals. There are not many players who have achieved global status and who can compare to Mirza Dzomba – who has been called the world’s best player and player of the year. Since his international début against Romania, he has made over 170 international appearances and in Norway he steps out again as a key part of the Croatian national team delegation. With his career going from strength to strength he is physically and mentally ready for this challenge.

Ivano Balic – Centre Back

Since beginning his professional career in 1990, Balic has proved himself a force to be reckoned with in his formidable centre back position. He is a very intuitive player and his talents have ranked him amongst the best handball players in the world. He made his international début in 2000 and has amassed 2 gold and 1 silver medals from the World Championship and the Olympic Games in Athens. He returns to Norway in the hopes that he can add European gold to his collection. He also hopes that Croatia’s performance at Euro 2008 will give them another chance at Olympic participation.

Petar Metlicic – Right Back

Petar Metlicic is one of the best defence players taking part in Euro 2008. His rise to the top has been swift, only having made his international début in 2000, on account of his duality and capability to play offence as well as defence. With over 400 goals in 140 appearances, the captain of the Croatian national team is currently signed to BM Ciudad Real with whom he was part of the 2006 delegation that took the Champions League title. Before this great victory he won the EHF Cup with HC Metkovic and the EHF Cup Winners’ Cup with Ademar Leon.