Lino Červar (born 22 September 1950) is a Croatian retired handball coach. In 2003 he guided Croatia men's national handball team to gold in the 2003 World Championship as well as to gold at the 2004 Olympics.

Lino Červar
Červar with the Croatian national team in 2010
Personal information
Born (1950-09-22) 22 September 1950 (age 73)
Vrsar, PR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Nationality Croatian
Macedonian
Teams managed
Years Team
1974–1980
RK Triko Novigrad
1980–1991
RK Istraturist Umag
1991-1992
Klagenfurt
1994–2000
Italy
2000–2001
Badel 1862 Zagreb
2002–2010
Croatia
2002–2004
Papilon Conversano
2004–2009
RK CO Zagreb
2009–2017
RK Metalurg Skopje
2016–2017
Macedonia
2017–2021
Croatia
2018-2019
RK Zagreb
Medal record
Head Coach for  Croatia
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens Team
World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2003 Portugal
Silver medal – second place 2005 Tunisia
Silver medal – second place 2009 Croatia
European Championship
Silver medal – second place 2008 Norway
Silver medal – second place 2010 Austria
Silver medal – second place 2020 Sweden/Austria/Norway
Mediterranean Games
Silver medal – second place 2005 Almería Team
Gold medal – first place 2018 Tarragona Team
Head Coach for  Italy
Mediterranean Games
Silver medal – second place 1997 Bari

Member of Parliament
In office
22 December 2003 – 11 January 2008
Succeeded byNevio Šetić
ConstituencyVIII electoral district
Personal details
Political partyCroatian Democratic Union
Spouse
Klaudija Červar
(m. 1975)
Children2
Alma materJuraj Dobrila University of Pula

As a member of the largest centre-right political party in Croatia–the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ)–he was a member of the Croatian Parliament from 2003 to 2008.[1]

Apart from Croatian, Červar also holds Macedonian citizenship.[2]

Coaching career edit

 
Červar coaching RK Metalurg Skopje in 2014

Červar started his club head coaching career in 1974 with RK Triko Novigrad. He was the head coach of RK Istraturist Umag from 1980 until 1991 when he was appointed as the head coach of Austrian team Klagenfurt.[citation needed]

In 2000 Červar was hired by Croatian powerhouse Badel 1862 Zagreb to be their head coach. He resigned from Zagreb in 2001.[citation needed] Between 2002 and 2004 he coached Italian team Papilon Conversano and then returned to RK Zagreb (then named Croatia Osiguranje Zagreb).[citation needed]

In 2009 Červar was hired by Macedonian team RK Metalurg Skopje but he left the club in April 2017 due to return in the Croatian national team as the head coach.[citation needed]

In June 2018 he was named the head coach of RK Zagreb for the third time in his coaching career but in November 2018 he announced his resignation from the club due to his obligations with Croatia's team.[3][4]

National team coaching career edit

 
Červar coaching the Croatian national team in 2010

After serving as the head coach of the Italy men's team, Červar started his tenure coaching the Croatia men's team in 2002.[5] He led the team to victory in the 2003 World Championship, to gold in the 2004 Summer Olympics and to silver in the 2005 World Championship. Croatia also received then silver medal at the 2008 European Championship after playing the final game against Denmark as well as at the 2009 World Championship and 2010 European Championship after playing both championships' final games against France. He parted ways with the Croatian Handball Federation in 2010.[citation needed]

In 2016 Červar took over the Macedonia men's team as the head coach where he stayed for the 2017 World Championship but left the bench following the poor performance at the tournament which took place in January in France.[citation needed]

In March 2017 Červar returned to the Croatian national team as the head coach, following the departure of Željko Babić in January the same year.[6][7] In his second mandate at Croatia bench he guided the team to the fifth place at the 2018 European Championship while at the 2019 World Championship Croatia managed to win the sixth place. In July 2018 Croatia celebrated winning the Mediterranean Games tournament in Tarragona.[8][9][10] On 26 January 2020 Červar celebrated winning his third European silver medal with Croatia, this time at the Championship in Sweden, Austria & Norway following the final game defeat from Spain.[11] In January 2021, following a surprising debacle at the World Championship in Egypt, Červar resigned as head coach and was succeeded by his assistant Hrvoje Horvat.[12]

Personal life edit

Born in the village of Delići near Vrsar in Istria region of Croatia, Červar married his wife Klaudija in 1975. The couple have two daughters.[13] He was a member of the Croatian Parliament from December 2003 to January 2008 as a member of the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party.[1]

Honours edit

Coach edit

Club edit

RK Triko Novigrad
  • Croatian Regional League – West: 1977–78
RK Istraturist Umag
RK Zagreb
Papilon Conversano
  • Serie A: 2002–03, 2003–04
  • Italian Cup: 2003
RK Metalurg Skopje

International edit

Italy
Croatia

Individual edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Červar, Lino". sabor.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Lino Červar zbog iznimnih zasluga dobio makedonsko državljanstvo". sportnet.rtl.hr (in Croatian). 21 December 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Lino Červar novi trener PPD Zagreba". Index.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  4. ^ "VIJEST IZ REDOVA HRVATSKOG PRVAKA GLASNO JE ODJEKNULA Lino Červar napušta klupu PPD Zagreba nakon svega pet mjeseci". Sportske novosti (in Croatian). 22 November 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  5. ^ "EHF Euro: Croatia". ehf-euro.com. European Handball Federation. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  6. ^ "Iz Makedonije stiže vijest: Lino Červar se vraća u Hrvatsku, Metalurg pronašao novog trenera". Net.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  7. ^ "Lino Červar novi izbornik seniorske muške reprezentacije Hrvatske". Hrs.hr (in Croatian). 18 March 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Hrvatska uz slabu podršku s tribina tijesno savladala Češku". Tportal.hr (in Croatian). 26 January 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  9. ^ "Šesta smo reprezentacija svijeta: Šveđani razbili Hrvatsku u posljednjoj utakmici prvenstva". Rtl.hr (in Croatian). 26 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  10. ^ "Hrvatski rukometaši golom u posljednjoj sekundi do zlata na Mediteranskim igrama". Tportal.hr (in Croatian). 1 July 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  11. ^ "Hrvatska srebrna na Europskom prvenstvu". sport.hrt.hr (in Croatian). 26 January 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  12. ^ "Hrvoje Horvat novi izbornik muške seniorske reprezentacije!". Hrs.hr (in Croatian). 28 January 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  13. ^ "Najteži dani trenera Line Červara: 'Vjerujem kako ćemo uz božju pomoć dobiti ovu bitku'". Tportal.hr (in Croatian). 1 October 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  14. ^ "EHF Award". vecernji.hr. Večernji list. Retrieved 17 January 2016.