Lino Červar
Lino Červar (Croatian pronunciation: [líno čèrvār]; born 22 September 1950) is a Croatian professional handball coach and former centre-right politician who is currently the head coach of the Croatia national team. As a member of the largest centre-right political party in Croatia – Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), he was a member of the Croatian Parliament from 2003 to 2011.[1]
Lino Červar | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Červar with the Croatia national team in 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Member of Parliament | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 22 December 2003 – 22 December 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Constituency | VIII electoral district | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Vrsar, PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia | 22 September 1950||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Croatian Macedonian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Croatian Democratic Union | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse(s) | Klaudija Červar ( m. 1975) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Residence | Zagreb | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Červar led the Italy national team to the silver medal at the 1997 Mediterranean Games, while with the Croatia national team, he became the World champion in 2003 and the Olympic champion in 2004. He also led Croatia to silver medals at the 2008, 2010 and 2020 European Championships.
Apart from Croatian, Červar also holds Macedonian citizenship.[2]
Coaching career
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Červar started his club head coaching career in 1974 with RK Triko Novigrad. He became the head coach of RK Istraturist Umag in 1980 until 1991, when he left the club and was appointed the head coach of Klagenfurt.
In 2000, Červar was hired by the Croatian champion Badel 1862 Zagreb to be their head coach, but he resigned in 2001. From 2002 to 2004, he led the Italian club Papilon Conversano and later again became the head coach of RK Zagreb, few months after his departure in Italy.
In 2009, he was hired by the Macedonian club RK Metalurg Skopje, which competes in the VIP Super League, but he left the club in April 2017, due to return to the Croatia national team as the head coach.
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 departure from the Zagreb bench due to his obligations with the national team.[3][4]
National team coaching career
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After serving as head coach of the Italy national team, Červar started his tenure coaching the Croatia national team in 2002.[5] He led the team to victory in the 2003 World Championship, gold medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics, and silver medal 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 the 2010 European Championship, after the latter's final game against France. He parted ways with the team in 2010.
In 2016 Červar was named head coach of the Macedonia national team, where he stayed for the 2017 World Championship, but left the bench following the team's poor performance at the tournament, which took place in January at France.
In April 2017, Červar returned as head coach of the Croatia national team, following the departure of Željko Babić in January. In the second term at Croatia bench, he won the fifth place at the 2018 European Championship, while at the 2019 World Championship he won the sixth place. In July 2018, Croatia celebrated winning the Mediterranean Games tournament.[6][7][8][9] On 26 January 2020, Červar celebrated winning third European silver medal with Croatia, this time at the 2020 European Championship, following the final match loss to Spain.[10]
Personal life
Born in the village of Delići near Vrsar in Istria, Croatia, Červar married his wife Klaudija in 1975. The couple has two daughters.
Červar was a member of the Croatian Parliament from December 2003 to December 2011, as a member of the largest centre-right political party in Croatia, Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).
Honours
Coach
Club
RK Triko Novigrad
- Croatian Regional League – West: 1977–78
RK Istraturist Umag
- Yugoslav Third League: 1980–81, 1983–84
- Yugoslav Second League: 1989–90
RK Zagreb
- Croatian First League: 2000–01, 2001–02, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
- Croatian Cup: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
- EHF Cup Winners' Cup runner-up: 2005
Papilon Conversano
- Serie A: 2002–03, 2003–04
- Italian Cup: 2003
RK Metalurg Skopje
- Macedonian Super League: 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14
- Macedonian Cup: 2010, 2011, 2013
- SEHA League runner-up: 2011–12
International
Italy
- 1997 Mediterranean Games: 2nd place
Croatia
- 2003 World Championship: 1st place
- 2003 Sportske novosti awards: Team of the year
- 2004 Summer Olympics: 1st place
- 2004 Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport
- 2004 Sportske novosti awards: Team of the year
- 2005 Croatia Cup: 1st place
- 2005 World Championship: 2nd place
- 2005 Mediterranean Games: 2nd place
- 2006 Croatia Cup: 1st place
- 2006 BiH Trophy: 3rd place
- 2006 World Cup in Sweden & Germany: 1st place
- 2007 Croatia Cup: 1st place
- 2008 Croatia Cup: 1st place
- 2008 European Championship: 2nd place
- 2008 Interwetten Cup: 2nd place
- 2009 World Championship: 2nd place
- 2018 Mediterranean Games: 1st place
- 2020 European Championship: 2nd place
- 2009 Sportske novosti awards: Team of the Year
- 2010 Interwetten Cup: 1st place
- 2010 European Championship: 2nd place
- 2020 European Championship: 2nd place
Individual
- Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 2003
- Croatian Coach of the Year: 2004
- Honoured for coaching career by Faculty of Kinesiology in Zagreb: 2009
- Matija Ljubek lifetime achievement award by the Croatian Olympic Committee: 2010
- Best handball Coach of the Year in North Macedonia: 2011
- EHF Coaching Achievement Award: 2016[11]
References
- "Červar, Lino". sabor.hr. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- "Lino Červar zbog iznimnih zasluga dobio makedonsko državljanstvo". sportnet.rtl.hr (in Croatian). 21 December 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
- "Lino Červar novi trener PPD Zagreba". index.hr. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- "VIJEST IZ REDOVA HRVATSKOG PRVAKA GLASNO JE ODJEKNULA Lino Červar napušta klupu PPD Zagreba nakon svega pet mjeseci". sportske.jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). 22 November 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
- "EHF Euro: Croatia". ehf-euro.com. European Handball Federation. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
- "Iz Makedonije stiže vijest: Lino Červar se vraća u Hrvatsku, Metalurg pronašao novog trenera". net.hr. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- "Hrvatska uz slabu podršku s tribina tijesno savladala Češku". tportal.hr. 26 January 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- "Šesta smo reprezentacija svijeta: Šveđani razbili Hrvatsku u posljednjoj utakmici prvenstva". rtl.hr. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- "Hrvatski rukometaši golom u posljednjoj sekundi do zlata na Mediteranskim igrama". tportal.hr. 1 July 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- "Hrvatska srebrna na Europskom prvenstvu". sport.hrt.hr. 26 January 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
- "EHF Award". vecernji.hr. Večernji List. Retrieved 17 January 2016.