Željko Babić (born 19 May 1972) is a Croatian retired

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

player and current coach of

RK Podravka Koprivnica Rukometni Klub Podravka Koprivnica is a Croatian women's handball club from Koprivnica. It is the most successful club in Croatian women's handball since formation of the league in 1992. The team currently competes in the Croatia women's first hand ...

Playing career

Babić had played for the following clubs: RK PIK Neretva Opuzen, Badel 1862 Zagreb, Razvitak Metković,

Secchia The Secchia (; egl, Sècia; called by Pliny )''Naturalis Historia'', Book 3, chap. xvi. is an Italian river. One of the main right bank tributaries of the Po, it flows through the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is long, and has a ...

and Pallamano Prato, and RK Jelsa. He retired from playing professional handball in 2006.

Coaching career

Babić worked as an assistant coach under the coaching staff of

Slavko Goluža Slavko Goluža (born 17 September 1971) is a retired Croatian handball player and current coach of RK Zagreb. Club career Goluža was born in the village of Pješivac-Kula near Stolac. He began his career with RK Mehanika Metković. At the age ...

in the Croatian national team, winning bronze medals at the 2012 European Championship,

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and at the 2013 World Championship, and the silver medal at the

2013 Mediterranean Games The 2013 Mediterranean Games ( tr, 2013 Akdeniz Oyunları), officially known as the XVII Mediterranean Games ( tr, XVII Akdeniz Oyunları) and commonly known as Mersin 2013, was an international multi-sport event held from 20 to 30 June 2013 i ...

. On 27 February 2015, he was appointed as the head coach of the Croatian national team, leading the team at the 2016 European Championship,

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

and at the 2017 World Championship. On 30 January 2017, it was reported that Babić was sacked as the head coach of the national team of Croatia due to a poor run of results and finishing fourth in the World Championship finals held in January in France. Following the 2017–18 season, Babić was named the head coach of Slovenian club

RK Gorenje Velenje Rokometni klub Gorenje Velenje ( en, Gorenje Velenje Handball Club), commonly referred to as RK Gorenje Velenje or simply Gorenje, is a Slovenian handball club from Velenje that competes in the Slovenian First League, the top tier of Slovenian ...

. He parted ways with the club in May 2018. On 9 January 2020, he was appointed as the head coach of

RK Eurofarm Pelister RK Eurofarm Pelister (HC Eurofarm Pelister) ( mk, РК Еурофарм Пелистер) is a handball club from Bitola, Macedonia. They currently compete in the Macedonian Handball Super League and EHF European League. History The original te ...

in North Macedonia.

Personal life

Babić was born in

Metković Metković () is a town in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia, located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the river Neretva and on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Demographics The total population of the city municipal ...

in the family of mother Nedjeljka and father Ante Babić. He has brother Ivica who is a priest, and a sister. He married his wife Katarina Vukoja, with whom he has three children: twins Greta and Ivan, and a daughter Anđa.

Honours

Player

;Badel 1862 Zagreb *

Croatian First League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, it was called Prva ...

: 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94 *

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup * Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup *Croatian Minute Movie Cup ...

: 1992, 1993, 1994 *

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League ( Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

: 1988–89, 1990–91 *

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп на Југославија), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Kup kralja Aleksandra, ...

: 1991 * European Champions Cup: 1991–92, 1992–93 *

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

: 1993 ;RK Metković *

: 2002 ;Pallamano Prato *Serie A: 1998–99

Head coach

;Meshkov Brest *

Belarusian First League The Belarusian First League is the second tier of professional football in Belarus. It was created in 1992, following the Belarusian independence. History and format The typical format of the league involves 16 clubs playing a double round-robin t ...

: 2013–14, 2014–15 *Belarusian Cup: 2014, 2015 *

SEHA League South East Handball Association League or simply SEHA League is a regional men's club handball league in Southeast and East Europe, divided in two zones. Due to sponsorship reasons, the league is also known as the Gazprom League (or Gazprom South ...

runner-up: 2013–14, 2014–15 ;Croatia * European Championship third place:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

;Macedonia * Macedonian Super Cup First Place: 2021-22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Babic, Zeljko Living people Croatian male handball players Croatian handball coaches Sportspeople from Metković People from Opuzen Sportspeople from Dubrovnik-Neretva County 1972 births RK Zagreb players Expatriate handball players Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy