Alvaro Načinović (born 22 March 1966 in

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

) is a former

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

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 who competed for

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

respectively. He played for his hometown club Zamet Rijeka with whom he entered into the

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, ...

in 1987 after winning the Second League in Kać. The same year he won the

IHF Men's Junior World Championship The IHF Men's Junior World Championship is the official competition for men's national handball teams of under-21 years category. It is being organized by the International Handball Federation since 1977. It takes place every two years in odd year ...

with Yugoslavia U-21 in his club's home venue in

beat

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in the final. In 1992 Načinović played for RK Zagreb Loto with whom he won the European Champions Cup. He also spent six years in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

playing for RK Pivovarna Laško Celje with a brief season at Zamet before coming to

RK Crikvenica RK Mornar-Crikvenica (Rukometni Klub Mornar-Crikvenica) is a handball club from Crikvenica, Croatia, formed in 2017 by the merger of RK Crivenica and RK Mornar. History RK Mornar (1980–2017) RK Mornar was founded 26 May 1980 in Dramalj on the i ...

. Načinović spent five years in Crikvenica before retiring in 2006. He won the bronze medal with

at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

and also captained the national team of

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

to a gold medal at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, silver medal at the 1995 World Championship and a bronze medal at the 1994 World Championship. He made 105 appearances for the national team scoring 165 goals. Since April 2016 he is the sports director of

RK Kozala RK may stand for: Arts and entertainment * Rajesh Khanna, Bollywood film actor * Ram Kapoor, Bollywood film actor * Reality Kings, a North American pornographic website * ''Rurouni Kenshin'', a manga series by Nobuhiro Watsuki Science and tech ...

Career

Načinović first played for his

hometown Hometown, HomeTown, or Home Town may refer to: *A hometown, the town where someone lives or the town that they come from, typically their place of birth. *In developing nations particularly: native place, village of origin in newly urbanized soci ...

club of Zamet at youth level. He started playing for the senior squad in March 1983. In 1987 Zamet won the

Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to: * Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name: ** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918–1 ...

and got promoted to

. Two years later after the departure of Darko Dunato, Načinović became team captain. After five seasons in the first Yugoslav league Načinović transferred to Zagreb Loto. That season Načinović was part of a historic

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

team witch won Croatian league,

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 ...

and European Champions Cup. Načinović returned to Zamet in the summer of 1992. In September of the same year the club played against Laško Pivovara Celje in the first round of European Champions Cup. With poor league results and a coaching aftermath going in his club Načinović left for

Celje ) , pushpin_map = Slovenia , pushpin_label_position = left , pushpin_map_caption = Location of the city of Celje in Slovenia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Cou ...

at the end of the season. He played in Celje for five years playing top level

and winning the

n league and cup every year. In

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

he played against Badel 1862 Zagreb in the 1/8 final of the EHF Champions League and lost by one goal on aggregate. The next season they got to the semi-final and lost to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

by one goal on aggregate. The next season Celje was once again eliminated in the semi-final, by RK Zagreb. In 1998 Načinović returned to Zamet then Zamet Autotrans for a season helping them in EHF City Cup and league. After a season and a half he returned to Laško Pivovara Celje where he dominated the league and cup for two more years. In 2001 Načinović went to play for

under his former teammate and coach Drago Žiljak. His stay in Crikvenica was the club's golden era, playing in the Croatian First League and staying there for five seasons. The club's success was due to veteran players such as Načinović, Mladen Prskalo, Marin Mišković, Zvonimir Kutija, Mario Brož,

Dario Jagić Dario is a masculine given name, etymologically related to Darius. Given name *Dario Allevi (born 1965), Italian politician *Dario Argento (born 1940), Italian film director *Dario Badinelli (born 1946), Italian triple jumper *Dario Bellezza (19 ...

, Janko Mavrović and younger players like Mirjan Horvat and Igor Montanari Knez. In 2006 Načinović retired at the club.

International career

As a young player Načinović showed great promise and got called up to play for Yugoslav U-19 team at

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

1985 and

in 1987 where his team and won the final against

in his hometown of

Dvorana Mladosti Dvorana Mladosti ( en, Hall of Youth) is a sports hall in Rijeka, with sporting, cultural, business and entertainment events. The hall was built in Trsat in 1973. The size of the hall is 5,458 m2, and the surface of outer space is 10,486 m2. The m ...

. Načinović debuted for

in June 1988 in a match against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

which was played in

Pucarevo Novi Travnik ( sr-cyrl, Нови Травник) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town had a population of 9,008 inhabita ...

. In the same month he played at the tournament 27th Trophy of Yugoslavia which was played in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

. Three months later Načinović competed at

where

got to the semi-finals losing (18:24) to

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

who would win the tournament. Yugoslavia won third place defeating

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

27:23. Načinović made 33 appearances for the Yugoslavia national handball team. Načinović also played for

Croatia national handball team The Croatia national handball team represents Croatia in international men's team handball competitions and friendly matches. The handball team is controlled by the Croatian Handball Federation (HRS). Croatia has often ...

. He played in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

's first tournament appearance at

1993 Mediterranean Games The XII Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1993 Mediterranean Games, were the 12th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Languedoc-Roussillon, France, from 16 June to 27 June 1993, where 2,598 athletes (1,994 men and 604 women) fr ...

in Languedoc-Roussillon where they won a gold medal. Načinović competed for

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

in eight major tournaments winning a bronze medal at 1994 European Championship, silver medals at 1995 World Championship, and a gold medal at 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. In

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

he scored the first goal for

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

at the tournament in the first match against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. After the tournament he retired along with a few of the older player from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. But he returned in 1997 after

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

's poor performances he returned to help the national team. He later played at the 1998 European Championship in

and at the 1999 Super Cup in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Načinović retired from the Croatian national team in 2000 although his wish was to retire at the 2000 European Championship in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

it didn't come true due to coach

Zdravko Zovko Zdravko Zovko (born 28 May 1955) is a retired Croatian handball player. Career Zovko spent his entire playing career in RK Medveščak from Zagreb and in Syracuse, Sicily, for C.C. Ortigia. He won three Yugoslav Cups with the club and during hi ...

not calling him up.

Retirement

Since his retirement from professional handball Načinović has become a sports director at

RK Zamet RK Zamet (Rukometni Klub Zamet) is a handball club from Rijeka, Croatia, formed in 1957. The club currently competes in the Croatian Premier Handball League and the Croatian Handball Cup. Although the club has not won any mayor trophies, it has ...

. In 2012 Načinović became a member of The Committee of State Award for Sport which function is deciding and giving the most prestigious

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n sports award the Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport. The same year he appeared in a documentary called Riječki Olimpijci. In 2016 he appeared in two documentaries and which follows the events of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta were

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

won their first

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medal in

and in general.

Personal life

Načinović has a son named Veron who is currently playing

for

Honours

;RK Zamet *

(1): 1986–87 ;RK Zagreb Loto * Croatian First A League (1):

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

(1):

* European Champions Cup (1): 1991–92 ;RK Celje Pivovara Laško *

Slovenian First League The Slovenian PrvaLiga ( sl, Prva slovenska nogometna liga, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten club ...

(7): 1993-94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1999-00, 2000–01 * Slovenian Cup (7):

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

;Individual * Ivica Jobo Kurtini Award: 1988 *Best Croatian sports team by: COC: 1995 and 1996 * Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport - 1996 * Plack with names of Rijeka's

medalists - 2014 *

hall of fame - 2015 ;Yugoslavia * 1985 IHF Junior World Championship Italy - 3rd * 1987 IHF Junior World Championship Yugoslavia - 1st * 1988 Summer Olympics Seoul - 3rd ;Croatia * 1993 Mediterranean Games Languedoc-Roussillon - 1st * 1994 European Championship Portugal - 3rd * 1995 World Championship Island - 2nd * 1996 European Championship Spain- 5th * 1996 Summer Olympics Atlanta - 1st * 1998 European Championship Italy - 8th * 1999 Super Cup Germany - 2nd

Orders

Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar - 1995

Sources

*Petar Orgulić - 50 godina rukometa u Rijeci (2005), Adriapublic *Mišo Cvijanović, Igor Duvnjak, Tonko Kraljić & Orlando Rivetti - 4 ASA (2007), Adriapublic

References

External links

Eurohandball profileRK Zamet history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nacinovic, Alvaro Croatian male handball players RK Zamet players RK Zagreb players RK Crikvenica players Handball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic handball players of Yugoslavia Yugoslav male handball players Olympic handball players of Croatia Olympic bronze medalists for Yugoslavia Olympic gold medalists for Croatia Olympic medalists in handball Handball players from Rijeka 1966 births Living people Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Croatia Competitors at the 1993 Mediterranean Games Croatian expatriates in Slovenia Mediterranean Games medalists in handball