Ivan Stevanović (born 18 May 1982) is a retired Croatian

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. He is one of the oldest players to debut for a national team at a major competition. He debuted at the 2016 European Championship in Poland as the second choice goalkeeper to Mirko Alilović, but he ended up being the biggest reason for his country winning the bronze medal.

Early life

Stevanović was born 18 May 1982 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 ...

. Stevanović grew up in the neighborhood of Trsat across the street from Dvorana Mladosti then the venue of RK Zamet. At the age of eight Stevanović started to train swimming with Bistra Gospodinova as his coach. At the end of the eight grade Stevanović was a goalkeeper for his schools handball team. Later he would train swimming and

at the same time while opting for handball in the end.

Club career

Stevanović began his youth career in hometown club Trsat in which he played for five years in youth selection before playing as a senior at the age of 16. He also spent a year playing for Pećine in the then 1.B league before joining RK Zamet. During his early years at the club he was mostly coached by his colleague Valter Matošević. He played for the club for seven years. He went from being third to first choice goalkeeper. With the club he played in EHF Cup Winners' Cup and

EHF Cup The EHF European League is an annual men's handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF) since 1981. It is the second-tier competition of European club handball, ranking only below the EHF Champions League. Previ ...

, also coming to the finals of the

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 ...

two times and keeping a position in the top 6 in the league. In 2007 Stevanović moved to

Poreč Poreč (; it, Parenzo; la, Parens or ; grc, Πάρενθος, Párenthos) is a town and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria County, west Croatia. Its major landmark is the 6th-century Euphrasian Basilica, whic ...

where he maintained a vital role in the clubs great results and qualification for the Challenger Cup. Even though there was talk of a transfer to Slovenia he opted for the

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...

n side. In 2009 Stevanović received an award from the city of

for being their best male sportsperson for the year of 2008. He also spent a season in Slovenian club RD Krško where he was trained by head coach Željko Babić. Stevanović returned to Zamet in 2010. The next season Zamet came into the finals of the

, Stevanoviće's goalkeeping gave interest to Croatian champions Croatia Osiguranje Zagreb. Zagreb bought Stevanović in the summer of 2012. In his first season with the club Stevanović won the

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 ...

. The next four seasons with Zagreb saw Stevanović winning domestic competitions and cups while reaching EHF Champions League quarter-finals and finishing third in the

. On 5 December 2016 it was confirmed that Stevanović had signed a three-year contract with

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

club Kadetten Schaffhausen stating that he would be leaving RK Zagreb at the end of the season.

International career

Stevanović was first called up for the Croatian national team by Lino Červar in 2007 for national team preparations in

. He was called up again in 2013 by coach Slavko Goluža to play 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 ...

Mersin Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin Province, Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and dis ...

. Croatia lost in the finals against Egypt and got a silver medal. Ivan Stevanovic 3 20160904

He competed at the

2016 European Men's Handball Championship The 2016 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was the twelfth edition and was held for the first time in Poland from 15–31 January 2016. Croatia and Norway were the other applicants in the bidding process. Poland was awarded the championsh ...

as a replacement for Filip Ivić who was injured. At the beginning of the tournament Stevanović was second choice to Mirko Alilović but soon he became first choice and saved Croatia from being knocked out of the group stage. He had a very big role in Croatia winning the bronze medal. In August of the same year he played for the national team at the

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 ...

in Rio de Janeiro where Croatia finished in fifth place. Stevanović was 7th best goalkeeper at the tournament with 35 save and a 31% percentage. Stevanović was called up once again to train with the national team for the 2017 World Championship in France. During a group stage match against Chile at the 2017 World Championship Stevanović scored from his goal post to an empty goal. He played a vital role in the quarter final match against Spain getting some crucial saves. Croatia finished in fourth place losing to Slovenia in the third place match. Stevanović had 47 saves at the end of the tournament with 31%. On 26 January 2019 he confirmed he is going to retirement of the Croatian national team after

2019 World Men's Handball Championship The 2019 IHF World Men's Handball Championship was the 26th event hosted by the International Handball Federation and held in Denmark and Germany from 10 to 27 January 2019. It was the first IHF World Men's Handball Championship to include more t ...

Personal life

Stevanović is married, his wife's name is Irena. The couple have a son named Vigo. Stevanović has stated that he spends most of his free time with his son.

Honours

;Club ;Zamet *

**Finalist:

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 ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

;PPD Zagreb * Dukat Premier League **Winner:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17 *

**Winner:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

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 ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

**Winner:

**Third: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 ;Kadetten Schaffhausen * SHV-Super Cup **Winner: 2017 ;International ;Croatia *

– silver medal * 2016 European Championship – bronze medal ;Individual *Best sportsperson in

– 2008 * Dukat Premier League best saves average from 9m in 2010–11 season – 6,30 avg * Dukat Premier League best saves total from 9m in 2010–11 – 170 *Best goalkeeper in

– 2012 *Best goalkeeper at Schlecker Cup – 2013 *

best saves total from 9m in 2013–14 season – 90 saves * Dukat Premier League best saves total from 6m in 2013–14 – 36,1% *

best 9m saves percentage in 2014–15 season – 56,4% * 2016 EC: Poland vs Croatia man of the match * 2016 European Championship 2nd best goalkeeper by percentage – 37% *

best saves percentage in 2015–16 season – 41,3% *

best 9m saves percentage in 2015–16 season – 53,6% *

best 6m saves percentage in 2015–16 season – 34,2% *

best 6m saves percentage in fastbreaks in 2015–16 season – 25,0% *

best goalkeeper in 2015–16 season * Dukat Premier League best saves percentage in 2015–16 season – 35,7% *2nd best Croatian handballer of 2016 by CHF & Sportske novosti *Best goalkeeper in

2016–17 season * 2018 European Championship man of the match: vs. Norway

References

External links

*
SEHA League/Premier League stats from 2010 onwardsStevanović Eurohandball profileIvan Stevanović Scoresway profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevanovic, Ivan 1982 births Living people Handball players from Rijeka Croatian male handball players RK Zamet players RK Zagreb players Wisła Płock (handball) players Olympic handball players of Croatia Handball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Expatriate handball players in Poland Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Croatia Competitors at the 2013 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in handball