Krešimir Kozina (born 25 June 1990) is a 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 for

Frisch Auf Göppingen Turn- und Polizeisportgemeinschaft Frisch Auf Göppingen e.V. is a sports club from Germany, located in Göppingen, Baden-Württemberg. The club's men's handball team plays under the name FRISCH AUF! Göppingen in Handball-Bundesliga. Nine-time c ...

and the Croatian national team.

Club career

Kozina started his youth career in RK Matulji before establishing himself in Zamet the premier handball club of

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 ...

. After four seasons he moved to NEXE. While there he debuted in his first European competition

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 ...

. In 2013 he moved to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Alpla HC Hard Alpla HC Hard is a handball club from Hard, Austria. They currently compete in the Handball Liga Austria. History In 1986, the handball division was separated from the ATSV Hard club, and subsequently the independent club HC 86 Hard was foun ...

. With the club he started winning his first trophies as a club player. In 2015 Kozina turned down

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 powerhouse

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 ...

and transferred to

SG Flensburg-Handewitt SG Flensburg-Handewitt is a professional handball club from Flensburg and Handewitt in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Currently, they compete in the Handball-Bundesliga and EHF European League. They play home matches at Flens-Arena. Since formin ...

where he spent one season. On 29 May 2016 Kozina signed for Füchse Berlin. On 8 September Kozina won the

IHF Super Globe The Men's Super Globe is a handball competition contested between the champion clubs from continental confederations. On 7 December 2018, the IHF moved the Super Globe to Saudi Arabia for four years, until 2022. Summary Records and statistics ...

with the club. On 8 December Kozina announced that he signed with

and that he would be moving in the summer of 2017. Kozina playerd for the Bundesliga Stars team on 2 February 2018 against

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 ...

scoring 4 goals for a win of 43:39.

International career

Kozina started his international career playing for Croatia U-21 at the Youth World Championship where Croatia won the tournament. He debuted 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 ...

6 November 2015 against Macedonia at a friendly tournament called Croatia Cup. Kozina 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 ...

where

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 third place. Kozina also competed 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 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. Croatia was eliminated by

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

in the Quarter-finals. In December 2016 Kozina was invited to national team training for the upcoming 2017 World Championship as a replacement for

Marino Marić Marino Marić (born 1 June 1990) is a Croatian professional handball player for TVB Stuttgart and the Croatian national team. He participated at the 2016, 2018 and at the 2020 European Championships. Honours ;Zagreb * Dukat Premier League: 20 ...

who was injured. Kozina appeared at the HEP Croatia Cup in their match against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

and scored two goals before being gaining 2 minutes at the end of the match. He didn't appear in the match against

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

. Croatia won the HEP Croatia Cup. On 10 January Željko Babić announced the players he would be taking to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, Kozina was not on the list.

Personal life

Kozina has a younger brother

Bruno Bruno may refer to: People and fictional characters *Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname * Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880) * Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne, ...

who is also a

player.

Honours

;Zamet * Croatian Championship U-18 **Runner-up: 2008 ;Nexe Našice * Dukat Premier League **Runner-up: 2011–12, 2012–13 ;Alpla HC Hard *

Austrian Bundesliga The Austrian Football Bundesliga (german: Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga, italic=no , "Austrian Football Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. Th ...

**Winner: 2013–14, 2014–15 * ÖHB Cup **Winner: 2014 ;Flensburg *

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

**Runner-up: 2015–16 *

DHB-Pokal The DHB-Pokal (English: German Handball Federation Cup) is an elimination handball tournament held annually in Germany. It is the second most important handball national title in the country after the Handball-Bundesliga The Handball-Bund ...

**Finalist:

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 ...

;Fusche Berlin *

**Winner:

**Finalist: 2016–17 ;Croatia * Youth World Championship:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

– First place *

European Men's Handball Championship The European Men's Handball Championship is the official competition for senior men's national handball teams of Europe and takes place every two years since 1994, in the even-numbered year between the World Championship. In addition to crowning ...

-Third place *

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

– Fifth place ;Individual *

Dražen Petrović Award Dražen Petrović Award ( hr, Nagrada Dražen Petrović) is an award established in 2006 by the Croatian Olympic Committee. Awarded to talented young athletes and teams for outstanding sporting results and sports development. The award was named aft ...

– 2009 *Special recognition for achievements in sports by PGŽ: 2009 * Dukat Premier League most average 7m received in 2010–11 -season – 2,00 avg. * Dukat Premier League most 7m received in 2010–11 -season – 56 * Dukat Premier League best percentage of goals shot from 6m in 2012–13 season – 91,7%

References

External links

*
European stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kozina, Kresimir 1990 births Living people Croatian male handball players People from Derventa Sportspeople from Doboj Region Handball players from Rijeka Handball-Bundesliga players SG Flensburg-Handewitt players Füchse Berlin Reinickendorf HBC players Expatriate handball players in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany RK Zamet players Olympic handball players for Croatia Handball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics RK Nexe Našice players