Mario Kelentrić (born 30 January 1973) is a Croatian former

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 played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, and is currently the goalkeeping coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. He has played for clubs 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. He is noted as being one of the best goalkeepers of Croatia and he was also part of the golden generation witch won the 2003 World Championship in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Career

In 1993 Kelentrić signed with

RK Medveščak Zagreb 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 tec ...

. In his first season with the club he reached the final 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 ...

. During his seven-year stay he reached two more cup finals and was in the top flight for most of his time spent there. In 1999 he moved to Badel 1862 Zagreb. In his first season with the club he reached the semi-final of the

EHF Champions League The Men's EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the me ...

and won both domestic titles. In 2001 he moved to Pivovara Laško Celje and unfortunately was part of a team that lost the domestic title for the first time since the inception of the Slovenian League. In 2002 he moved to Metković Jambo but he stayed at the club for only half a season leaving in January 2003 to return to

RK Zagreb Rukometni klub Zagreb ( en, Zagreb Handball Club, ) is a men's professional handball club from Zagreb, Croatia. It competes in the Croatian Premier League, SEHA League, and the EHF Champions League. RK Zagreb won 33 national championships and ...

. In 2004 he left for

signing with TUSEM Essen with whom he won the

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 ...

. Later he had short stints with RK Agram Medveščak and Saint-Marcel Vernon before moving to

MT Melsungen MT Melsungen is a German handball team from Melsungen, Germany, that plays in the Handball-Bundesliga. History From 1992 to 2005, the team played in the 2. Handball-Bundesliga and finished third twice (in 1997/98 and 2003/2004). In the 20 ...

where he played for six years. While there he took part in HBL All-Star Game 2009. He finally retired in 2013 in

International career

He appeared for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

from 1997 to 2004 making 86 appearances notably sporting the jersey number 1. He played at

1997 Mediterranean Games The XIII Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1997 Mediterranean Games, were the 13th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Bari, Italy, from 13 to 25 June 1997, where 2,956 athletes (2,166 men and 790 women) from 21 countries partici ...

, 1998 European Championship, 1999 World Championship, 1999 Super Cup, 2001 World Championship,

2001 Mediterranean Games The XIV Mediterranean Games ( ar, ألعاب البحر الأبيض المتوسط 2001), commonly known as the 2001 Mediterranean Games, were the 14th Mediterranean Games held in Tunis, Tunisia, from 2-15 September 2001, where 2,991 athletes ( ...

, 2002 European Championship, 2003 World Championship and at the 2004 European Championship. After the 2004 European Championship national team head coach

Lino Červar Lino Červar (born 22 September 1950) is a Croatian retired handball coach. In 2003 he guided Croatia men's national handball team to gold in the 2003 World Championship as well as to gold at the 2004 Olympics. As a member of the largest centr ...

never called up Kelentrić to play for the national team even though he was the best goalkeeper 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 ...

at the time. Kelentrić has stated numerous time since that he hates Červar for not calling him up for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

and that he will never forgive him for that.

Honours

;Medveščak *

**Finalist (3):

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 ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Limburgse Handbal Dagen The Limburgse Handbal Dagen / Limbourg Handball Days is a handball tournament organized since 1988 in Limburg (Netherlands), especially in the cities of Sittard, Geleen and Beek. The tournament lasts for 3 days with teams from Europe, Africa and ...

**Winner (1):

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

;Zagreb * Croatian First A League/First League/Premier League **Winner (5): 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2012-13 *

**Winner (4):

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 ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

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 ...

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 ...

**Winner (1): 2012-13 ;Celje *

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 ...

**Runner-up (1): 2001-02 * Slovenian Cup **Finalist (1):

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

;Essen *

**Winner (1):

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

;Individual *2003 Athletes of the Year - Most Successful Men's Team by: COC

References

External links

Eurohandball profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelentric, Mario 1973 births Living people People from Gradačac Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian male handball players RK Zagreb players Handball players from Zagreb Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in France Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Croatia Mediterranean Games medalists in handball Competitors at the 1997 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 2001 Mediterranean Games 20th-century Croatian people 21st-century Croatian people