Mateo Hrvatin (born 15 August 1980 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 Croatian team handball, handballer, who played as left winger for RK Zamet, RK Zagreb, CO Zagreb and RK Crikvenica. He was selected by the Croatia men's national handball team, Croatian national team for the 2009 World Men's Handball Championship.

Early life

Mateo Hrvatin was born 15 August 1980 in

where he grew up. Hrvatin started playing handball in

at local club RK Kvarner. At Kvarner he passed various youth selections before playing at the senior level.

Career

He started his senior career at club RK Pećine which at the time was in the First B League. In 2000 he got called up to play for RK Zamet, Zamet in the Croatian Premier Handball League, First League (later Premier League) where he spent most of his career. Hrvatin's first two seasons saw him playing at top level in the league and reaching the finals of the Croatian Handball Cup, Croatian Cup. He debuted in his first European Handball Federation, European competition in the EHF Cup Winners' Cup, reaching the fourth round in 2001 and 2002 being eliminated by FC Porto (handball), FC Porto and Montpellier Handball, Montpellier. Hrvatin established himself quickly in Zamet. Up until the 2006-07 season Zamet was in top flight of the league and then the club hit financial trouble so big that at one time they weren't paying salaries to Hrvatin and captain Mile Uzelac, Milan Uzelac and Robert Savković among others. In 2008. Hrvatin was called up to play for the Croatia men's national handball team, national team by coach Lino Červar and was picked for the 2009 World Men's Handball Championship, 2009 World Championship. In January 2009, Hrvatin moved to RK Zagreb, Croatia Osiguranje Zagreb for the remainder of the 2008-09 season and with the club won the Croatian Premier Handball League, Premier League and Croatian Handball Cup, Cup. He reached the quarter-final of the EHF Champions League with the club. In July 2009 Hrvatin returned to RK Zamet, Zamet and stayed there for four more years. In his second spell his most notable accomplishment was reaching the finals in the Croatian Handball Cup, Croatian Cup in 2012 and playing qualifiers in the EHF Cup the next season. They lost their first qualifier to HK ASA Meso Lovoseice, Meso Lovoseice on aggregate. In August 2013 Hrvatin left RK Zamet, Zamet and started playing for RK Crikvenica. For two seasons he competed for the club in First league (second tier) and at one time he was the coach and sports director. In August 2015 Hrvatin announced that he'd be returning to RK Zamet, Zamet yet again. After his announcement there was a lot of doubt if Hrvatin could still play at top level because he had turned 35. In his first season back, he showed great form and ended up being the club's top scorer of the season while helping Zamet to the league play-offs for the first time in ten years. Zamet finished in fourth place reaching the EHF Cup qualifiers. During the qualifiers they beat US Créteil Handball, Créteil and CSM București (men's handball), CSM București. Zamet reached the third qualifying round of the EHF Cup where they were defeated by MT Melsungen. Hrvatin announced his retirement at the end of the RK Zamet 2016-17 season, 2016-17 season alongside his long standing teammate Mile Uzelac, Milan Uzelac.

Personal life

Hrvatin is married and has a son.

Honours

As player

;RK Zamet *Croatian Handball Cup **Finalist (2): 2001, 2012 ;RK Croatia Osiguranje Zagreb *Croatian Premier Handball League, Dukat Premier League **Winner (1): 2008-09 *Croatian Handball Cup **Winner (1): 2009 ;Croatia *2009 World Men's Handball Championship, 2009 World Championship - 2nd place ;Individual *Selection of the most successful athletes by: Croatian Olympic Committee, COC: 2009 *Special recognition for achievements in sports by Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, PGŽ: 2009 *RK Zamet hall of fame - 2015 *Best fastbreak goal percentage in Croatian Premier Handball League, Dukat Premier League season 2015-16 - 84,9%

Orders

Ribbon of an Order of the Croatian Wattle

Order of the Croatian Interlace - 2009

References

Sources

Igrači-aktualni sastav

Mateo Hrvatin uspješno debitirao na Svjetskom prvenstvu
* Petar Orgulić - 50 godina rukometa u Rijeci (2005), Adria public

External links

European Competition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hrvatin, Mateo 1980 births Living people Croatian male handball players Handball players from Rijeka RK Zamet players RK Zagreb players RK Crikvenica players RK Crikvenica coaches