Renato Vugrinec (born 9 June 1975) is a Slovenian-Macedonian retired

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. Before switching his national team alliagance, Vugrinec was a long time member of

Slovenia men's national handball team The Slovenia national handball team represents Slovenia in international handball matches. Their biggest success is the silver medal from the 2004 European Men's Handball Championship, as well as claiming third place at the 2017 World Men' ...

and represented the country on several international tournaments, including the

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 ...

and the

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 ...

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 ...

, before retiring from international play in 2010. Since March 2014 he became eligible to play for

Macedonia national handball team Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

, after receiving the country's citizenship in late 2013, and he has made his debut for their national team in June 2014.

Club career

Raised in

Videm pri Ptuju Videm pri Ptuju () is a settlement in the Municipality of Videm in eastern Slovenia. It is the administrative centre of the municipality. The area traditionally belonged to the Styria region. It is now included in the Drava Statistical Region. ...

, Vugrinec began playing handball in the nearby

Ptuj Ptuj (; german: Pettau, ; la, Poetovium/Poetovio) is a town in northeastern Slovenia that is the seat of the Municipality of Ptuj. Ptuj, the oldest recorded city in Slovenia, has been inhabited since the late Stone Age and developed from a Roman ...

and remained there until 1997 when he transferred to Slovenian club

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

. In late 1990s and early 2000s Celje was regarded as one of the teams who formed the European club handball elite and they were regularly qualifying among the top four in 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 ...

. During the 2003–04 season Celje won the EHF Champions League after they have defeated the German side

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...

in a two-legged final. Vugrinec was one of the most important players for his club during the course of the 2003–04 Champions league campaign finishing the competition on ninth place among scorers with 58 goals, including ten which he scored in a two-legged final. After the successful season Celje sold a number of their star players and Vugrinec moved to the German club

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

where he stayed for two seasons. In 2006 he moved to top Spanish side

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

but left the financial troubled club after only one season when he returned to Celje. Considered a club legend in Celje, Vugrinec spent a total of ten and a half seasons with the 2004 European club champions where he scored a total of 1,465 goals in all competitions. After a short spell at Celje Vugrinec then signed for

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

i club

Al Sadd Al Sadd Sports Club ( ar, نادي السد الرياضي, lit=Dam Sports Club) is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the city of Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in th ...

where he remained until 2011. Shortly after the start of the 2011–2012 season he moved, this time returning to

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 ...

where he signed a one-year contract with

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. During the summer of 2012 he returned to his native Slovenia and signed a contract with Maribor Branik but remained there only until the end of August of the same year, after he signed with Macedonian side

Metalurg Skopje FK Metalurg ( mk, ФК Металург) is a football club from Skopje, North Macedonia. They are currently not playing in any of the four highest tiers of Macedonian football. History The club was founded in 1964. Metalurg has entered the Mace ...

. In February 2015 he signed with

Lekhwiya Al-Duhail Sports Club ( ar, نادي الدحيل الرياضي), formerly Lekhwiya SC, is a Qatari sports club, best known for its football team, which plays in the Qatar Stars League. The club is based in the Duhail district in the city ...

International career

Slovenia

Between 1996 and 2010 Vugrinec was a member of the

and he has made several appearances for the team at the

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

and

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

championships, including two appearances at the

(

and

). He was a member of the Slovenian team which were runners-up at the

2004 European Men's Handball Championship The 2004 Men's European Handball Championship was the sixth edition of the tournament and took place from 22 January to 1 February 2004 in Slovenia in the cities of Ljubljana, Celje, Velenje and Koper. Venues Qualification :1 Bold indicates ...

. With 187 appearances and 616 goals he is among the most capped and most prolific goal scorers in history of the Slovenia men's national handball team.

Macedonia

In late 2013 Vugrinec received Macedonian citizenship and the

Macedonian Handball Federation The Macedonian Handball Federation ( Macedonian: Ракометна федерација на Македонија) commonly known by its acronym, RFM, is the national governing body of handball in North Macedonia. Its headquarters are in Skopje ...

wanted the player to appear for their national team at the

2014 European Men's Handball Championship The 2014 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was the 11th edition of the tournament and held in Denmark from 12–26 January. Hungary/Croatia (jointly) were the other applicants for the championship. Denmark was awarded the championship on ...

, played in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

during January 2014, however, this was denied by the European Handball Federation on the basis that Vugrinec has not lived in Macedonia continuously for two years. In March 2014 the 38-year-old Vugrinec became eligible to play for the

, after a decision issued by the

International Handball Federation The International Handball Federation (IHF) is the administrative and controlling body for handball and beach handball. IHF is responsible for the organisation of handball's major international tournaments, notably the IHF World Men's Handball C ...

. On 7 June 2014 the 38 years old Vugrinec made his debut for Macedonia on a 2015 World Men's Handball Championship qualifying match against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

which was won by Macedonia with the score 25–27, with Vugrinec contributing one goal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vugrinec, Renato 1975 births Living people Handball players from Celje Slovenian male handball players Expatriate handball players Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Olympic handball players for Slovenia Handball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in North Macedonia Naturalized citizens of North Macedonia Macedonian male handball players Naturalised sports competitors Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Israel