Siarhei Rutenka, also Sergej Rutenka ( be, Сяргей Рутэнка; born 29 September 1981) is a Belarusian 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. Besides Belarusian citizenship, he also acquired Slovenian citizenship in 2003. In January 2008, he received the Spanish nationality. His preferred position was outside left, but he was also capable of playing as the pivot and playmaker. He came to prominence while playing for the Slovenian club

RK Celje Rokometni klub Celje ( en, Celje Handball Club), currently named Celje Pivovarna Laško due to sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as RK Celje or simply Celje, is a handball club from Celje, Slovenia. They were the winners of the Ch ...

and earlier for

RK Gorenje Rokometni klub Gorenje Velenje ( en, Gorenje Velenje Handball Club), commonly referred to as RK Gorenje Velenje or simply Gorenje, is a Slovenian handball club from Velenje that competes in the Slovenian First League (men's handball), Slovenian ...

. He has also played for

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

in Spain. The club acquired him for €1 million in 2009. Rutenka was the top goalscorer at the

2006 European Men's Handball Championship The 2006 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was the seventh tournamentof the tournament and held in Switzerland from 26 January to 5 February 2006, in the cities of Basel, Berne, Lucerne, St. Gallen and Zürich. France won the tournament, g ...

, representing Slovenia. In 2013, he was elected best left-back of the year. He is the older brother of handball player Dzianis Rutenka.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutenka, Siarhei 1981 births Living people Belarusian male handball players Spanish male handball players Slovenian male handball players Olympic handball players of Slovenia Handball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Liga ASOBAL players Sportspeople from Minsk BM Ciudad Real players FC Barcelona Handbol players Expatriate handball players Belarusian expatriates in Spain