Vladimir Vujasinović ( sr-cyrl, Владимир Вујасиновић; ; born 14 August 1973) is a Serbian professional

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with th ...

head coach and former player. He currently serves as head coach of

VK Novi Beograd VK Novi Beograd ( sr-cyr, ВК Нови Београд) is a professional water polo club based in New Belgrade, Serbia. As of 2021–22 season, the club competes in the Serbian League, Regional League A1 and LEN Champions League. History The c ...

. During his playing career, he won two Olympic bronze medals ( FR Yugoslavia team at 2000 Olympics and Serbia team at 2008 Olympics), an Olympic silver medal ( Serbia and Montenegro team at 2004 Olympics), and numerous other titles. He has been named best water polo player in the world several times. In 2003 he was pronounced the best athlete of Serbia and Montenegro, and in 2005 the

Olympic Committee of Serbia The Olympic Committee of Serbia ( sr, / ) is the National Olympic Committee representing Serbia. It organizes the country's representatives at the Olympic Games and other multisport events. Members of the committee are 47 sports federations, w ...

and Montenegro declared him to be the best sportsman. Vujasinović has played 341 matches for his country and scored 391 times. In 2011, his then club

VK Partizan Vaterpolo klub Partizan ( sr-cyr, Ватерполо клуб Партизан) is a professional water polo club based in Belgrade, Serbia. VK Partizan is one of the sports clubs in Serbia that is part of sport society Partizan. As of 2021–22 ...

won the National Championship and National Cup of Serbia,

LEN Euroleague The LEN Champions League is the top-tier European professional water polo club competition with teams from up to 18 countries. It is organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation. The competition started in 1963 as European Cup. A change of nam ...

(his fourth overall),

LEN Super Cup The LEN Super Cup is an annual water polo match organized by LEN and contested by the reigning champions of the two European club competitions, the LEN Champions League and the LEN Euro Cup. From 1976 to 2002, the LEN Super Cup was contested be ...

(his third overall), Eurointer League and Tom Hoad Cup.

Early life

Vujasinović was born on 14 August 1973 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 Prim ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

(modern

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 = , capi ...

), to ethnic Serb parents hailing from Ivoševci village near

Knin Knin (, sr, link=no, Книн, it, link=no, Tenin) is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagr ...

. He grew up in

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian and Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian, Italian and Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic betwe ...

Career

As player

Vujasinović debuted 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 exa ...

Kotor Kotor ( Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian: ), is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative ...

scoring his first goal against

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 ...

in an 18–3 win. He was 17 years, three months and 22 days old. From 1995. he was a permanent member of the national team, and a captain since 2003. During this period, Vladimir only missed the 1999 European championship after a doping scandal after the Italian Cup semi-final. In numerous surveys, he was elected as the world's best water polo player on the grounds that he can play equally well in all positions for the team. Forerunner of all-round player, he was a member of all possible ideal setups. He retired from the national team in 2008. Vujasinović is considered to be one of the best players in the history of world water polo. He played for Croatian Primorje, Serbian VK Crvena Zvezda, Spanish

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Italian A.S. Roma Pallanuoto, Serbian

, Italian

Pro Recco A.S.D. Pro Recco (Official name: Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Pro Recco) is an Italian water polo club from Recco, in Liguria. It currently plays in Serie A1. Pro Recco is the most successful club in men's water polo. In men's domesti ...

, Brazilian

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, th ...

. In summer 2007 he played with Maltese side

Neptunes WPSC Neptunes WPSC is a water polo and swimming club, founded in 1929, based in Balluta Bay, Saint Julian's, Malta. Water polo Neptunes WPSC won 26 summer leagues and 21 winter leagues. Neptunes WPSC have had many great foreigners, such as Vladimir V ...

and helped them retain the Maltese First Division. He was named ''Most Valuable Player'' at the 2001 European Championship in

Budapest, Hungary Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population of ...

. Vujasinović won European Champions League several times with Italian

(year 2007 and 2008) and Serbian

. He rejoined Partizan Belgrade for the 2008/9 season. He won the Malta Waterpolo Summer League title with Neptunes Emirates (St. Julians, Malta) in August 2010.

As coach

Vladimir Vujasinović named as assistant coach of Serbian national team in 2012. With

, he won

2016 Olympic Games ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

, 2015 World Championship, two European Championships:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

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 of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

and four World League:

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 fa ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

. In 1 year and less than 2 months the Serbian National team had won the four biggest titles in Waterpolo in a row, a feat nobody before him did.

Club

As player

Neptunes WPSC

Efforts to strengthen the team and try to retain the championship in 2007 were made immediately after the 2006 season ended. Serbian idol Vlado Vujasinović was snapped up from top Italian side Pro Recco and Sergio Afric’s immediate reaction to the club president was "Abbiamo appena vinto il prossimo campionato!" And how true that was. Vlado turned out to be the toast of the game’s connoisseurs as he managed to bring the best out of his colleagues with his superb marshalling at the back, closing all gaps and his play-making was the platform of Neptunes offensive stints. The final game that wrapped up the championship for Neptunes will go down in the club’s history as the biggest win they ever registered over Sliema – 12–4.

Partizan Raiffeizen

2011–12 season On 22 October 2011. Vujasinović scored two goals in the first round of the Euroleague Group, in an 8–9 loss to Szeged Beton VE. On 9 November Vujasinović scored a goal in the second round of the Euroleague Group in the 10–10 tie against TEVA-Vasas-UNIQA. On 26 November Vujasinović scored a goal in a 9–6 Euroleague third round win over ZF Eger in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

. On 30 December Vujasinović won with Partizan the ninth " Tom Hoad Cup" in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, defeating in the final the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

team, Fremantle Mariners 11–9. He led his rejuvenated team to the victory with no

Serbia men's national water polo team The Serbia men's national water polo team represents Serbia in international water polo competitions and is controlled by the . They have won gold medals in the Olympics, World and European Championships, World Cup, FINA World League, Mediter ...

representatives as a captain. On 15 February 2012. Vujasinović scored his first goal of the Serbian National Championship season, in the second round of the "A League", in an 8–6 win against Crvena Zvezda VET. On 17 February Vujasinović scored in the third round of the "A League", in an easy 14–2 win against ŽAK. On 26 February Vujasinović scored his last two goals in the final round of the Euroleague Group, in which his team lost by 9–8 to Szeged Beton VE and dropped out of the competition. On 1 March he scored two goals against

VK Vojvodina Vaterpolo klub Vojvodina ( sr-cyr, Ватерполо клуб Војводина) is a professional water polo club based in Novi Sad, Serbia. As of 2021–22 season, the club competes in the Serbian League and Regional League A2. Honours * S ...

in a 10–9 win in the "A League" fourth round. Vujasinović has additionally had summer league club stints in Malta and Brazil with

and

, respectively.

As coach

Vujasinović led VK Partizan from 2013. He won two Serbian league matches and was twice in the semifinal in

LEN Champions League The LEN Champions League is the top-tier European professional water polo club competition with teams from up to 18 countries. It is organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation. The competition started in 1963 as European Cup. A change of na ...

. He led the youngest team in

. In 2016, Vujasinović signed a three-year contract with Italian

, but stayed there for two seasons, until June 2018. On July 1, 2019, he was named a new head coach of

Honours

Club

VK Crvena Zvezda * National Championship of Yugoslavia (2) : 1991–92, 1992–93 CN Barcelona *

División de Honor de Waterpolo The Spanish water polo championship has been contested since 1912. The current league format was introduced in 1965. The top division is currently known as the División de Honor and consists of twelve clubs. The current champions (2021–22 season ...

(3) : 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97 *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

(2) : 1994–95, 1995–96 *

LEN Cup The LEN Euro Cup is the second-tier European water polo club competition run by the Ligue Européenne de Natation for those clubs who did not qualify for the LEN Champions League. The cup was inaugurated in 1992. History Names of the competit ...

(1) : 1994–95 AS Roma Pallanuoto * Serie A1 (1) : 1998–99 Pro Recco * Serie A1 (4) : 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08 *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

(3) : 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08 * Trofeo del Giocatore (1) : 2003 *

(3) : 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08 *

LEN Supercup Len or LEN may refer to: People and fictional characters * Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lén, a character from Irish mythology * Alex Len (born 1993), Ukrainian basketball player * Mr. Len, American hip hop DJ *Le ...

(2) : 2003–04, 2007–08 Neptunes WPSC * National Championship of Malta (1) : 2007 PA Fluminense * National Championship of Brazil (1) : 2009 VK Partizan * National Championship of Serbia (4) : 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12 * National Cup of Serbia (4) : 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12 *

(1) :

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

(1) : 2011–12 *

(1) : 1997–98 * Eurointer League (2) : 2009–10, 2010–11 * Tom Hoad Cup (1) : 2011

Individual

* European Championship

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

(1): 2001 Budapest * FINA Athlete of the Year in men's water polo (1): 2001 *

Golden Badge ''Sport'' ( sr-Cyrl, Спорт) was a Serbian daily sports newspaper. The first edition was published on 5 May 1945 under the name ''Fiskultura'' and the last edition went out on 17 September 2016. Since the mid-2000s it was billed as "Dnevni ...

(1): 2003 * Best Sportsman by OCS (1): 2005

References

Waterpolo Serbia

Pro Recco

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vujasinovic, Vladimir 1973 births Living people Serbs of Croatia Sportspeople from Rijeka Yugoslav male water polo players Serbia and Montenegro male water polo players Serbian male water polo players Water polo centre backs Water polo players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic water polo players of Yugoslavia Olympic water polo players of Serbia and Montenegro Olympic bronze medalists for Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Olympic silver medalists for Serbia and Montenegro Olympic bronze medalists for Serbia in water polo World Aquatics Championships medalists in water polo European champions for Serbia and Montenegro European champions for Serbia Competitors at the 1997 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in water polo Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Serbia Universiade medalists in water polo Universiade gold medalists for Serbia and Montenegro Serbian water polo coaches

Early life

Career

As player

As coach

Club

As player

Neptunes WPSC

Partizan Raiffeizen

As coach

Honours

Club

Individual

See also

References

External links