Zlatko Portner (; 16 January 1962 – 23 September 2020) was a Serbian

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 ...

coach and player who competed for Yugoslavia in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Club career

After playing for

Crvenka Crvenka () is a small town located in the municipality of Kula in the West Bačka District, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a Serbian ethnic majority, and it had a population of 9,001 in 2011. Name In Serbian, th ...

, Portner joined Yugoslav champions Metaloplastika, becoming a member of the squad that won consecutive

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

titles ( 1984–85 and 1985–86). He also won six consecutive

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

with the club. During the 1989–90 season, Portner joined

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 ci ...

as a replacement for his compatriot

Milan Kalina Milan Kalina (; born 13 August 1956) is a Serbian former handball player who competed for Yugoslavia in the 1984 Summer Olympics. Club career After starting out at Partizan, Kalina played for Dinamo Pančevo and Crvena zvezda, before moving abr ...

. He reunited with his former Metaloplastika teammate

Veselin Vujović Veselin Vujović (born 18 January 1961) is a Montenegrin handball coach and former professional player. He is the current coach of Iran national team. As a player, Vujović competed at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics for the Yugoslavia natio ...

, helping the club win the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

. The next year, Portner went to France and spent two seasons with Vénissieux Rhône-Alpes (1992–1994). He later also played for Swiss teams BSV Bern, TV Zofingen, and BSC Grosshöchstetten.

International career

At international level, Portner represented

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

in two

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, winning the 1986 edition in his debut appearance. He was also a member of the team that won the bronze medal at the

Coaching career

While playing in Switzerland, Portner started his coaching career with BSV Bern. He also served as head coach of several other Swiss teams.

Personal life

Portner was the father of fellow handball player

Nikola Portner Nikola Portner (born 19 November 1993) is a Swiss handball player for SC Magdeburg and the Swiss national team. He represented Switzerland at the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship The 2020 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was ...

Honours

;Metaloplastika *

Yugoslav Handball Championship The Yugoslav Handball Championship was the highest level competition in men's team handball in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, played regularly for almost four decades between 1953 and 1992, before being abandoned due to the breakup ...

: 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88 * Yugoslav Handball Cup: 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86 *

: 1984–85, 1985–86 ;Barcelona *

Liga ASOBAL Liga Asobal is the premier professional handball league in Spain. It was founded in 1958 with the name of División de Honor, changing its name to the current name in 1990. The Liga ASOBAL, which is played under EHF rules, currently consists of 1 ...

: 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92 *

: 1990–91

References

External links

Olympic record

Handball Schweiz profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Portner, Zlatko 1962 births 2020 deaths People from Ruma Naturalised citizens of Switzerland Serbian male handball players Yugoslav male handball players Olympic handball players of Yugoslavia Olympic bronze medalists for Yugoslavia Handball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in handball Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics RK Crvenka players RK Metaloplastika players FC Barcelona Handbol players Liga ASOBAL players Expatriate handball players Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in France Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Serbian handball coaches