Lino Červar (born 22 September 1950) is a Croatian retired

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor 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 thr ...

coach. In 2003 he guided

Croatia men's national handball team The Croatia national handball team () represents Croatia in international men's team handball competitions and friendly matches. The handball team is controlled by the Croatian Handball Federation (HRS). Croatia has o ...

to gold in the 2003 World Championship as well as to gold at the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. As a member of the largest

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

–the

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...

(HDZ)–he was a member of the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...

from 2003 to 2008. Apart from Croatian, Červar also holds

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia * Mac ...

citizenship.

Coaching career

Červar started his club head coaching career in 1974 with RK Triko Novigrad. He was the head coach of RK Istraturist Umag from 1980 until 1991 when he was appointed as the head coach of Austrian team Klagenfurt. In 2000 Červar was hired by Croatian powerhouse

Badel 1862 Zagreb Rukometni klub Zagreb (, ) is a men's professional handball Sports club, club from Zagreb, Croatia. It competes in the Croatian Premier Handball League, Croatian Premier League and the EHF Champions League. RK Zagreb has won 38 national champ ...

to be their head coach. He resigned from Zagreb in 2001. Between 2002 and 2004 he coached Italian team Papilon Conversano and then returned to RK Zagreb (then named Croatia Osiguranje Zagreb). In 2009 Červar was hired by Macedonian team

RK Metalurg Skopje RK Metalurg Skopje () is a Macedonian handball club based in Skopje. They compete in the domestic Macedonian Handball First League, and have competed in the EHF Champions League. History The club was founded in 1971 under patronage of the Skop ...

but he left the club in April 2017 due to return in the Croatian national team as the head coach. In June 2018 he was named the head coach of RK Zagreb for the third time in his coaching career but in November 2018 he announced his resignation from the club due to his obligations with Croatia's team.

National team coaching career

After serving as the head coach of the Italy men's team, Červar started his tenure coaching the Croatia men's team in 2002. He led the team to victory in the 2003 World Championship, to gold in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

and to silver in the 2005 World Championship. Croatia also received then silver medal at the 2008 European Championship after playing the final game against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

as well as at the 2009 World Championship and 2010 European Championship after playing both championships' final games against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He parted ways with the

Croatian Handball Federation The Croatian Handball Federation (; abbr. HRS) is the governing body of handball in Croatia. It is based in Zagreb. It organizes the handball leagues: * Croatian Men's Premier Handball League * Croatian Women's First Handball League * Croatian ...

in 2010. In 2016 Červar took over the Macedonia men's team as the head coach where he stayed for the 2017 World Championship but left the bench following the poor performance at the tournament which took place in January in France. In March 2017 Červar returned to the Croatian national team as the head coach, following the departure of Željko Babić in January the same year. In his second mandate at Croatia bench he guided the team to the fifth place at the 2018 European Championship while at the 2019 World Championship Croatia managed to win the sixth place. In July 2018 Croatia celebrated winning the

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fi ...

tournament in

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

. On 26 January 2020 Červar celebrated winning his third European silver medal with Croatia, this time at the Championship in Sweden, Austria & Norway following the final game defeat from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. In January 2021, following a surprising debacle at the

World Championship 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 ...

in Egypt, Červar resigned as head coach and was succeeded by his assistant Hrvoje Horvat.

Personal life

Born in the village of Delići near

Vrsar Vrsar (Italian and Venetian: Orsera) is a seaside village and a municipality in Istria, west Croatia, located 9 kilometers south of Poreč. The historical center is located on top of a hill, including the St. Martin parish church and the 40-mete ...

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

region of Croatia, Červar married his wife Klaudija in 1975. The couple have two daughters. He was a member of the

from December 2003 to January 2008 as a member of the conservative

(HDZ) party.

Honours

Coach

Club

;RK Triko Novigrad *Croatian Regional League – West: 1977–78 ;RK Istraturist Umag *

Yugoslav Third League Yugoslav Third League (; sr-Cyrl, 3. савезна лига) was the third tier football league of SFR Yugoslavia. The top clubs were promoted to the second tier, the Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav Second League ( Bosnian: ''Druga savezna l ...

: 1980–81, 1983–84 *

Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav Second League ( Bosnian: ''Druga savezna liga,'' Croatian: ''Druga savezna liga'', Serbian: ''Друга савезна лига'', Slovenian: ''Druga zvezna liga'', Macedonian: ''Втора сојузна лига'', ''Vtora sojuzna l ...

: 1989–90 ;RK Zagreb *

Croatian First League The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

: 2000–01, 2001–02, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09 *

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup *Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup The Croatian Water Polo C ...

: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 *

EHF Cup Winners' Cup The EHF Cup Winners' Cup was the official competition for men's and women's handball clubs of Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocea ...

runner-up: 2005 ;Papilon Conversano *Serie A: 2002–03, 2003–04 *Italian Cup: 2003 ;RK Metalurg Skopje * Macedonian Super League: 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14 * Macedonian Cup: 2010, 2011, 2013 *

SEHA League The South East Handball Association League, or simply the SEHA League, is a regional men's club handball league in Southeast Europe, featuring teams from Croatia, Hungary, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovakia. Due to sponsorship reasons, the le ...

runner-up: 2011–12

International

;Italy *

1997 Mediterranean Games The XIII Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1997 Mediterranean Games, were the 13th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Bari, Italy, from 13 to 25 June 1997, where 2,956 athletes (2,166 men and 790 women) from 21 countries partici ...

: 2nd place ;Croatia * 2003 World Championship: 1st place * 2003 Sportske novosti awards: Team of the year *

: 1st place *2004

Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport () is the highest recognition that Republic of Croatia gives for extraordinary achievements and contributions of remarkable meaning for the development of sport in Croatia. This award has been given since 1991. I ...

* 2004 Sportske novosti awards: Team of the year *2005 Croatia Cup: 1st place * 2005 World Championship: 2nd place *

2005 Mediterranean Games The XVth Mediterranean Games Almería 2005 (XV Juegos del Mediterráneo 2005 in Spanish), commonly known as the 2005 Mediterranean Games, were the 15th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Almería, Spain over 10 days, from 24 June to 3 Ju ...

: 2nd place *2006 Croatia Cup: 1st place *2006 BiH Trophy: 3rd place *2006 World Cup in Sweden & Germany: 1st place *2007 Croatia Cup: 1st place *2008 Croatia Cup: 1st place * 2008 European Championship: 2nd place *2008 Interwetten Cup: 2nd place * 2009 World Championship: 2nd place *

2018 Mediterranean Games The 2018 Mediterranean Games (, ), officially known as the XVIII Mediterranean Games (, ) and commonly known as Tarragona 2018, was an international multi-sport event held from 22 June to 1 July 2018 in Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. Tarragona was ...

: 1st place * 2020 European Championship: 2nd place * 2009 Sportske novosti awards: Team of the Year *2010 Interwetten Cup: 1st place * 2010 European Championship: 2nd place * 2020 European Championship: 2nd place

Individual

: 2003 *Croatian Coach of the Year: 2004 *Honoured for coaching career by Faculty of Kinesiology in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

: 2009 *Matija Ljubek lifetime achievement award by the

Croatian Olympic Committee The Croatian Olympic Committee (, HOO) is the non-profit organization representing Croatian athletes in the International Olympic Committee. The COC organizes Croatia's representatives at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. It also organizes the ...

: 2010 *Best handball Coach of the Year in North Macedonia: 2011 * EHF Coaching Achievement Award: 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cervar, Lino 1950 births Living people Croatian handball coaches Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament People from Vrsar Croatian Democratic Union politicians Croatian male handball players RK Zagreb coaches Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in North Macedonia Handball coaches of international teams Macedonian people of Croatian descent