Mario Kelentrić (born 30 January 1973) is a retired Croatian

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 ...

player who is currently the goalkeeping coach of the Bosnian national team and RK Vardar 1961. He has played for clubs in

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 ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

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 is noted as being one of the best goalkeepers of Croatia and he was also part of the golden generation witch won the 2003 World Championship in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Career

In 1993 Kelentrić signed with

RK Medveščak Zagreb RK may refer to: Science and technology * Radial keratotomy, a surgical procedure on the eye * Rhodopsin kinase, an enzyme * r/K selection theory, in biology, relating to the trade-off between quantity and quality of offspring * Runge–Kutta meth ...

. In his first season with the club he reached the final of the

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 ...

. During his seven-year stay he reached two more cup finals and was in the top flight for most of his time spent there. In 1999 he moved to

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 ...

. In his first season with the club he reached the semi-final of the

EHF Champions League The 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 men's com ...

and won both domestic titles. In 2001 he moved to Pivovara Laško Celje and unfortunately was part of a team that lost the domestic title for the first time since the inception of the Slovenian League. In 2002 he moved to Metković Jambo but he stayed at the club for only half a season leaving in January 2003 to return to

RK Zagreb Rukometni klub Zagreb (, ) is a men's professional handball club from Zagreb, Croatia. It competes in the Croatian Premier League and the EHF Champions League. RK Zagreb has won 38 national championships and the national cup 32 times. The c ...

. In 2004 he left for

signing with

TUSEM Essen TUSEM Essen is a handball club from Essen, Germany. Currently, they compete in the 2. Handball-Bundesliga. Accomplishments *Handball-Bundesliga: 3 **: 1986, 1987, 1989 *DHB-Pokal: 3 **: 1988, 1991, 1992 *EHF Champions League: 1 **: 1988 * EHF ...

with whom he won the

EHF Cup The EHF European League is an annual men's handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF) since 1981. It is the second-tier competition of European club handball, ranking only below the EHF Champions League. Previo ...

. Later he had short stints with RK Agram Medveščak and Saint-Marcel Vernon before moving to

MT Melsungen MT Melsungen is a German handball team from Melsungen, Germany, that plays in the Handball-Bundesliga. History From 1992 to 2005, the team played in the 2. Handball-Bundesliga and finished third twice (in 1997/98 and 2003/2004). In the 20 ...

where he played for six years. While there he took part in HBL All-Star Game 2009. He finally retired in 2013 in

International career

He appeared 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 ...

from 1997 to 2004 making 86 appearances notably sporting the jersey number 1. He played at

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 ...

, 1998 European Championship, 1999 World Championship, 1999 Super Cup, 2001 World Championship,

2001 Mediterranean Games The XIV Mediterranean Games (), commonly known as the 2001 Mediterranean Games, were the 14th Mediterranean Games held in Tunis, Tunisia, from 2–15 September 2001, where 2,991 athletes (1,972 men and 1,019 women) from 23 countries participated. ...

, 2002 European Championship, 2003 World Championship and at the 2004 European Championship. After the 2004 European Championship national team head coach Lino Červar never called up Kelentrić to play for the national team even though he was the best goalkeeper in

at the time. Kelentrić has stated numerous time since that he hates Červar for not calling him up for 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 that he will never forgive him for that.

Honours

;Medveščak *

**Finalist (3):

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Limburgse Handbal Dagen The Limburgse Handbal Dagen / Limbourg Handball Days is a handball tournament organized since 1988 in Limburg (Netherlands), especially in the cities of Sittard, Geleen and Beek. The tournament lasts for 3 days with teams from Europe, Africa and A ...

**Winner (1):

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

;Zagreb * Croatian First A League/First League/Premier League **Winner (5): 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2012-13 *

**Winner (4):

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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 60 ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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 ...

**Winner (1): 2012-13 ;Celje *

Slovenian First League The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

**Runner-up (1): 2001-02 * Slovenian Cup **Finalist (1):

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

;Essen *

**Winner (1):

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

;Individual *2003 Athletes of the Year - Most Successful Men's Team by: COC

References

External links

Eurohandball profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelentric, Mario 1973 births Living people People from Gradačac Sportspeople from Tuzla Canton Croatian male handball players RK Zagreb players Handball players from Zagreb Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Croatian expatriate handball players in Germany Croatian expatriate handball players in France Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Croatia Mediterranean Games medalists in handball Competitors at the 1997 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 2001 Mediterranean Games 20th-century Croatian people 21st-century Croatian sportsmen Croatian sportspeople from Bosnia and Herzegovina MT Melsungen players Expatriate handball players in Slovenia Croatian handball coaches Expatriate handball coaches