Valter Matošević (born 11 June 1970) is a former Croatian

team 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 Handball goalkeeper, goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands ...

player who was at the goalkeeper position. He played for professional teams in Croatia,

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and

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. He is current handball coach. He was part of the national team for 12 years and won gold medals at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

2003 World Men's Handball Championship The 2003 World Men's Handball Championship took place in Portugal from 20 January to 2 February 2003. It was the 18th edition of the World Championship in team handball and Croatia men's national handball team, Croatia won the championship. Ven ...

and

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 ...

Career

Matošević started his career in his hometown club RK Zamet where he competed in

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

and Croatian First League. At a very young age he was recognized as a goalkeeper prodigy so at the age of 16 he made his debut for Zamet II. In 1993 he left to join Badel 1862 Zagreb later Croatia Banka the Croatian handball title holders. At

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 ...

Matošević had three successes, winning the league and cup while reaching the Champions League finals in 1995. He returned to Zamet in 1996, who had just come out of the Croatian Second League, and spent four years there helping return the club to the top of Croatian handball. During this time he captained his team. Later his career took him to Metković Jambo, Bologna 69, Wilhelmshavener HV, two more spells at Zagreb,

Poreč Poreč (; known also by several alternative names) is a town and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria County, west Croatia. Its major landmark is the 6th-century Euphrasian Basilica, which was designated a UN ...

, HSG Wetzlar, Portland San Antonio and FCK Håndbold. After playing out of Croatia for a few years Matošević returned to RK Zamet in 2009 to end his career. In December 2010 TuS Nettelstedt-Lübbecke called up Matošević to play for half a season due to the injury of their goalkeeper Nikola Blažičko. In 2015. he came out of retirement again to play for ThSV Eisenach so they could get promoted to the A rank bundesliga. They finished second in the league and were promoted to the 1. bundesliga.

International career

Matošević made his first appearance for the Yugoslav national team in 1989. He competed for

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

1991 Mediterranean Games The XI Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1991 Mediterranean Games, were the 11th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Athens, Greece, from 28 June to 12 July 1991, where 2,762 athletes (2,176 men and 586 women) from 18 countries p ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. He played for the Croatian national team from 1992 till 2004. Matošević was a member of the Croatian national team that won gold Olympic medals two times: at the

and at the

. He played in the 1994 European Championship, 1995 World Championship, 1996 European Championship, 1997 World Championship, 1998 European Championship, 2000 European Championship 2001 World Championship, 2002 European Championship and 2003 World Championship, where Croatia was the world champion. He also played in various friendly tournaments for Croatia such as the Croatia Cup, Elfag Cup, Paris tournament and Super League. Matošević scored a goal against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 2001. He also scored a goal at the 2003 World Championship Qualification Tournament against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. After the

he went into retirement from the national team.

Coaching career

After his second retirement he started coaching the goalkeepers of Croatia U-19, RK Zamet where he is also the assistant coach and the Croatian national team. Matošević has also been a part of the RINA handball academy, coaching children in

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

and

Kastav Kastav is a town in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, western part of Croatia, built on a 365 m high hill overlooking the Kvarner Gulf on the northern coast of the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic. It is in close vicinity of Rijeka, the largest port in Croatia ...

. On 31 October Željko Babić, the head coach of the Croatian national team, announced that Venio Losert would be the new goalkeeper coach of the national team. Matošević responded three days later stating that Babić didn't even call him to tell him the news. He then gave the players and the team his best wishes.

Personal life

In 2016 he appeared in two documentaries, '' Od ponora do Olimpa'' and '' Prvi Put'', which follow the events of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta where Croatia won their first gold medal in

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 ...

Honours

Club

RK Zamet * Croatian First A League **Vice-champions (1):

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

* Croatian Cup **Finalist (1): 2000 *

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 ...

**Winner (1): 1986-87 RK Zagreb *Croatian First League **Winner (5): 1993-94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2002–03, 2004–05 *

Croatian Handball Cup The Croatian Handball Cup () is a national team handball competition in Croatia operated by the Croatian Handball Federation. It has been held annually since Croatian independence in 1991 and succeeded the former Yugoslavian Handball Cup. Winner ...

**Winner (5): 1994, 1995, 1996, 2003, 2005 *

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 ...

**Runner-up (1): 1995 *

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 ...

**Finalist (1): 2005 RK Metković *Croatian First League **Vice-champions (1): 2000-01 *

**Winner (1): 2001 *

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 ...

**Finalist (1): 2001 FCK Håndbold * Danish Handball Cup **Winner (1): 2009 ThSV Eisenach * 2. Bundesliga **Promotion (1): 2014-15

Individual

*2nd best goalkeeper at World Championship in Iceland 1995 *Best

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 ...

n handballer of 1995 by CHF & Sportske novosti *Sportsperson of the year by

Novi list ''Novi list'' () is the oldest Croatian daily newspaper published in Rijeka. It is read mostly in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County of Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeas ...

- 1995 * Ivica Jobo Kurtini Award - 1995 *

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 ...

- 1996 and 2004 *RK Zamet hall of fame - 2015 * Plack with names of Rijeka's Olympic medalists -2014 *RK Zamet hall of fame - 2015

Records

*Record in Croatian national team for the number of saves in one match - 24 *

's sportsperson with the most sports honours

Yugoslavia

* 1991 Mediterranean Games in Athens - 1st

Croatia

;Major tournaments * 1994 European Championship in Portugal - 3rd * 1995 World Championship in Island - 2nd * 1996 European Championship in Spain- 5th * 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta - 1st * 1997 World Championship in Japan - 13th * 1998 European Championship in Italy - 8th * 2000 European Championship in Croatia - 6th * 2001 World Championship in France - 9th * 2002 European Championship in Sweden - 16th * 2003 World Championship in Portugal - 1st * 2004 European Championship in Slovenia - 4th * 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens - 1st ;Minor tournaments * 1996 Stratoil World Cup - 8th * 1997 Mediterranean Games in Bari - 1st * 1999 Pre-Olympic Tournament - 2nd * 1999 Super Cup in Germany - 2nd * 2001 Mediterranean Games in Tunis - 1st *2001 Super Cup in Germany - 4th *2003 World Championship Qualification Tournament in Portugal - 1st *2003 Super Cup in Germany - 4th ;Friendly tournaments *1997 Paris Tournament - 1st *2000 Croatia Cup - 1st *2002 Elfag Cup - 2nd *2002 Getman Cup - 2nd ;Croatia U-19 * 2013 Youth World Championship - 2nd

Coach

RK Mornar-Crikvenica *Croatian Second League - West (1): 2017-18

Orders

* Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar - 1995 * Ribbon of the Order of Duke Trpimir

Order of Duke Trpimir with Neck Badge and Morning Star - 1996 * Order of Prince Branimir

Order of Duke Branimir with Necklace - 2004

References

External links

*
Official Olympic reports
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Matosevic, Valter 1970 births Living people RK Zamet players Croatian male handball players Olympic handball players for Croatia Olympic gold medalists for Croatia in handball Handball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics SDC San Antonio players RK Zagreb players HSG Wetzlar players Olympic medalists in handball Handball players from Rijeka Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Competitors at the 1991 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 1997 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 2001 Mediterranean Games Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Croatian expatriate handball players in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Croatia RK Zamet coaches RK Crikvenica coaches Mediterranean Games medalists in handball Yugoslav male handball players TuS Nettelstedt-Lübbecke players Croatian expatriate handball players in Spain Expatriate handball players in Denmark 21st-century Croatian sportsmen