Zlatko Saračević

Zlatan "Zlatko" Saračević (born 5 July 1961) is a Croatian former professional handball player who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics for SFR Yugoslavia and in the 1996 Summer Olympics for Croatia. He is currently the head coach of RK Podravka.

Zlatko Saračević
Saračević (left) during the 2009 World Championship
Personal information
Full name Zlatan Saračević
Born (1961-07-05) 5 July 1961
Banja Luka, FPR Yugoslavia
Nationality Croatian
Playing position Left back
Club information
Current club RK Podravka (manager)
Number 17
Youth career
Team
 Borac Banja Luka
Senior clubs
Years Team
1977–1987
 Borac Banja Luka
1987–1990
 Medveščak Zagreb
1990–1993
 Nîmes
1993–1994
 Bordeaux
1994–1995
 Créteil
1995–1997
 Istres
1997–2000
 Badel 1862 Zagreb
2000–2002
 Fotex Veszprém
2002–2003
 Zamet Crotek
National team
Years Team
1980–1981
 Yugoslavia U21
1981–1991
 Yugoslavia 145 (200)
1992–2000
 Croatia 75[1] (244)
2000–2002
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Teams managed
2003–2004
 Zamet Crotek
2004–2005
 Nyíregyházi KSE
2009–2010
 Čelik Zenica
2010–2015
 RK Zagreb (assistant)
2014
 RK Zagreb (interim)
2016–2017
 Dubrovnik
2017–2018
 Croatia (assistant)
2017–2018
 RK Zagreb
2018–
 RK Podravka
Medal record
Representing  Yugoslavia
Olympic Games
1988 Seoul Team
World Championship
1986 Switzerland Team
IHF Junior World Championship
1981 Portugal Team
Representing  Croatia
Olympic Games
1996 Atlanta Team
World Championship
1995 Iceland Team
European Championship
1994 Portugal Team
Mediterranean Games
1993 Languedoc-Roussillon Team

From the 2015 World Championship to the 2017 World Championship he had been a commentator on RTL Televizija with Filip Brkić.[2]

Playing career

He was born in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Product of the prolific youth academy RK Borac Banja Luka, he was one of the greater Yugoslavian players of the early 80s, whose junior team won the world junior championship, defeating the then invincible Soviet Union in the final. With the Yugoslav national team he would win the 1986 World Championship.[3]

In 1988 he was part of the Yugoslav team which won the bronze medal. He played all six matches and scored nine goals.[4]

He played for ten years in RK Borac Banja Luka winning the league and cup once. In 1987 he moved to RK Medveščak from Zagreb. During his three-year stay with the club he won the Yugoslav Cup in 1989 and 1990. After his stint in RK Medveščak he moved to France where he played for seven years in Nîmes, Bordeaux, Créteil and Istres. He won the French First League two times and was the league's top goalscorer three time.[5]

In 1997 he moved to Croatian side Badel 1862 Zagreb. At the club he won during his three-year stay he won all league and cup titles. He also reached the EHF Champions League final twice and the semi-final once. He was also the top goalscorer in the EHF Champions League during his last two seasons.

In 2000 he moved to Fotex Veszprém where he played for two seasons winning league and cup titles while reaching the EHF Champions League final. In 2002 he moved to Zamet Crotek where he finished his playing career and started his coaching career.[6]

While playing for Zamet in an EHF Cup match against Lukoil Dinamo Astrakhan Saračević provoked a fight during the match, all of the players and fans fought against the Russian players. Saračević got a one-year ban from playing handball in European competitions and Zamet Crotek where fined and lost the match 10:0.[7] Saračević retired at the end of the 2002–03 season at RK Zamet Crotek.

With the Croatian national team Saračević won a bronze medal at the 1994 European Championship, a silver medal at the 1995 World Championship and gold medals at the 1993 Mediterranean Games and 1996 Summer Olympics. At the Olympics he played six matches including the final and scored 16 goals.

Coaching career

On 27 February 2003 it was announced that Saračević had become the new head coach of RK Zamet Crotek after the sacking of Damir Čavlović.

During the rest of the 2002–03 season he was a player-coach in some matches. At the end of the season Zamet finished in fifth place while reaching the semi-final of the Croatian Cup. Failing to qualify in the EHF Cup and a bad league position in the new season force the boards hand to sack Saračević on 22 March 2004.

He has had unsuccessful stints in Nyíregyházi KSE in Hungary and Čelik Zenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For a brief time he was the assistant coach of RK Zagreb.

On 19 March 2016 he was named as coach of Dubrovnik.[8]

From April 2017 to February 2018, he was in the Croatia national team staff of head coach Lino Červar.

In November 2017 after departure of Kasim Kamenica, he signed with RK Zagreb. He finished contract in June 2018, after end of season.

On 14 June 2018 he was named as the head coach of RK Podravka, Croatian women's club.

Honours

Player
Borac Banja Luka
Medveščak
USAM Nîmes
Badel 1862 Zagreb
Veszprém
Individual

Coach
Zagreb

Orders

References
  1. "Igrači Zlatko Saračević". web.archive.org/web (in Croatian).
  2. "'I ja sam sada postao navijač...' Brkić: 'I ja sam odavno'" (in Croatian). jutarnji.hr.
  3. "Saračević se prisjetio 1987.: Bili smo jedini Hrvati u momčadi" (in Croatian). Večernji.hr.
  4. "Zlatko Saračević, bivši rukometni as za Glas Srpske: Borac, ajvar i ćevapi brend Banjaluke" (in Serbian). glassrpske.
  5. "Le palmarès" (in French). usam-nimesgard.
  6. "Bozidar Jovic Zágrábban készül" (in Hungarian). nemzetisport.hu.
  7. "Handball club LUKoil-Dynamo demands to punish organizers of Croatia match". pravdareport.com.
  8. "Saračević postao trener drugoligaša Dubrovnika" (in Croatian). večenji.hr.
  9. "ODLUKU KOJOM SE ODLIKUJU REDOM DANICE HRVATSKE S LIKOM FRANJE BUČARA" (in Croatian). hrvatska.poslovniforum.hr.
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