Igor Vori (born 20 September 1980) is a 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 ...

coach and former player who is currently the coach of Croatian club MRK Sesvete. Regarded as one of the best line players in handball history and renowned for his defensive and attacking abilities, Vori won the 2003 World Championship and the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

gold medal in

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 ...

with the Croatian national team, and over thirty club titles playing for

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 ...

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

HSV Hamburg Handball Sport Verein Hamburg is a professional handball club from Germany, located in Hamburg. Currently, Handball Hamburg competes in the Handball-Bundesliga. The full name in German is ''Handball Sport Verein Hamburg e.V.'' but the club has t ...

and

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

. He has the second-most appearances for the Croatian national team with 246 caps. Voted most valuable player at the 2009 World Championship and best defensive player at the 2008 European Championship, Vori also earned two

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 ...

silver medals and one bronze medal (

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 ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

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 ...

), two silver

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

medals and one bronze medal (

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

), and one Olympic bronze medal (

) with the Croatian national team. He was previously the sporting director of the Croatian national teams. He was inducted into the EHF Hall of Fame in 2024.

Club career

Vori began his senior handball career with

in 1997. After winning four league and three cup titles, he moved to Italian club Pallamano Prato in 2001 and joined Pallamano Conversano the following year, winning the Italian league and cup with the latter. In 2003, Vori returned to RK Zagreb, before joining Spanish team

in 2005. He won the league, cup and super cup with the club, before returning to RK Zagreb in 2007. Following two seasons with the team, Vori transferred to German club

, where he won league and cup titles, and 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 ...

. In 2013, Vori moved to French club

, winning consecutive league and cup titles for two seasons. He returned to RK Zagreb for a fourth stint in 2016, before retiring after the 2017–18 season. Towards the end of the 2018–19 season, Vori came out of retirement to briefly play for RK Zagreb. In March 2022, Vori joined German club Füchse Berlin for the remainder of the 2021–22 season.

International career

Vori made his debut for the Croatian national team in 2001. He won the 2003 World Championship and the Olympic gold medal in

with the national team. The Croatian team placed second at the 2005 World Championship and the 2008 European Championship, with Vori voted best defensive player at the latter tournament. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, Vori and the national team placed fourth after losing to

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 the bronze medal match. At the 2009 World Championship held in Croatia, the Croatian team finished second, while Vori was voted most valuable player and best pivot of the tournament. He was given a red card during the last minutes of the final match after pretending to throw the ball at a referee's face. Vori and the national team placed second at the 2010 European Championship, where he was again included on the tournament's All-Star Team as best pivot. At the 2012 European Championship, Vori placed third with the national team. He was part of the Croatian squad that won the bronze medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Vori and the Croatian team finished third at the 2013 World Championship. During his final years with the national team, he represented Croatia at the European Championships in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, and the 2015 World Championships. Vori retired from the national team in 2018, having made 246 appearances and scored 590 goals. He captained the team from 2009 to 2015 and holds the record for most appearances for the Croatian national team.

Coaching career

Following his retirement from playing in 2018, Vori joined the Croatian national team as an assistant coach to

Lino Červar Lino Červar (born 22 September 1950) is a Croatian retired handball coach. In 2003 he guided Croatia men's national handball team to gold in the 2003 World Championship as well as to gold at the 2004 Olympics. As a member of the largest centr ...

and won the gold medal at 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 ...

with the team that same year. On 1 June 2020, following the resignation of

Veselin Vujović Veselin Vujović (born 18 January 1961) is a Montenegrin handball coach and former professional player. He is the current head coach of RK Nexe Našice and Qatar men's national handball team. As a player, Vujović competed at the 1984 and 1 ...

, Vori was named the new head coach of

and left his role at the national team. He was sacked on 9 October that same year. In March 2022, Vori was announced as new head coach of U21 Croatia national team. In July 2022, he was appointed the new head coach of

TV Großwallstadt TV Großwallstadt is a team handball club from Großwallstadt, Lower Franconia. Currently, TV Großwallstadt competes in the 2.Bundesliga and the DHB-Pokal. The club has seen great success, especially from the late 1970s until the early 1990s. ...

. He departed the club in January 2023 for personal reasons, citing a wish to return to Croatia. In October 2023, Vori was announced as the new head coach of MRK Sesvete.

Honours

Club

Zagreb * Croatian Premier League: 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2016–17, 2017–18 *

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 ...

: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2017, 2018 Conversano *

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

: 2002–03 *Italian Cup: 2003 FC 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 ...

: 2005–06 *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Supercopa ASOBAL The Supercopa ASOBAL or the Supercopa de España de Balonmano was an annual cup competition for Spanish handball teams. It was organised by the Liga ASOBAL. It was first played for in 1985 and was disputed between the Liga ASOBAL champions and the ...

: 2006–07 * Pirenees Leagues: 2005–06, 2006–07 HSV Hamburg *

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

DHB-Pokal The DHB-Pokal (English: German Handball Federation Cup) is an elimination handball tournament held annually in Germany. It is the second most important handball national title in the country after the Handball-Bundesliga championship. DHB-Pokal ...

: 2010 *

DHB-Supercup The DHB-Supercup (English: German Handball Supercup) is an handball tournament held annually between the Handball-Bundesliga champions and the DHB-Pokal champion. Results Total titles won See also * Handball-Bundesliga * DHB-Pokal The DHB- ...

: 2009, 2010 *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Paris Saint-Germain *

LNH Division 1 LNH Division 1, doing business as Starligue and currently known as Liqui Moly Starligue for sponsorship reasons, is the premier men's professional handball league in France. It is administered by the Ligue Nationale de Handball, under delegatio ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16 *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

: 2014, 2015 *Trophée des champions: 2014, 2015

Individual

General *

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 All-Star Team * Best defensive player of the 2008 European Championship *

Most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

and best pivot of the 2009 World Championship *Best pivot of the 2010 European Championship * EHF Hall of Fame in 2024.

Orders

* Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vori, Igor 1980 births Living people Croatian male handball players Olympic handball players for Croatia Handball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Croatia in handball Olympic bronze medalists for Croatia in handball Handball players from Zagreb RK Zagreb players Liga ASOBAL players Handball-Bundesliga players FC Barcelona Handbol players Olympic medalists in handball Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Croatian expatriate handball players in Germany Croatian expatriate handball players in France Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Croatian expatriate handball players in Spain 21st-century Croatian sportsmen Croatian handball coaches Expatriate handball coaches Paris Saint-Germain Handball players Füchse Berlin Reinickendorf HBC players Handball SV Hamburg players