Mateo Hrvatin (born 15 August 1980 in

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

) is a former

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n handballer, who played as left winger for

RK Zamet RK Zamet (Rukometni Klub Zamet) is a handball club from Rijeka, Croatia, formed in 1957. The club currently competes in the Croatian Premier Handball League and the Croatian Handball Cup. Although the club has not won any mayor trophies, it has p ...

, CO Zagreb and

RK Crikvenica RK Mornar-Crikvenica (Rukometni Klub Mornar-Crikvenica) is a handball club from Crikvenica, Croatia, formed in 2017 by the merger of RK Crivenica and RK Mornar. History RK Mornar (1980–2017) RK Mornar was founded 26 May 1980 in Dramalj on the i ...

. He was selected by the Croatian national team for the

2009 World Men's Handball Championship The 2009 World Men's Handball Championship (21st tournament) took place in Croatia from 16 January to 1 February, in the cities of Split, Zadar, Osijek, Varaždin, Poreč, Zagreb and Pula. Croatia was selected from a group of four potential hosts ...

Early life

Mateo Hrvatin was born 15 August 1980 in

where he grew up. Hrvatin started playing handball in

at local club

RK Kvarner RK Kvarner Rijeka (Rukometni Klub Kvarner Rijeka) was a handball club from Rijeka, Croatia, formed in 1963. It was later incorporated into Kvarner Kostrena. History RK Kvarner The club was founded 27 February 1963, as RK Kvarner. The first ev ...

. At Kvarner he passed various youth selections before playing at the senior level.

Career

He started his senior career at club RK Pećine which at the time was in the First B League. In 2000 he got called up to play for Zamet in the First League (later Premier League) where he spent most of his career. Hrvatin's first two seasons saw him playing at top level in the league and reaching the finals 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 The Croatian Handball Cup ( hr, Hrvatski rukometni ku ...

. He debuted in his first

European competition The European Competition is a student competition in which students of all ages submit creative, artistic, or written pieces of work on the activities of the European Union. Tendered by European Movement Germany, it is the oldest student competiti ...

in the

EHF Cup Winners' Cup The EHF Cup Winners' Cup was the official competition for men's and women's handball clubs of Europe that won their national cup, and took place every year. From the 2012–13 season, the men's competition was merged with the EHF Cup. Winners ...

, reaching the fourth round in 2001 and 2002 being eliminated by

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Por ...

and Montpellier. Hrvatin established himself quickly in Zamet. Up until the 2006-07 season Zamet was in top flight of the league and then the club hit financial trouble so big that at one time they weren't paying salaries to Hrvatin and captain Milan Uzelac and

Robert Savković Robert Savković (born 27 September 1978) is a retired Croatian handball player. He last played for RK Crikvenica and he also played for Croatia men's national handball team, Croatian national team U-21. Career Savković started his career in ho ...

among others. In 2008. Hrvatin was called up to play 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 exam ...

by coach

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 cent ...

and was picked for the 2009 World Championship. In January 2009, Hrvatin moved to Croatia Osiguranje Zagreb for the remainder of the 2008-09 season and with the club won the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

and

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, c ...

. He reached the quarter-final of the

EHF Champions League The Men's 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 me ...

with the club. In July 2009 Hrvatin returned to Zamet and stayed there for four more years. In his second spell his most notable accomplishment was reaching the finals in the

in 2012 and playing qualifiers in 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. Previ ...

the next season. They lost their first qualifier to Meso Lovoseice on aggregate. In August 2013 Hrvatin left Zamet and started playing for RK Crikvenica. For two seasons he competed for the club in First league (second tier) and at one time he was the coach and sports director. In August 2015 Hrvatin announced that he'd be returning to Zamet yet again. After his announcement there was a lot of doubt if Hrvatin could still play at top level because he had turned 35. In his first season back, he showed great form and ended up being the club's top scorer of the season while helping Zamet to the league play-offs for the first time in ten years. Zamet finished in fourth place reaching the

qualifiers. During the qualifiers they beat

Créteil Créteil () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Créteil is the '' préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne department as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of ...

and CSM București. Zamet reached the third qualifying round of the

where they were defeated by

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 2004 ...

. Hrvatin announced his retirement at the end of the 2016-17 season alongside his long standing teammate Milan Uzelac.

Personal life

Hrvatin is married and has a son.

Honours

As player

;RK Zamet *

Croatian Handball Cup The Croatian Handball Cup ( hr, Hrvatski rukometni kup) 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 Yugoslavi ...

**Finalist (2): 2001, 2012 ;RK Croatia Osiguranje Zagreb * Dukat Premier League **Winner (1): 2008-09 *

**Winner (1): 2009 ;Croatia * 2009 World Championship - 2nd place ;Individual *Selection of the most successful athletes by: COC: 2009 *Special recognition for achievements in sports by PGŽ: 2009 *

hall of fame - 2015 *Best fastbreak goal percentage in Dukat Premier League season 2015-16 - 84,9%

Orders

Ribbon of an Order of the Croatian Wattle

Order of the Croatian Interlace The Order of the Croatian Interlace or Order of the Early Croatian three-strand pattern ( hr, Red hrvatskog pletera) is the seventeenth most important medal given by the Republic of Croatia. The order was founded on 1 April 1995. The medal is awa ...

- 2009

References

Sources

Igrači-aktualni sastav

Mateo Hrvatin uspješno debitirao na Svjetskom prvenstvu
* Petar Orgulić - 50 godina rukometa u Rijeci (2005), Adria public

External links

European Competition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hrvatin, Mateo 1980 births Living people Croatian male handball players Handball players from Rijeka RK Zamet players RK Zagreb players RK Crikvenica players RK Crikvenica coaches