Renato Vugrinec (born 9 June 1975) is a Slovenian-Macedonian retired

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. Before switching his national team alliagance, Vugrinec was a long time member of

Slovenia men's national handball team The Slovenia national handball team represents Slovenia in international handball matches. Their biggest success is the silver medal at the 2004 European Men's Handball Championship and third place at the 2017 World Men's Handball Champions ...

and represented the country on several international tournaments, including the

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 ...

and the

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 ...

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, before retiring from international play in 2010. Since March 2014 he became eligible to play for Macedonia national handball team, after receiving the country's citizenship in late 2013, and he has made his debut for their national team in June 2014.

Club career

Raised in Videm pri Ptuju, Vugrinec began playing handball in the nearby

Ptuj Ptuj (; , ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, eighth-largest town of Slovenia, located in the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Styria (northeastern Slovenia). It is the seat of the City Municipality of Ptuj, Municipality of Pt ...

and remained there until 1997 when he transferred to Slovenian club

Celje Celje (, , ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, third-largest city in Slovenia. It is a regional center of the traditional Slovenian region of Styria (Slovenia), Styria and the administrative seat of the City Municipality of Celje. Th ...

. In late 1990s and early 2000s Celje was regarded as one of the teams who formed the European club handball elite and they were regularly qualifying among the top four in 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 ...

. During the 2003–04 season Celje won the EHF Champions League after they have defeated the German side

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in a two-legged final. Vugrinec was one of the most important players for his club during the course of the 2003–04 Champions league campaign finishing the competition on ninth place among scorers with 58 goals, including ten which he scored in a two-legged final. After the successful season Celje sold a number of their star players and Vugrinec moved to the German club

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

where he stayed for two seasons. In 2006 he moved to top Spanish side

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

but left the financial troubled club after only one season when he returned to Celje. Considered a club legend in Celje, Vugrinec spent a total of ten and a half seasons with the 2004 European club champions where he scored a total of 1,465 goals in all competitions. After a short spell at Celje Vugrinec then signed for

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

i club

Al Sadd Al Sadd Sports Club () is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the capital city Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in the top level of Qatari football, the Qatar Stars League. Locally, it i ...

where he remained until 2011. Shortly after the start of the 2011–2012 season he moved, this time returning to

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 ...

where he signed a one-year contract with

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. During the summer of 2012 he returned to his native Slovenia and signed a contract with Maribor Branik but remained there only until the end of August of the same year, after he signed with Macedonian side Metalurg Skopje. In February 2015 he signed with Lekhwiya.

International career

Slovenia

Between 1996 and 2010 Vugrinec was a member of the

and he has made several appearances for the team at the

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

and

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

championships, including two appearances at the

(

and

). He was a member of the Slovenian team which were runners-up at the

2004 European Men's Handball Championship The 2004 Men's European Handball Championship was the sixth edition of the tournament and took place from 22 January to 1 February 2004 in Slovenia in the cities of Ljubljana, Celje, Velenje and Koper. Venues Qualification :1 Bold indicates ...

. With 187 appearances and 616 goals he is among the most capped and most prolific goal scorers in history of the Slovenia men's national handball team.

Macedonia

In late 2013 Vugrinec received Macedonian citizenship and the

Macedonian Handball Federation The Macedonian Handball Federation (Macedonian language, Macedonian: Ракометна федерација на Македонија;) commonly known by its acronym, RFM, is the national governing body of handball in Republic of North Macedonia ...

wanted the player to appear for their national team at the

2014 European Men's Handball Championship The 2014 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was the 11th edition of the tournament and held in Denmark from 12–26 January. Denmark was automatically qualified as hosting nation, and as defending champions as well. After the final, at to ...

, played in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

during January 2014, however, this was denied by the European Handball Federation on the basis that Vugrinec has not lived in

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

continuously for two years. In March 2014 the 38-year-old Vugrinec became eligible to play for the Macedonia national handball team, after a decision issued by the

International Handball Federation The International Handball Federation (IHF) is the administrative and controlling body for handball and beach handball. IHF is responsible for the organisation of handball's major international tournaments, notably the IHF World Men's Handball C ...

. On 7 June 2014 the 38 years old Vugrinec made his debut for Macedonia on a

2015 World Men's Handball Championship The 2015 World Men's Handball Championship was the 24th staging of the IHF World Men's Handball Championship, World Men's Handball Championship, organised by the International Handball Federation (IHF). The final tournament was held for the first ...

qualifying match against

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which was won by Macedonia with the score 25–27, with Vugrinec contributing one goal.

Personal life

In November 2024, Vugrinec joined the

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

Serbian Progressive Party The Serbian Progressive Party (, SNS) is a major populist, catch-all party, catch-all List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. It has been the Ruling party, ruling party since 2012. Miloš Vučević, the former prime mi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vugrinec, Renato 1975 births Living people Handball players from Celje Slovenian male handball players Slovenian expatriate handball players in Germany Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Olympic handball players for Slovenia Handball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in North Macedonia Naturalized citizens of North Macedonia Macedonian male handball players Naturalised handball players Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Macedonian expatriate handball players Expatriate handball players in North Macedonia Slovenian expatriate handball players in Spain