Slobodan Soro (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Слободан Соро; born 23 December 1978) is a Serbian-born Brazilian

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

goalkeeper. As a member of the

Serbia men's national water polo team The Serbia men's national water polo team represents Serbia in international men's water polo. It is considered to be one of the most successful men's water polo teams in the world, winning medals in all Olympic tournaments it has entered, i ...

at the

2008 Beijing 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 ...

and the

2012 London 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 ...

, he won the bronze medal in both of those Olympics. With Serbia he won the

2012 Men's European Water Polo Championship The 2012 Men's European Water Polo Championship took place at the Pieter van den Hoogenband Swim Stadium in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, from 16 to 29 January 2012. Road to the 2012 Olympics The championships was part of the qualification proce ...

. It was his second gold medal in the competition. In 2011 he won the National Championship and National Cup of Serbia,

LEN Euroleague The European Aquatics Champions League is the top-tier European professional water polo club competition with teams from up to 18 countries. It is organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation. The competition started in 1963 as European Cup. A ...

, LEN Supercup and Eurointer League with Partizan Raiffeisen. In 2015 he became a Brazilian naturalized citizen and was a member of the Brazil national team that competed at the

2016 Rio Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. He was the top goalkeeper at the

2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, with 81 saves.

Club career

Slobodan Soro played for numerus clubs, including

VK Vojvodina Vaterpolo klub Vojvodina ( sr-cyr, Ватерполо клуб Војводина) is a professional water polo club based in Novi Sad, Serbia. As of 2023–24 season, the club competes in the Serbian League and Regional League A2. Honours *Ser ...

VK Beograd Vaterpolo klub Beograd ( sr-cyr, Ватерполо клуб Београд) is a water polo club from Belgrade, Serbia. The team competes in the Serbian Water polo League A The Serbian Super League is the highest level of men's water polo in ...

VK Bečej PVK Bečej (full name: Plivački i Vaterpolo klub Bečej; lit. Swimming and Water polo club Bečej) is a swimming and water polo club from Bečej, Serbia. History The club was established in 1947. Its golden years came in the mid-1990s, when the ...

, VK Dinamo,

PVK Jadran PVK Jadran is a professional water polo club based in Herceg Novi, Montenegro. As of 2021–22 season, the club competes in the Montenegrin League and Regional League A1. PVK Jadran is a 16-time winner of the National league (10 Montenegro, 2 S ...

VK Partizan Vaterpolo klub Partizan ( sr-cyr, Ватерполо клуб Партизан) is a professional water polo club based in Belgrade, Serbia. VK Partizan is one of the sports clubs in Serbia that is part of Partizan Belgrade, sport society Partiz ...

, Rari Nantes Savona,

CN Sabadell Club Natació Sabadell is a Spanish aquatic sports club from Sabadell, Catalonia, Spain. Founded in 1916, it is best known for its professional women's water polo team, which has been the most successful team in the national championship in recent ...

CR Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

, Shturm 2002,

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

and now S.S. Lazio.

VK Partizan

In July 2010, the goalkeeper of VK Partizan and Serbian national team, signed a new two-year contract with Serbian champions. Partizan had financial problems, so that at one time Soro's stay at the club was questioned, but in the end it was all denied by him signing a new contract.

National career

2012 Samartzidis Cup

From 9 to 11 January 2012. Soro competed with his national team on the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

in the Samaridis Cup which was more a like preparation tournament for the upcoming 2012 European Championship held in

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

. He and his team-mates finished second behind the

Montenegrins Montenegrins (, or ) are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common ancestry, culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Montenegrins are mostly Orthodox Christians; however, the population also includes ...

on goal difference. However, Soro was named as the best goalkeeper of the tournament.

2012 Eindhoven

On 16 January, at the

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 ...

Soro had a brilliant game making 14 saves in the first game in an 8–5 win against

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 ...

. On 29 January, Soro won the European Championship with his

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 exa ...

beating in the final

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

by 9–8. Unlike in the semifinal game against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

were Soro was substituted by

Branislav Mitrović Branislav Mitrović ( sr-cyr, Бранислав Митровић; born 30 January 1985) is a Serbian water polo goalkeeper for Vasas and the Serbia men's national water polo team. He won the European title in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018, the world ...

because of the poor play, he absolutely dominated on the goal of Serbia in the final match. This was his second gold and overall fourth European medal.

Honours

Club

VK Bečej * National Championship of Yugoslavia (1): 1999–2000 * National Cup of Yugoslavia (1): 1999–2000 *

(1): 1999–2000 VK Partizan * National Championship of Serbia (3): 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11 * National Cup of Serbia (4): 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12 *

(1):

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 ...

* LEN Supercup (1): 2011 *

LEN Cup The European Aquatics Euro Cup is the second-tier European water polo club competition run by the European Aquatics for those clubs who did not qualify for the European Aquatics Champions League. The cup was inaugurated in 1992. From 2024, afte ...

(1): 1997–98 * Eurointer League (2): 2010, 2011 Botafogo * National Championship of Brazil (1): 2015 * Rio de Janeiro State Championship (1): 2016 * South America Championship (1): 2017

Individual

* FINA World Cup Best Goalkeeper (1): 2010 Oreada * FINA World League Best Goalkeeper (1): 2011 Firenze *Samaridis Cup Best Goalkeeper (1): 2012 Chios * Serbia's sport association "May Award" : 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soro, Slobodan 1978 births Living people Sportspeople from Novi Sad Serbian male water polo players Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Serbian emigrants to Brazil Brazilian male water polo players Water polo goalkeepers Water polo players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Serbia in water polo Olympic water polo players for Brazil World Aquatics Championships medalists in water polo European champions for Serbia Water polo players at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in water polo Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Serbia Water polo players at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists in water polo Pan American Games bronze medalists for Brazil Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Naturalized citizens of Brazil Naturalised sports competitors European Water Polo Championship medalists