Valter Matošević

Valter Matošević (born 11 June 1970) is a former Croatian team handball player who was at the goalkeeper position. He played for professional teams in Croatia, Germany, Spain, Denmark and Italy. He is current handball coach.^[3][4]

Valter Matošević
Matošević with Croatia in Atlanta 1996
Personal information
Born	(1970-05-11) 11 May 1970 (age 53) Rijeka, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Croatian
Height	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Youth career
Years	Team
1984–1987	RK Zamet
Senior clubs
Years	Team
1986–1987	RK Zamet II
1986–1993	RK Zamet
1993–1996	RK Badel 1862 Zagreb
1996–2000	RK Zamet
2000–2001	RK Metković Jambo
2001–2002	Bologna 69
2002–2003	RK Zagreb
2003–2004	Wilhelmshavener HV
2004–2005	RK Zagreb
2005–2006	RK Poreč
2006–2007	HSG Wetzlar
2007–2008	Portland San Antonio
2008–2009	FCK Håndbold
2009–2010	RK Zamet
2010–2011	TuS Nettelstedt-Lübbecke
National team
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1989–1991	Yugoslavia	22	(0)
1992–2004	Croatia	191	(2)
Teams managed
2010–2016	Croatia U-19 (GK coach)
2012–2017	Zamet (assistant)
2013–2016	Croatia U-21 (GK coach)
2013–2016	Croatia (GK Coach)
2017	Zamet (Youth academy)
2017-2019	Mornar-Crikvenica
2017-2019	Zamet (goalkerping coach)
2019	Zamet
Medal record Men's handball Representing  Yugoslavia Mediterranean Games 1991 Athens Team Competition Representing  Croatia^[1] Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta Team Competition 2004 Athens Team Competition World Championship 1995 Island Team Competition 2003 Portugal Team Competition European Championship 1994 Portugal Team Competition 2016 Poland As Coach^[2] Mediterranean Games 1997 Bari Team Competition 2001 Tunis Team Competition Youth World Championship 2013 Hungary As Coach

He was part of the national team for 12 years and won gold medals at the 1996 Summer Olympics, 2003 World Men's Handball Championship and 2004 Summer Olympics.^[5]

Career

Matošević started his career in his hometown club RK Zamet where he competed in Yugoslav First League and Croatian First League. At a very young age he was recognized as a goalkeeper prodigy so at the age of 16 he made his debut for Zamet II.

In 1993 he left to join Badel 1862 Zagreb later Croatia Banka the Croatian handball title holders.^[6] At Zagreb Matošević had three successes, winning the league and cup while reaching the Champions League finals in 1995.

He returned to Zamet in 1996, who had just come out of the Croatian Second League, and spent four years there helping return the club to the top of Croatian handball. During this time he captained his team. Later his career took him to Metković Jambo, Bologna 69, Wilhelmshavener HV, two more spells at Zagreb, Poreč, HSG Wetzlar, Portland San Antonio and FCK Håndbold. After playing out of Croatia for a few years Matošević returned to RK Zamet in 2009 to end his career.

In December 2010 TuS Nettelstedt-Lübbecke called up Matošević to play for half a season due to the injury of their goalkeeper Nikola Blažičko.^[7]

In 2015. he came out of retirement again to play for ThSV Eisenach so they could get promoted to the A rank bundesliga.^[8] They finished second in the league and were promoted to the 1. bundesliga.

International career

Matošević made his first appearance for the Yugoslav national team in 1989. He competed for Yugoslavia at 1991 Mediterranean Games in Athens.

He played for the Croatian national team from 1992 till 2004.

Matošević was a member of the Croatian national team that won gold Olympic medals two times: at the 1996 Summer Olympics and at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

He played in the 1994 European Championship, 1995 World Championship, 1996 European Championship, 1997 World Championship, 1998 European Championship, 2000 European Championship 2001 World Championship, 2002 European Championship and 2003 World Championship, where Croatia was the world champion.^[9]

He also played in various friendly tournaments for Croatia such as the Croatia Cup, Elfag Cup, Paris tournament and Super League.

Matošević scored a goal against the United States in 2001.^[10] He also scored a goal at the 2003 World Championship Qualification Tournament against Saudi Arabia.^[11]

After the 2004 Summer Olympics he went into retirement from the national team.^{[citation needed]}

Coaching career

After his second retirement he started coaching the goalkeepers of Croatia U-19, RK Zamet^[12] where he is also the assistant coach and the Croatian national team.^[13] Matošević has also been a part of the RINA handball academy, coaching children in Rijeka and Kastav.^[14]

On 31 October Željko Babić, the head coach of the Croatian national team, announced that Venio Losert would be the new goalkeeper coach of the national team.^[15] Matošević responded three days later stating that Babić didn't even call him to tell him the news. He then gave the players and the team his best wishes.^[16]

Personal life

In 2016 he appeared in two documentaries, Od ponora do Olimpa and Prvi Put, which follow the events of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta where Croatia won their first gold medal in handball.^[17]

Honours

Club

RK Zamet

• Croatian First A League
  • Vice-champions (1): 1992
• Croatian Cup
  • Finalist (1): 2000
• Yugoslav Second League
  • Winner (1): 1986-87

RK Zagreb

• Croatian First League
  • Winner (5): 1993-94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2002–03, 2004–05
• Croatian Handball Cup
  • Winner (5): 1994, 1995, 1996, 2003, 2005
• EHF Champions League
  • Runner-up (1): 1995
• EHF Cup Winners' Cup
  • Finalist (1): 2005

RK Metković

• Croatian First League
  • Vice-champions (1): 2000-01
• Croatian Handball Cup
  • Winner (1): 2001
• EHF Cup
  • Finalist (1): 2001

FCK Håndbold

• Danish Handball Cup
  • Winner (1): 2009

ThSV Eisenach

• 2. Bundesliga
  • Promotion (1): 2014-15

Individual

• 2nd best goalkeeper at World Championship in Iceland 1995
• Best Croatian handballer of 1995 by CHF & Sportske novosti^[18]
• Sportsperson of the year by Novi list - 1995^[19]
• Ivica Jobo Kurtini Award - 1995
• Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport - 1996 and 2004 ^[20]
• RK Zamet hall of fame - 2015
• Plack with names of Rijeka's Olympic medalists -2014 ^[21]
• RK Zamet hall of fame - 2015 ^[22]

Records

• Record in Croatian national team for the number of saves in one match - 24^[23]
• Rijeka's sportsperson with the most sports honours

Yugoslavia

• 1991 Mediterranean Games in Athens - 1st

Croatia

Major tournaments

• 1994 European Championship in Portugal - 3rd
• 1995 World Championship in Island - 2nd
• 1996 European Championship in Spain- 5th
• 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta - 1st
• 1997 World Championship in Japan - 13th
• 1998 European Championship in Italy - 8th
• 2000 European Championship in Croatia - 6th
• 2001 World Championship in France - 9th
• 2002 European Championship in Sweden - 16th
• 2003 World Championship in Portugal - 1st
• 2004 European Championship in Slovenia - 4th
• 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens - 1st

Minor tournaments

• 1996 Stratoil World Cup - 8th
• 1997 Mediterranean Games in Bari - 1st
• 1999 Pre-Olympic Tournament - 2nd
• 1999 Super Cup in Germany - 2nd
• 2001 Mediterranean Games in Tunis - 1st
• 2001 Super Cup in Germany - 4th
• 2003 World Championship Qualification Tournament in Portugal - 1st
• 2003 Super Cup in Germany - 4th

Friendly tournaments

• 1997 Paris Tournament - 1st
• 2000 Croatia Cup - 1st
• 2002 Elfag Cup - 2nd
• 2002 Getman Cup - 2nd

Croatia U-19

• 2013 Youth World Championship - 2nd

Coach

RK Mornar-Crikvenica

• Croatian Second League - West (1): 2017-18^[24]

Orders

•  Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar - 1995^[25]
•  Order of Duke Trpimir with Neck Badge and Morning Star - 1996^[26]
•  Order of Duke Branimir with Necklace - 2004^[27]

References

1. "Valter Matošević hall of fame". rk-zamet.com (in Croatian).
2. "Croatia 3rd in the European Championship". voicefromcroatia.com (in Croatian).
3. "Valter Matošević i službeno postao trener rukometaša Zameta". novilist.hr (in Croatian).
4. "Valter Matošević postao trener momčadi novog rukometnog kluba Mornar-Crikvenica". SportCom.hr (in Croatian).
5. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. . Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.
6. "Zamet hall of fame legendary players reveal jersey's". EHF.
7. "Matošević still active now in Lubbecke". handball-planet.com.
8. "Matošević comeback". thsv-eisenach (in German).
9. "Croatia world champions". index-hr (in Croatian).
10. "Croatia's biggest victory in history!". sportnet (in Croatian).
11. "Croatia wins tournament in Visseu". index-hr (in Croatian).
12. "Matošević and Smajlagić return to Zamet". Novi list (in Croatian).
13. "Matošević again in the national team". Novi list (in Croatian).
14. "Famous Olympic player Valter Matošević". liburnija.hr (in Croatian).
15. "Željko Babić otpisao Valtera Matoševića, Tin Lučin na pripremama reprezentacije u Umagu". sportcom.hr (in Croatian).
16. "Valter Matošević postao Pedro u reprezentaciji: 'Da nije vratara, ne bismo vidjeli Rio". Novi list (in Croatian).
17. "Dokumentarni film…". scena.hr (in Croatian).
18. "Povijest". hrs.hr.
19. . novilist.hr. Archived from the original on 5 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
20. "Valter Matošević two time winner of the Franjo Bulčar State Award for Sport". hrvatskareprezentacija.hr (in Croatian).
21. . www.rijeka.hr (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 2 October 2016.
22. "Zamet hall of fame legendary players reveal jersey's". HRT (in Croatian).
23. "The recorder by the defense was not Filip Ivić with 21, but Matošević with 24". Večernji list (in Croatian).
24. "2. HRL: Crikveničani se pobjedom oprostili od svoje publike, Trsaćani poraženi" (in Croatian). SportCom.hr.
25. "ODLUKU KOJOM SE ODLIKUJU REDOM DANICE HRVATSKE S LIKOM FRANJE BUČARA" (in Croatian). hrvatska.poslovniforum.hr.
26. "Valter Matošević biography". hoo.hr (in Croatian).
27. "PREDSJEDNIK REPUBLIKE HRVATSKE" (in Croatian). Narodne novine.

External links

• Official Olympic reports
• Valter Matošević at Olympedia  
• Valter Matošević at Olympics.com  
• at Olympic.org (archived)  
• at the Croatian Olympic Committee (in Croatian) (archived, also available )