Lino Červar


Lino Červar is a Croatian professional handball coach and former centre-right politician who is currently the head coach of the Croatia national team. As a member of the largest centre-right political party in Croatia – Croatian Democratic Union, he was a member of the Croatian Parliament from 2003 to 2011.
Červar led the Italy national team to the silver medal at the 1997 Mediterranean Games, while with the Croatia national team, he became the World champion in 2003 and the Olympic champion in 2004. He also led Croatia to silver medals at the 2008, 2010 and 2020 European Championships.
Apart from Croatian, Červar also holds Macedonian citizenship.

Coaching career

Červar started his club head coaching career in 1974 with :hr:RK Novigrad|RK Triko Novigrad. He became the head coach of :hr:RK Umag|RK Istraturist Umag in 1980 until 1991, when he left the club and was appointed the head coach of :de:HC Kärnten|Klagenfurt.
In 2000, Červar was hired by the Croatian champion Badel 1862 Zagreb to be their head coach, but he resigned in 2001. From 2002 to 2004, he led the Italian club :it:Handball Club Conversano|Papilon Conversano and later again became the head coach of RK Zagreb, few months after his departure in Italy.
In 2009, he was hired by the Macedonian club RK Metalurg Skopje, which competes in the VIP Super League, but he left the club in April 2017, due to return to the Croatia national team as the head coach.
In June 2018, he was named the head coach of RK Zagreb for the third time in his coaching career, but in November 2018, he announced his departure from the Zagreb bench due to his obligations with the national team.

National team coaching career

After serving as head coach of the Italy national team, Červar started his tenure coaching the Croatia national team in 2002. He led the team to victory in the 2003 World Championship, gold medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics, and silver medal in the 2005 World Championship. Croatia also received then silver medal at the 2008 European Championship, after playing the final game against Denmark, as well as at the 2009 World Championship and the 2010 European Championship, after the latter's final game against France. He parted ways with the team in 2010.
In 2016 Červar was named head coach of the Macedonia national team, where he stayed for the 2017 World Championship, but left the bench following the team's poor performance at the tournament, which took place in January at France.
In April 2017, Červar returned as head coach of the Croatia national team, following the departure of Željko Babić in January. In the second term at Croatia bench, he won the fifth place at the 2018 European Championship, while at the 2019 World Championship he won the sixth place. In July 2018, Croatia celebrated winning the Mediterranean Games tournament. On 26 January 2020, Červar celebrated winning third European silver medal with Croatia, this time at the 2020 European Championship, following the final match loss to Spain.

Personal life

Born in the village of Delići near Vrsar in Istria, Croatia, Červar married his wife Klaudija in 1975. The couple has two daughters.
Červar was a member of the Croatian Parliament from December 2003 to December 2011, as a member of the largest centre-right political party in Croatia, Croatian Democratic Union.

Honours

Coach

Club

RK Triko Novigrad
RK Istraturist Umag
RK Zagreb
Papilon Conversano
RK Metalurg Skopje
Italy
Croatia