Igor Vori Explained

Igor Vori
Nationality:Croatian
Birth Date:20 September 1980
Birth Place:Zagreb, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Position:Pivot
Currentclub:MRK Sesvete (manager)
Years1:1997–2001
Clubs1:RK Zagreb
Years2:2001–2002
Clubs2:Alpi Pallamano Prato
Years3:2002–2003
Clubs3:Pallamano Conversano
Years4:2003–2005
Clubs4:RK Zagreb
Years5:2005–2007
Clubs5:FC Barcelona
Years6:2007–2009
Clubs6:RK Zagreb
Years7:2009–2013
Clubs7:HSV Hamburg
Years8:2013–2016
Clubs8:Paris Saint-Germain
Years9:2016–2019
Clubs9:RK Zagreb
Years10:2022
Clubs10:Füchse Berlin
Nationalyears1:2001–2018
Nationalteam1:Croatia
Nationalcaps1:246
Nationalgoals1:590
Manageryears1:2018–2020
Managerclubs1:Croatia (assistant coach)
Manageryears2:2020
Managerclubs2:RK Zagreb
Manageryears3:2022–
Managerclubs3:Croatia U21
Manageryears4:2022–2023
Managerclubs4:TV Großwallstadt
Manageryears5:2023–
Managerclubs5:MRK Sesvete

Igor Vori (born 20 September 1980) is a Croatian handball coach and former player who is currently the coach of Croatian club MRK Sesvete. Regarded as one of the best line players in handball history and renowned for his defensive and attacking abilities, Vori won the 2003 World Championship and the Olympic gold medal in 2004 with the Croatian national team, and over thirty club titles playing for RK Zagreb, FC Barcelona, HSV Hamburg and Paris Saint-Germain.[1] [2] [3] He holds the record for most appearances for the Croatian national team with 246 caps.[4]

Voted most valuable player at the 2009 World Championship and best defensive player at the 2008 European Championship, Vori also earned two silver and one bronze World Championship medal (2005, 2009, 2013), two silver and one bronze European Championship medal (2008, 2010, 2012), and one Olympic bronze medal (2012) with the Croatian national team. He was previously the sporting director of the Croatian national teams.[5]

Club career

Vori began his senior handball career with RK Zagreb in 1997. After winning four league and three cup titles, he moved to Italian club Pallamano Prato in 2001 and joined Pallamano Conversano the following year, winning the Italian league and cup with the latter. In 2003, Vori returned to RK Zagreb, before joining Spanish team FC Barcelona in 2005. He won the league, cup and super cup with the club, before returning to RK Zagreb in 2007. Following two seasons with the team, Vori transferred to German club HSV Hamburg, where he won league and cup titles, and the EHF Champions League.

In 2013, Vori moved to French club Paris Saint-Germain, winning consecutive league and cup titles for two seasons. He returned to RK Zagreb for a fourth stint in 2016, before retiring after the 2017–18 season. Towards the end of the 2018–19 season, Vori came out of retirement to briefly play for RK Zagreb.[6] In March 2022, Vori joined German club Füchse Berlin for the remainder of the 2021–22 season.[7]

International career

Vori made his debut for the Croatian national team in 2001. He won the 2003 World Championship and the Olympic gold medal in 2004 with the national team.[8] [9] The Croatian team placed second at the 2005 World Championship and the 2008 European Championship, with Vori voted best defensive player at the latter tournament. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Vori and the national team placed fourth after losing to Spain in the bronze medal match.[10]

At the 2009 World Championship held in Croatia, the Croatian team finished second, while Vori was voted most valuable player and best pivot of the tournament. He was given a red card during the last minutes of the final match after pretending to throw the ball at a referee's face.[11] Vori and the national team placed second at the 2010 European Championship, where he was again included on the tournament's All-Star Team as best pivot.

At the 2012 European Championship, Vori placed third with the national team. He was part of the Croatian squad that won the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Vori and the Croatian team finished third at the 2013 World Championship. During his final years with the national team, he represented Croatia at the European Championships in 2014 and 2018, and the 2015 World Championships. Vori retired from the national team in 2018, having made 246 appearances and scored 590 goals. He captained the team from 2009 to 2015 and holds the record for most appearances for the Croatian national team.

Coaching career

Following his retirement from playing in 2018, Vori joined the Croatian national team as an assistant to Lino Červar and won the gold medal at the Mediterranean Games with the team that same year.[12] On 1 June 2020, following the resignation of Veselin Vujović, Vori was named the new head coach of RK Zagreb and left his role at the national team.[13] He was sacked on 9 October.[14] In March 2022, Vori was announced as new head coach of U21 Croatia national team.[15] In July 2022, he was appointed the new head coach of TV Großwallstadt.[16] He departed the club in January 2023 for personal reasons, citing a wish to return to Croatia.[17] In October 2023, Vori was announced as the new head coach of MRK Sesvete.[18]

Honours

Club

Zagreb

1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2016–17, 2017–18

1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2017, 2018

Conversano

2002–03

FC Barcelona

2005–06

2007

2006–07

2005–06, 2006–07

HSV Hamburg

2010–11

2010

2009, 2010

2012–13

Paris Saint-Germain

2014–15, 2015–16

2014, 2015

Individual

General

2004All-Star Team

Orders

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 3 August 2020 . Igor Vori's list of best team-mates: Amazing Marcin, Nikola is Nikola, "phenomen Narcisse" . 7 February 2024 . Handball Planet . en-US.
  2. Web site: Igor Vori . 7 February 2024 . archive.ihf.info.
  3. Web site: 1 June 2017 . Legend about legend - Dragan Skrbic: Igor Vori is all time best line-player . 7 February 2024 . Handball Planet . en-US.
  4. Web site: 24 March 2022 . Fuchse Berlin reactivate Igor Vori . 7 February 2024 . Handball Planet . en-US.
  5. Web site: 2 June 2020 . Igor Vori is new RK PPD Zagreb coach . 7 February 2024 . Handball Planet . en-US.
  6. Web site: Lemaić . Danijela . 2 June 2020 . Igor Vori returns to Zagreb as head coach . 7 February 2024 . ehfcl.eurohandball.com . en.
  7. Web site: Ein neuer alter Mann in der Kabine von den Füchsen Berlin . 7 February 2024 . www.rbb24.de . de.
  8. http://www.ehf-euro.com/mens-euro-2008/teams/group-a/croatia.html "Croatia"
  9. http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=VORIIGO01 Profile: "Igor Vori"
  10. Igor Vori. 3 January 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150103225615/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/vo/igor-vori-1.html. 3 January 2015.
  11. Web site: Løland . Øyvind . 1 February 2009 . Rødt for skuddfinte mot dommeren . 7 February 2024 . TV 2 . nb-NO.
  12. Web site: Croatia wins handball gold at Mediterranean Games . 7 February 2024 . Hrvatska radiotelevizija . hr.
  13. News: Igor Vori naslijedio Veselina Vujovića na klupi PPD Zagreba . sportnet.rtl.hr . 1 June 2020 . 1 June 2020.
  14. News: . Igor Vori više nije trener PPD Zagreba . N1 HR . 9 October 2020 . 26 December 2020 . hr.
  15. News: . Juniori: Prvo okupljanje u 2022. godini . HRS HR . 2 March 2022 . 11 March 2022 . hr.
  16. Web site: Igor Vori wird Cheftrainer des TV Großwallstadt News LIQUI MOLY HBL . 2024-02-07 . www.liquimoly-hbl.de . de.
  17. Web site: Leisgang . Sebastian . 20 January 2023 . Ende Legende . 7 February 2024 . Süddeutsche.de . de.
  18. Web site: 18 October 2023 . Igor Vori više nije sportski direktor, preuzeo je trenersku klupu Sesveta . 7 February 2024 . Net.hr . hr-HR.
  19. News: Igor Vori biography . hr . hoo.hr.