Lino Cervar lämnar jobbet som förbundskapten för Makedonien och tar istället över Kroatien igen.

Kroatiens motsvarighet till Bengt ”Bengan” Johansson är tillbaka. Lino Cervar återvänder till förbundskaptensposten i hemmanationen där han var så framgångsrik mellan 2002-2010. Han lämnar där med posten i Makedonien med omedelbar verkan där sista jobbet blev VM 2017.

Cervar ledde det kroatiska landslaget till VM-guld 2003 och OS-guld 2004 med stjärnor som Ivano Balic, Mirza Dzomba, Petar Metličić, Igor Vori och Slavko Goluža. Han såg ut som en hetlevrad liten professor när han stormade runt längs med sidlinjen och instruerade både spelare, ledare och domare vad de skulle göra och inte göra.

Han lämnade över 2010 till sin gamle spelare Slavko Goluža och sedan har Zeljko Babic varit förbundskapten de två senaste åren. Trots semifinal i VM 2017 avgick Babic själv och det kroatiska förbundet har letat en ersättare.

Nu blir det alltså Cervar igen. Han kommer leda laget över EM 2018 som spelas just i Kroatien i januari nästa år. Det rapporter Hballtransfers.com. Där publiceras också ett pressmeddelande från det makedonska handbollsförbundet om Cervars avgång, där han hade kontrakt till 2020:

Information for media
After completing the XXV men’s handball Championship in France, the public began to amount of information about a possible transfer of our male handball coach, Mr. Lino Cervar, to the bench of the Croatian national team. Following recent discussions between members of the Macedoian Handball Federation and Mr. Lino Cervar, in view of allegations about his transfer to the bench of the Croatian national team, both sides have agreed.

He was to inform the Federation for his decision. After this deadline, on March 11 2017, Mr. Cervar sent a letter to the President of the Macedonian Handball Federation, which thanked him for the cooperation they had during Mr. Cervar coaching term, and in terms of his decision to coach function, in the letter he stated the following:

”… Whether it should be with the national team of the state where I was born, in the country where I have my family, in the country where I built, developed and established myself as a handball coach and accomplished world’s biggest successes and which sooner or later I had to go back and stay forever or to determine the representation of a small, proud country, my second homeland, Macedonia, which welcomed me and accepted me as their coach and who gave me everything? However, I chose Croatia – my place of birth, my country… ”

Considering that Mr. Cervar chose the Croatian national team before Macedonia was automatically activating a legal basis for an unilateral termination of the agreement between Mr Cervar and the Macedonian Handball Federation.

In order to overcome this adverse situation occurred in the midst of preparations for European qualification matches, The Macedonian Handball Federation in the coming period will mobilize its resources and find potential candidates for the national coach job of Macedonia.

The Macedonian Handball Federation will make every effort in order to maintain the continuity of the big Championships of handball in the colors of the national team together to go into new campaigns.

With respect,
The Macedonian Handball Federation.