Slavko Goluža

Slavko Goluža (born 17 September 1971) is a retired Croatian handball player and most recently coach of RK Zagreb.^[1]

Slavko Goluža
Personal information
Born	(1971-09-17) 17 September 1971 (age 53) Stolac, SR Bosniaand Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Croatian
Height	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Playing position	Centre back, left back
Youth career
Years	Team
0000	RK Razvitak Metković
Senior clubs
Years	Team
1988–1989	RK Razvitak Metković
1989–1998	Badel 1862 Zagreb
1998–1999	TuS Nettelstedt-Lübbecke
1999–2002	RK Metković Jambo
2002–2003	Paris Saint-Germain
2003–2004	Fotex Veszprém
2004–2006	RK CO Zagreb
National team
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–2005	Croatia	204	(545)
Teams managed
2006–2010	Croatia (assistant)
2008–2010	RK Siscia
2010–2015	Croatia
2012–2013	RK CO Zagreb
2017	RK Zagreb (interim)
2017–2021	HT Tatran Prešov
2022–2023	RK Zagreb
Medal record Men's handball Representing  Croatia Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta Team 2004 Athens Team 2012 London Coach World Championship 2003 Portugal Team 1995 Iceland Team 2005 Tunisia Team 2013 Spain Coach European Championship 1994 Portugal Team 2012 Serbia Coach Mediterranean Games 1993 Languedoc-Roussillon Team 2001 Tunis Team 2013 Mersin Coach

Club career

Goluža was born in the village of Pješivac-Kula near Stolac. He began his career with RK Mehanika Metković. At the age of 18, he moved to RK Zagreb-Chromos, with which he won two consecutive European Cups in 1992 and 1993.^[2]

He won the EHF Cup with RK Metković Jambo in 2000 and the year later the club reached the final again.^[3]

Goluža also played in Germany for TuS Nettelstedt-Lübbecke, in France for Paris Saint-Germain and in Hungary for Fotex Veszprém.

International career

He was a member of the Croatian national team that won Olympic gold medals twice: at the 1996 and 2004 Summer Olympics.^[4] For over a decade he participated in all medals that Croatia had won at the World Championships (gold in 2003, silver in 1995 and 2005), and at the European Championship (bronze in 1994).

Coaching career

Goluža worked as an assistant coach with the Croatian national team between 2006 and 2010 under the coaching staff of the head coach Lino Červar. He also worked as head coach for RK Siscia once and for RK CO Zagreb in two terms.^[5][6][7][8]

In September 2010, Goluža succeeded Červar as the head coach of the Croatian national team,^[9][10] guiding Croatia to the bronze medals at the 2012 European Championship, 2012 Summer Olympics and at the 2013 World Championship. In February 2015, following Croatia's surprisingly unsuccessful World Championship in Qatar, he left the bench and was replaced by his assistant Željko Babić.^[11]

In April 2017, Goluža became the head coach for HT Tatran Prešov.^[12]

Personal life

Goluža is a supporter of the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).^[13] He was married Iva Goluža, with whom he has a son Ivan.^[14] The couple got divorced after 11 years of marriage, in 2013.^[15]

Honours

Player

RK Zagreb

• Croatian First League (9): 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2004–05, 2005–06
• Croatian Cup (9): 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2006
• Yugoslav First League (1): 1990–91
• EHF Champions League (2): 1991–92, 1992–93
• European Supercup (1): 1993

RK Metković Jambo

• Croatian Cup (2): 2001, 2002
• EHF Cup (1): 2000

Fotex Veszprém

• Hungarian Premier League (1): 2003–04
• Magyar Kupa (1): 2004

Head coach

RK Zagreb

• Croatian First League (2): 2012–13, 2016–17
• Croatian Cup (2): 2013, 2017

Croatia

• Summer Olympics third place: 2012
• World Championship third place: 2013
• European Championship third place: 2012
• Mediterranean Games runner-up: 2013

Individual

• Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 1996, 2004, 2009
• Best Croatian handballer by Sportske novosti & HRS: 2001
• Trophy MOO for sports and promoting optimism: 2007
• Best Croatian handball coach by Sportske novosti & CHF: 2012, 2013, 2014

Orders

• Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar – 1995^[16]
• Order of Duke Trpimir with Neck Badge and Morning Star – 1996^[17]