Patrik Ćavar

Patrik Ćavar (born 24 March 1971) is a retired Croatian handball player. The legendary left wing played in Croatia for Mehanika Metković, Badel 1862 Zagreb and Agram Medveščak, in Bosnia and Herzegovina for Borac Banja Luka, in Spain for FC Barcelona, BM Granollers, and in France for Saint-Marcel Vernon.
Ćavar has stated that Veselin Vujović was a big influence on him opting to playing handball.
He played for the Croatian national team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where Croatia won the gold medal. Ćavar was the top goalscorer of the Croatian national team from 1996 to 2007, when Mirza Džomba broke his record.
He is also the only Croatian handball player to have won five EHF Champions League titles.
Career
Mehanika Metković
Ćavar started his career in his hometown club RK Mehanika Metković. He entered the senior squad at the age of 15. At Metković he played in the Yugoslav Second League finishing in the middle of the table.
Borac Banja Luka
Due to his performances in Metković Ćavar caught the eye of top-tier club RK Borac Banja Luka and moved to the club in 1989.
He spent one season with the club finishing the regular part of the season in first place and then losing to Proleter Naftagas Zrenjanin in the final of the play-offs.
Zagreb
In 1990 Ćavar moved to RK Zagreb-Chromos.
During his first season with Zagreb Ćavar had won the Yugoslav First League and was the league's top goalscorer. They had also won the Yugoslav Cup in a tense final against RK Crvena Zvezda.
Due to Croatia gaining Independence that same year the Yugoslav Handball Championship was dismantled and the Croatian Handball Championship was formed. The First A League started on 21 March.
By that time Ćavar and his team qualified for the semi-finals of the European Champions Cup. The club had changed its name to Zagreb-Loto due to sponsorship.
Their campaign started with a win at home and a loss away with the aggregate coming to a win of 54:48 against Dukla Liberec. The quarter-final match was played against SKIF Krasnodar, they won both matches with the result 50:44 for Zagreb. In the semi-final Zagreb-Loto won the first match against Kolding IF 26:17 and lost the second match 20:26 with this result they entered the final due to aggregate 46:43 being in their favor.
The first final match was played in Zagreb where Ćavar and his team beat TEKA Santander 22:20. In the second match Zagreb-Loto destroyed TEKA Santander in big 28:18 defeat. Ćavar scored 4 goals in each of the final matches.
Ćavar also took the first ever Croatian domestic titles beating Zamet in the league and Coning Medveščak in the finals.
The following season Ćavar's club changed its name again due to sponsorship reasons into RK Badel 1862 Zagreb.
Ćavar and his team conquered Croatia and Europe once again. Their European campaign brought them to the finals of the European Champions Cup yet again defeating Pivovara Laško Celje, Maccabi, ABC Braga and HB Venissieux Lyon. They played against SG Wallau-Massenheim winning both matches and taking the last European Champions Cup trophy. Ćavar scored 4 goals in each of the final matches.
They had also won the domestic league and cup for another year in a row. Ćavar was awarded the best player of the Croatian First A League for that season.
The 1993–94 season saw Ćavar winning the domestic title and he was awarded the best player of the Croatian First A League yet again. In 1994 he was named best Croatian handballer by Croatian Handball Federation and Sportske novosti.
The next three season Ćavar won all of the domestic titles and reached the EHF Champions League final in 1995 and 1997.
Barcelona
In 1997 Ćavar moved to FC Barcelona Handbol.
The same year he was voted the best Croatian handballer by Croatian Handball Federation and Sportske novosti again. In 1998 he was the 9th best handball player of the year.
In Barcelona Ćavar won: three EHF Champions League, two EHF Champions Trophy, three Liga ASOBAL, two Copa del Rey, two Copa ASOBAL, four Supercopa ASOBAL and four Pirenees League titles.
He was also awarded in 2000 for a then record breaking third time as the best Croatian handballer. The same year Barcelona named him their best foreign player and then their best player of the season.
In his last season with the club Ćavar lost the EHF Champions League final to SDC San Antonio and the league as well as the EHF Men's Champions Trophy.
Granollers
In the summer of 2001 Ćavar joined BM Granollers.
Ćavar played at the club for four years. Even though he did not win any trophies at the club they had a solid league position and in his last season with the club they reached the quarter-final of the EHF Cup.
Agram Medveščak
In the summer of 2005 it was announced that Patrik Ćavar would be moving to Agram Medveščak though his move was slowed down due to registration problems.
On 25 October 2005 Ćavar announced that his retirement from handball due to his various injuries.
Saint-Marcel Vernon
A month after announcing his retirement on November 25 Ćavar announced that he would be moving to the French second division club Saint-Marcel Vernon.
He helped the club win the French Second League and earn promotion to the First League.
In July 2007 at the age of 36, he announced his retirement from handball.
International career
Yugoslavia
Ćavar was selected on 45 occasions as a junior for Yugoslavia he won a bronze medal at the 1989 IHF Junior World Championship in Spain.
Ćavar won a silver medal at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle for Yugoslavia.
Croatia
Ćavar debuted for Croatia on 14 January 1991 on Croatia's first ever national team match. They played against Japan and the match ended in a draw of 23:23.
Ćavar's first tournament with the national team was in at the 1993 Mediterranean Games in Languedoc-Roussillon where he won his first gold medal for Croatia.
His first major competition came a year later in June 1994 when he played at the 1994 European Championship. A year later he was called up to play the 1995 World Championship in Iceland. Croatia lost in the final to France and Ćavar had bagged his first silver medal for the national team.
At the 1996 European Championship in Spain, Croatia finished in fifth place. Ćavar was the second top goalscorer 40 goals just one goal behind Thomas Knorr.
Two months later history was made at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Ćavar and his teammates won the against Sweden in the final and won their first and Croatia's first ever Olympic Gold medal. Ćavar was also the tournaments top goalscorer with 43 goals and he was voted the best left wing of the tournament and put in the all-star team.
Unfortunately years of bad results would come to haunt the national team of Croatia and Ćavar would not win another medal. He also competed at the 1997 World Championship in Japan, 1998 European Championship in Italy, 1999 World Championship in Egypt, and at the 2001 World Championship in France.
In 2004 he retired from the national team with 120 appearances and as the top goalscorer with 639 goals. He held the record until 2007 when Mirza Džomba broke his record.
Influence
Ćavar has been a big influence to handball players such as Nikola Karabatić and Mohamed Mokrani.
Personal life
As of 2009, Ćavar lives in Miami, Florida.
And as of 2012, he's back to Metković
Honours
Zagreb
Yugoslav Championship
Winner (1): 1990-91
Yugoslav Cup
Winner (1): 1991
Croatian A First League
Winner (6): 1991-92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97
Croatian Cup
Winner (6): 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997
European Champions Cup
Winner (2): 1992, 1993
EHF Champions League
Finalist (2): 1995, 1997
EHF Super Cup
Winner (1): 1993
Barcelona
Liga ASOBAL
Winner (3): 1997-98, 1998–99, 1999-00
Runner-up (1): 2000-01
Copa del Rey
Winner (2): 1998, 2000
Finalist (1): 1999
Copa ASOBAL
Winner (2): 2000, 2001
Finalist (1): 1999
Supercopa ASOBAL
Winner (4): 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001
Pirenees League
Winner (4): 1997-98, 1998–99, 1999-00, 2000-01
EHF Champions League
Winner (3): 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00
Finalist (1): 2000-01
EHF Champions Trophy
Winner (2): 1998, 1999
Finalist (1): 2000
Saint-Marcel Vernon
French Second League
Winner (1): 2005-06
Individual
Yugoslav First League top scorer: 1990-91
Best player of the Croatian First A League: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97
Best Croatian handballer of 1994, 1997 and 2000 by: CHF & Sportske novosti
2nd top scorer at the 1996 European Championship
Best left wing at 1996 Summer Olympics
Top scorer of the 1996 Summer Olympics
All-star team of the 1996 Summer Olympics
Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 1996
IHF World Player of the Year award 9th - 1998
Best player of the Liga ASOBAL: 1998-99
Best foreign player of Barcelona - 1999-2000
Best player of Barcelona - 1999-2000
Records
2nd top goalscorer of Croatia - 639 goals
Best % of goals scored for Croatia - 5.33
Orders
Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar - 1995
References
External links
European record
1971 births
Living people
Croatian male handball players
Olympic handball players for Croatia
Handball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for Croatia in handball
Sportspeople from Metković
Olympic medalists in handball
RK Zagreb players
RK Medveščak Zagreb players
Liga ASOBAL players
FC Barcelona Handbol players
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Croatia
Competitors at the 1993 Mediterranean Games
BM Granollers players
Mediterranean Games medalists in handball
Goodwill Games medalists in handball
Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games
Yugoslav male handball players
Expatriate handball players
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in France