Krešimir Kozina (born 25 June 1990) is a Croatian handball player for Frisch Auf Göppingen and the Croatian national team.[1][2][3]

Krešimir Kozina
Krešimir Kozina in 2016
Personal information
Born (1990-06-25) 25 June 1990 (age 34)
Derventa, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality Croatian
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Playing position Pivot
Club information
Current club Frisch Auf Göppingen
Number 44
Youth career
Team
RK Matulji
RK Zamet
Senior clubs
Years Team
2007–2011
RK Zamet
2011–2013
RK Nexe
2013–2015
Alpla HC Hard
2015–2016
SG Flensburg-Handewitt
2016–2017
Füchse Berlin
2017–2024
Frisch Auf Göppingen
2024–
RK Nexe Našice
National team
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–
Croatia 32 (32)
Medal record
Youth World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2009 Tunisia
European Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Poland
Kresimir Kozina during the second Finale-game of the Handball Liga Austria on 26 May 2015

Club career

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Kozina started his youth career in RK Matulji before establishing himself in Zamet the premier handball club of Rijeka.

After four seasons he moved to NEXE. While there he debuted in his first European competition EHF Cup. In 2013 he moved to Austrian Alpla HC Hard. With the club he started winning his first trophies as a club player.

In 2015 Kozina turned down Croatian powerhouse Zagreb and transferred to SG Flensburg-Handewitt where he spent one season.

On 29 May 2016 Kozina signed for Füchse Berlin.[4] On 8 September Kozina won the IHF Super Globe with the club.[5]

On 8 December Kozina announced that he signed with Frisch Auf Göppingen and that he would be moving in the summer of 2017.[6]

Kozina playerd for the Bundesliga Stars team on 2 February 2018 against Germany scoring 4 goals for a win of 43:39.[7]

International career

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Kozina started his international career playing for Croatia U-21 at the Youth World Championship where Croatia won the tournament.[8]

He debuted for Croatia 6 November 2015 against Macedonia at a friendly tournament called Croatia Cup.[9]

Kozina competed at the 2016 European Men's Handball Championship where Croatia won third place.[10] Kozina also competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Croatia was eliminated by Poland in the Quarter-finals.

In December 2016 Kozina was invited to national team training for the upcoming 2017 World Championship as a replacement for Marino Marić who was injured.[11] Kozina appeared at the HEP Croatia Cup in their match against Tunisia and scored two goals before being gaining 2 minutes at the end of the match.[12] He didn't appear in the match against Montenegro. Croatia won the HEP Croatia Cup.[13] On 10 January Željko Babić announced the players he would be taking to France, Kozina was not on the list.[14]

Personal life

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Kozina has a younger brother Bruno who is also a handball player.[15]

Honours

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Zamet
Nexe Našice
Alpla HC Hard
Flensburg
Fusche Berlin
Croatia
Individual

References

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  1. ^ EHF profile
  2. ^ "Men's EHF Euro 2016 Poland. Croatia" (PDF). European Handball Federation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  3. ^ "Krešimir Kozina national team statistics". hrs.hr. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  4. ^ "Fuchse Berlin sign line-player Kresimir Kozina". www.handball-planet.com. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  5. ^ "Fuchse Berlin osvojio IHF Super Globe". sportarena.hr. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Kozina od ljeta u Goppingenu". sportarena.hr. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  7. ^ "All Star Game 2018". dkb-handball-bundesliga.de. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  8. ^ "Men's EHF Euro 2016 Poland. Croatia". European Handball Federation. Archived from the original on 17 June 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  9. ^ "Hrvatska 29:21 Makedonija" (PDF). rukometstat.com. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  10. ^ "PRIJAM ZA OSVAJAČE ZLATNE MEDALJE NA SP U RUKOMETU ZA JUNIORE". www.rijeka.hr. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  11. ^ "IZNENADNI POZIVKozina opet u najboljoj rukometnoj vrsti: Medalja je uvijek cilj". Novi list. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  12. ^ "Hrvatska rutinski dobila Tunis: Svidjeli se neki novi "kauboji"". 24 sata. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  13. ^ "Rukometaši svladali Crnu Goru i osvojili Croatia Cup". sport.hrt.hr. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  14. ^ "Babić objavio popis igrača za SP u Francuskoj: Trojica upitni za prvu utakmicu!". gol.dnevnik.hr. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  15. ^ "Generalka za Rio: Hrvatski rukometaši večeras protiv Slovenije". Novi list. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
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