BIOGRAPHY
In recent years, Ljubomir Vranjes has made his name as a successful coach; but before then, the Swede was part of one of the best national handball teams of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Vranjes was born in Gothenburg and started his playing career for Redbergslids, spending eight years with the club’s senior team and winning five domestic league titles in that period. In 1999 he was tempted overseas, first to Spain before moving to Germany for the remainder of his career. While Vranjes did not win any major club titles during his time at HSG Nordhorn or SG Flensburg-Handewitt, he was a runner-up in the EHF Champions League in 2007 with the latter club.
However, as part of Sweden’s golden generation, Vranjes enjoyed significant success on the international stage. He made his debut for Sweden in 1996 and spent 10 years on the national team. Between 1997 and 2002 the side won a medal in every major tournament, including gold at the 1999 IHF Men’s World Championship and at the Men’s EHF EURO in 1998, 2000 and 2002. Vranjes added Olympic silver in 2000 and world silver in 1997 and 2001 to that haul.
In total, Vranjes played 164 games for Sweden, scoring 451 goals.
After his retirement in 2009 Vranjes stayed in Flensburg to become the club’s coach, taking them to their first EHF Champions League title in 2014, when they beat arch-rivals THW Kiel 30:28 in the final. He left in 2017 to coach at clubs including Veszprém, IFK Kristianstad, Rhein-Neckar Löwen and USAM Nîmes, and national sides Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia.
In 2024 Vranjes returned to Flensburg as technical director.
