Mirko Bašić

Mirko Bašić
Mirko Bašić
Personal information
Full name	Mirko Bašić
Born	14 September 1960 (age 64); Bjelovar, FPR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Croatian
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Number	1
Youth career
Years	Team
1972–1976	Partizan Bjelovar
Senior clubs
Years	Team
1976–1980	Partizan Bjelovar
1980–1989	Metaloplastika Šabac
9-12/1988	Medveščak Zagreb
1/1989–1991	Vénissieux
1991–1993	OM Vitrolles
1996–2001	Badel 1862 Zagreb
2001–2002	Medveščak Infosistem
2002	Zagreb
2003	Fotex Veszprém
National team
Years	Team
1979–1981	Yugoslavia U-21
1979–1991	Yugoslavia
1992–2000	Croatia
Teams managed
2003	Croatia (GK coach)
2003–2010	RK Zagreb (assistant)
2018	Croatia (GK coach)
Medal record
Representing Yugoslavia
Men's Handball
World Championship
World Championship U-21
Mediterranean Games
Representing Croatia
World Championship
Mediterranean Games

Mirko Bašić (born 14 September 1960) is a Croatian former handball player who competed for Yugoslavia in the 1984 Summer Olympics and in the 1988 Summer Olympics. He has also played six EHF Champions League finals winning two in 1984–85 and 1985–86 as part of the famous RK Metaloplastika which dominated European handball in the 1980s (often referred to as Handball Aliens).^[1]

Bašić was a big influence on Thierry Omeyer who is regarded as the greatest goalkeeper in handball history.^[2]

Career

At the age of 16 Bašić debuted for RK Partizan Bjelovar.

In 1984 he was a member of the Yugoslav handball team which won the gold medal. He played all six matches as goalkeeper. Four years later he was part of the Yugoslav team which won the bronze medal, playing five matches.

In 1985 and 1986 he was a member of European Champions Cup winning team of RK Metaloplastika. With Metaloplastika he also won 7 Yugoslav national titles. He also played an additional ECC final with the club and reached three more semi-finals and a Cup Winners' Cup semi-final. Throughout the 1980s Bašić was considered one of the best goalkeepers in the game.^[3] In 1989 he left Šabac to go play for Medveščak Zagreb for one season. With club he won the Yugoslav Cup that season.

He moved to the French First League to Vénissieux handball in January 1989,^[4] with whom he won the 1991 cup. Then he joined the wealthy emerging OM Vitrolles in 1991^[5] where he won the 1993 Cup Winners' Cup and in the same year was French league for the fourth time in a row. From 1993 to 1996 Bašić was in retirement from handball.

In 1996 he returned to the scene with Badel 1862 Zagreb where he played for five years winning five league and four cup titles also reaching the EHF Champions League final three times.^[6] After a season and half in RK Medveščak he ended his career in 2003 at Fotex Veszprém.^[7]

Personal life

He is the father of professional handball player Sonja Bašić.

Honours

Player

Partizan Bjelovar

Yugoslav First League (2): 1976–77, 1978–79

Metaloplastika Šabac

Yugoslav First League (7): 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88
Yugoslav Cup (3): 1983, 1984, 1986
European Champions Cup (2): 1984–85, 1985–86, finalist (1): 1983–84

Medveščak Zagreb

Yugoslav Cup (1): 1990

Vénissieux

French First League runner's up (2): 1990–91 and 1991–92
Coupe de France (1): 1991

Vitrolles

French First League runner-up (2): 1991–92 and 1992–93
Coupe de France (1): 1993
Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1993, finalist (1): 1994

Badel 1862 Zagreb

Croatian First League (5): 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01
Croatian Cup (4): 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
EHF Champions League finalist (3): 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–1999

Fotex Veszprém

Hungarian First League (1): 2002–03
Magyar Kupa (1): 2003

Individual

Best goalkeeper in the world: 1982, 1986^{[citation needed]}

Assistant Coach

RK Zagreb

Croatian First League (7): 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
Croatian Cup (7): 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
IHF Cup Winners' Cup finalist (1): 2005