Samir Handanovich, whose photo shows off in all Slovenian sports magazines, is considered one of the strongest goalkeepers in Eastern Europe today. He managed to win the fight for a place in the goal in the Italian super club, despite the presence of strong local goalkeepers, becoming the first number of the Milan International.
Characteristic
Football player Samir Handanovich is an example of a classic European goalkeeper. High growth and a powerful physique allow him to dominate his own penalty area, winning most of the riding balls. A pupil of the Yugoslav football school, he reads the game perfectly, competently plays at the exits and always prudently chooses a position, which allows him to suppress potentially dangerous moments.
Despite the growth of 193 cm, Samir has an excellent reaction, is able to fold in a split second and beat off the most powerful blow. Nevertheless, the Slovenian's strengths are still not spectacular saves and work on the tape, but a competent game at the exits and absolute reliability and composure, so it is possible to hit his goal only with great difficulty.
On average, a goalkeeper misses a little more than one goal per game, which is pretty good for football in recent years, in which the concept of an attacking game has again prevailed, and as a result the performance has increased significantly.
Start
Samir Handanovich was born in Ljubljana in 1984. He began his football education at the Slovan Academy from Maritsa, in 2002 he switched to the Domzhele system, where he played for the youth team for two years.
In 2003, Samir signed his first contract, becoming the goalkeeper of the main club. In the 2003/2004 season, he acted as backup goalkeeper, only occasionally appearing on the field. So that the young football player could get more playing practice, the Domzhele management sent him to the Zagorye club, where he was able to play 11 matches on the field.
In those years he did not make an impression of an incredibly promising goalkeeper, but the cunning scouts of the Italian “Udinese” were able to see great potential in a tall awkward guy and invited him to Serie A. Samir Handanovich immediately agreed and went to conquer one of the strongest football leagues in Europe.
Fighting for a place in the sun
A very young player who did not even play twenty matches in the Slovenian championship could not fight for the first place with the main goalkeeper of Udinese Morgan de Sanctis and could only claim to be his understudy. So that Samir does not lose his skills while sitting on the bench, he is sent for rent to various Italian clubs of different leagues. However, the Slovenian’s affairs did not go right at once.
In “Treviso” for the whole season 2005/2006 Samir spent only three matches, after which he left the team and went to “Lazio”. Here he also did not make much of an impression and was able to enter the field only once.
In early 2006, the Slovenian went to the modest Serie B club Rimini, where for many unexpectedly he managed to win the fight for the number one post and became the main goalkeeper.
The 2006/2007 season was truly a breakthrough for Samir Handanovich, who worked miracles at the gates of a modest provincial team. With his confident actions, he infected his own defenders, and as a result of Rimini conceded only 36 goals in 39 games in which Samir Handanovich played.
Transition to the International
After a successful performance for Rimini, the Slovenian goalkeeper triumphantly returned to Udinese, where he was already considered by all as the main guard of the goal. For five years, he acted in the position of the first number of the club, having won a reputation as one of the strongest in Italy.
No wonder that in 2012 he became an object of interest on the part of the Internationale, which was looking for a replacement for the departed Julio Cesar, who had defended the gates of the Nerazzurri for many years. The transition was accomplished, according to various sources, from 5 to 12 million euros were laid out for Slovenes, which was not bad for the goalkeeper.
A native of Ljubljana continues to defend the gates of Internazionale to this day, being one of the most reliable and stable goalkeepers of the strongest leagues in Europe.
Fans of the goalkeeper can only regret that they did not so often watch his game at the level of national teams, because the Slovenian team rarely made its way to the world and European championships.
Samir Handanovich’s cousin also followed in his footsteps and grew into an excellent goalkeeper. Now he defends the colors of the Slovenian “Maribor” and is the goalkeeper of the Slovenian national team.