Iztok Puc
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born |
14 September 1966 Slovenj Gradec, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia |
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| Died | 20 October 2011 (aged 45) San Diego, California, United States |
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| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Left back | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth clubs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19??–1985 | Šoštanj | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior clubs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985–1990 1990–1994 1994–1999 1999–2002 |
Borac Banja Luka Zagreb Celje Prule 67 |
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| National team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988–1991 1991–1998 1998–2000 |
 Yugoslavia Croatia Slovenia |
82 (191) 65 (325) 34(120) |
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Medal record
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Iztok Puc (14 September 1966 – 20 October 2011) was a Slovenian handball player, who was one of the world's top players of the 1980s and 1990s. During his career he played professionally for Borac Banja Luka, Zagreb, Celje and Prule 67. He won a total of 18 domestic trophies. He has won the elite EHF Champions League in 1992 and 1993, both times with Zagreb. He is one of very few handball players who represented three different countries at the Summer Olympics (Yugoslavia, Croatia and Slovenia), winning bronze with Yugoslavia in 1988 and gold with Croatia in 1996. In 2009, he was named the best overall player in the history of Slovenian handball. After his death an award named in his honour was introduced and is awarded annually to the most promising young handball players in Slovenia and Croatia, given alternately one year to Slovenian and another year to Croatian player.
Puc was born in Slovenj Gradec, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia on 14 September 1966. During his youth he lived in Šoštanj with his mother and without his father, whom he met for the first time at the age of 25. In elementary school a gym teacher named Miro Požun, who was aware of the situation at Puc's home, took young Puc under his wing and became his mentor. Požun, who eventually became one of the best coaches in history of Slovenian handball, was the first who noticed the enormous talent that Puc had and eventually introduced him to the local handball club RK Šoštanj, which he also coached. There Puc became the most promising young player of Yugoslav handball.
Puc was first noticed by RK Borac in 1983 when their goalkeeper, Yugoslav international Zlatan Arnautović, spotted him and reported his findings to the club officials. He was then tracked by the club and their scouting service and a few years later the young promising player was given an offer to join their club. Abas Arslanagić, the coach of Borac, which was one of the top Yugoslav clubs at the time, wanted the young teenager to join his team immediately, however, Puc was persuaded by Miro Požun to finish high school first and complete at least some form of education. Puc listened to his mentor, finished high school one year later and finally joined Borac in 1985 where he signed his first professional contract. Upon his arrival in Banja Luka, he immediately became the best player of the team and the best goalscorer of the entire league. Although he has never won any major domestic honours with Borac, he is nevertheless considered as one of the best players in history of the club.
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