An experienced Montenegrin coach Petar Porobic has been appointed as the new head coach of the German national team.
Porobic will replace Hagen Stamm, who guided Germany for almost two decades (2000 – 2012 and 2016 – 2021). After the Olympic qualifications in Rotterdam, Stamm confirmed that he was leaving the national team’s bench. But, that decision wasn’t a consequence of results in Rotterdam. Before the qualifications, Stamm announced that he would depart from the team at the end of the Olympic cycle.
Porobic (64) will start working a Germany’s head coach on October 1. He signed a contract until the 2024 Olympic Games.
The Montenegrin led the team of Serbia and Montenegro, as a head coach, to the World title in 2005. He was Montenegro’s first coach after independence and won gold at the 2008 European championships. As part of the coaching staff of Serbia and Montenegro, he won Olympic silver (2004) and bronze (2000), two medals at the World Championships (silver in 2001, and bronze in 2003), and two gold medals at the European Championships (2001 and 2003).
As a club coach, Porobic worked in Primorac Kotor, Becej, Jadran Herceg Novi, Shturm Ruza, Galatasaray and Sintez Kazan.
Since 2015 he has been the president of the World Water Polo Coaches Association (WWPCA).
In the past few years, he worked in China. Between 2017 and 2020 he was the head coach of the Chinese male water polo team. Last year, he took over China’s women, who won 8th place at the Tokyo Olympics.
He has participated in the Olympic Games five times:2000, 2004 ( a member of the coaching staff of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro), 2008 (Montenegro head coach), 2016 ( a member of Montenegro’s staff), and 2020 (a head coach of China’s female team).
