Ratko Rudić– a man that needs no introduction in the world of water polo. He is many things – former athlete and Olympian, ISHOF member, former coach of 5 different national teams – and the most successful coach in the history of our sport.
As a player and coach, he has won 64 trophies in total, including 19 club titles and 45 representative medals, 18 of which gold. He has won 21 medals including 10 golds in the most prestigious men’s competitions such as the European, the World Championships and the Olympic Games. As a player and coach in the period from 1968 to 2012. he participated a total of 11 times in the Olympic Games, which is an absolute record in the history of Croatian sport.
Strictly as coach he won a total of 38 trophies: the Mediterranean Cup 1989 and the Yugoslav Cup 1990 with Partizan and 36 representative medals, of which 16 gold making him the most successful water polo coach of all time, the best Croatian coach of all time in all sports and the second most successful head coach in all sports history.
There is no better juror to conclude our Total Player voting – here are his picks.
Coach Rudić’s Total 5 of 2017
1st – Sandro Sukno
Croatia Team Captain | Club: Pro Recco | Position: Driver
“Sandro Sukno is a player who orchestrates the game both, on the offense and during defense. He has such high skills when it comes to his technique and his game that he is currently just in his own class.”
2nd – Andro Bušlje
Croatian National Player | Club: Olympiakos| Position: Center Back
“Many won’t notice this, but in my eyes, Bušlje was the best Croatian player at the World Championships. He held together Croatia’s whole defense and is next to Sukno definitely one of the most deserving players for the world title.
The game always builds from the defense up. When you have a player like that, able to neutralize the opponent’s center forwards and push them far away from the goal – it becomes so much easier to put together the whole game for the offense.”
3rd – Dénes Varga
Hungary’s Team Captain | Club: 2016/17 Szolnoki Vízilabda SC, 2017 Ferencvaros | Position: Driver
“With his movements in the pool and his technical skills, he is definitely one of the best players of current times. Exceptionally agile, with a fantastic feel for scoring goals.”
4th – Filip Filipović
Serbia Team Captain | Club: Pro Recco | Position: Driver
“He took exceptionally responsibility during defense and was deadly on the offense. Definitely the player with the best shot in the world. His goals were very important for the performance of Serbia’s national team.”
5th – Ioannis Fountoulis
Greece’s Team Captain | Club: Olympiakos | Position: Driver
“Not only did he score very important goals, but he also dictate the game and tempo for the whole Greek national team. He definitely deserves a place among the Top 5.”
The Results are in!
Find out now, who was voted TOTAL PLAYER 2017!
