Samir Handanović

Early career

Handanović started his career at local side Slovan. He later joined Domžale, where he made his Slovenian PrvaLiga debut in the 2003–04 season. During the same season, he was also loaned to the Slovenian Second League side Zagorje.

Udinese

2004–2006: First years as backup and loans

In the summer of 2004, at the age of 20, he was signed by Serie A side Udinese. However, his first spell with the Friuliani was short-lived as he was unable to cement his place in the starting line-up. His debut occurred on 20 November 2004 in a Coppa Italia match against Lecce, where he was sent-off in 91st minute for conceding a penalty after a foul on Mirko Vučinić; since Udinese had used all three substitutions, striker David Di Michele entered in goal in his place. Vučinić, however, failed to score from the penalty spot and Udinese won 5–4. He made his Serie A debut on 15 May 2005 in a 1–1 home draw against Sampdoria. Handanović was on loan to Treviso in the summer of 2005, but in January 2006, he was exchanged with Matteo Sereni to Lazio. With Treviso, he received his first ever red card during the match against his next club, Lazio, on 18 September 2005 in an eventual 3–1 away loss. During his time with the Biancoceleste, Handanović played three matches and conceded six goals. On 14 May 2006, in the last day of 2005–06 season, Handanović, with the number 24, played his first and last match for Lazio, keeping a clean sheet against Parma in a 1–0 home…

Debut and the first years

Handanović made his debut for Slovenia on 17 November 2004 in a friendly match against Slovakia, which ended in a goalless draw. He was a regular member of the team during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, being used mostly as a backup for the veteran Borut Mavrič. However, in the second part of the qualifiers, he managed to play four matches, first being the 1–1 home draw against Belarus on 30 March 2005, failing to keep a clean sheet, as Slovenia finished the Group 5 in fourth place with twelve points, failing to secure a spot in the final tournament. On 26 May 2008, Handanović captained Slovenia for the first time in his 23rd cap during the friendly match against Sweden, which won the game at Gamla Ullevi thanks to a Tobias Linderoth goal. Ahead of the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers, Handanović was again the second-choice goalkeeper, with Mavrič retaining his spot. He started in Slovenia's fourth game of the qualifying campaign, a goalless draw away against Albania in March 2007. Handanović then played in the remaining eight matches, keeping his goal intact in three of them as Slovenia ended the qualifying campaign in the penultimate place with eleven points.

2010 World Cup, Euro 2016 qualifying and retirement

Handanović was ever-presented in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying, playing every single minute of the qualifying campaign. Slovenia began the qualifiers with a 1–1 away draw against Poland, where Handanović was…

Despite his large stature and imposing physique, which made him effective at handling crosses and a commanding presence inside the box, Handanović was an extremely agile and athletic goalkeeper, who was renowned in particular for his outstanding reflexes, acrobatic saves and excellent shot-stopping abilities, as well as his positional sense, leadership, and ability to organise his defence. Although he was not initially known for being particularly adept with the ball at his feet, during his time under managers Roberto Mancini and Luciano Spalletti, he was also able to improve his ability to play out and start attacks from the back, and successfully adapted to the team's more patient build-up play, while also allowing the team to maintain a high line; his change in playing style also continued under Inter's subsequent manager Antonio Conte, under whom he further developed his control and distribution of the ball, and often acted as a sweeper-keeper. Regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in Europe and Italy due to his performances, Handanović was also known for his speed off his line and anticipation as a goalkeeper, which enabled him to clear the ball away from danger, as well as his ability to get to ground quickly to parry or collect the ball, attributes which also made him particularly adept at stopping spot-kicks. As a result, he developed a reputation as an exceptional penalty-kick-saving specialist, having stopped an Italian record of six consecutive penalties between…

After retirement, Handanović stayed at Inter Milan as a technical collaborator. On 1 August 2024, he was appointed in charge of the under-17 team.