Luka Stepančić

Luka Stepančić, on 18 August 2013, in Ehingen, Germany, during the Sparkassen Cup (formerly known as Schlecker Cup). Luka Stepančić (born 20 November 1990) is a Croatian professional handball player for Wisła Płock and the Croatian national team.

Stepančić competed for Croatia in the 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 World Championships, as well as the 2018 and 2020 European Championships, winning the silver in 2020. He represented Croatia at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

In his club career he won everything in Croatia with RK Zagreb, and everything in France with PSG. Stepančić wasn't able to win the Champions League with PSG, losing the 2017 final to Vardar and the 2018 semifinal to Nantes.

Biography Luka Stepančić was born on November 20, 1990, in Pula, Istria, although he and his family are from Labin. His father, Franko Stepančić, is a former football player. As a boy, Stepančić played football until the 2nd grade of primary school when his cousin, a handball coach, took him to training. Stepančić then realized that handball suited him better than football.

Stepančić made his first steps with Labin club Mladi Rudar. Although PSG invested many millions in the past few years (with an annual budget of 13 million euros in 2018) Stepančić and PSG were not able to win the Champions League. PSG lost the 2017 final to Vardar, and in 2018 they were denied the final by Nantes. Stepančić had been left without a European trophy in his second year at PSG.

In 2015, he participated to the 2015 World Men's Handball Championship with Croatia. In the same year, Stepančić started professional studies to become a handball coach at the Faculty of Kinesiology in Split.

In 2019 he joined the national team for the 2019 World Men's Handball Championship in Germany and Denmark. He was Croatia's top scorer in the inaugural match against Iceland, in which he was also named man of the match, receiving the award from Niko Kovač, and in the Fifth place game that Croatia lost to Sweden. Croatia ended the competition 6th, after losing the Fifth place game to Sweden on January 26, 2019.

In 2020, Stepančić took part with the Croatian national team to the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship. He played all matches, and with 31 goals was Croatia's third top scorer in the competition. Croatia ended the completion 2nd, winning the silver.

In 2020, Stepančić underwent surgery on his right ankle. Gol.hr reported that initially the player thought he could avoid surgery, but the pain was unbearable, so surgery became the best option. In 2020, Jabuka TV reported that "the great right winger could miss the World Cup in Egypt in January next year due to his long recovery." Stepančić wasn't able to recover in time, and did not participate to the 2021 World Men's Handball Championship. Stepančić's absence due to injury, together with those of Igor Karačić and Marin Šego, put coach Červar and the Croatian national team in trouble. Croatia was knocked out in the second round at the 2021 World Championship.

Personal life In 2015, Stepančić married communication scientist Ana Jurković, with whom he had been in a long-term relationship. The couple first got married in front of a registrar, and in 2016 repeated their marriage vows in a church in Zagreb, on the occasion of the baptism of their nine-month-old son Jakov.

Stepančić and Jurković met when a friend of Stepančić went to the cinema with Ana, who was a friend of his friend's girlfriend, and asked Luka if he wanted to join them. Ana, like Luka, played sports, and she used to be a basketball player.

Honours RK Zagreb Dukat Premier League: 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 Croatian Cup: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 SEHA League: 2012–13

PSG LNH Division 1: 2016–17, 2017–18 Coupe de la Ligue: 2017, 2018 Trophée des Champions: 2016 EHF Champions League: 2016–17 runner-up