BIOGRAPHY
Arpad Sterbik was set for the handball court from an early age, with his father taking him to training as a child, and he quickly found his place between the goalposts. He was called up as a young player by RK Jugović but by the age of 21 had moved to Hungary to join Veszprém, reaching the EHF Champions League final in 2002. Although technically Veszprém was crossing a border, Sterbik said it did not feel like moving abroad, as his Serbo-Hungarian family spoke both languages.
In 2004, however, Sterbik did move properly abroad, going to Spain to join Ciudad Real. Under Talant Dujshebaev’s leadership Ciudad Real took three Champions League titles. Sterbik spent a total of 10 years in Spain, playing for Atlético Madrid and Barcelona after leaving Ciudad Real, but in 2014 he went back east to join Vardar.
With Vardar, Sterbik won the Champions League one more time. He finished his career back at Veszprém, retiring in 2018.
On the international front, Sterbik started out playing for FR Yugoslavia and won two successive World Championship bronze medals with the team. But between 2009 and 2019, after becoming a Spanish citizen, Sterbik played 78 games for Spain and won the 2013 World Championship, EHF EURO 2018, bronze at the 2011 World Championship and silver at the EHF EURO 2016. At the EHF EURO 2018 Sterbik was a late call-up as a replacement for Rodrigo Corrales, who was injured.
Since retirement Sterbik has worked as a goalkeeper coach for Veszprém.
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