Samir Handanović (born 14 July 1984) is a Slovenian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Before moving to Italy, Handanović played in his home country of Slovenia.
2003
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.
2004
In 2004, he was acquired by Udinese, but spent the next few years on loan, playing for teams such as Treviso, Lazio and Rimini.
Having previously represented the Slovenia under-21 team, Handanović made his senior international debut for Slovenia in 2004.
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.
2005
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.
2006
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 win.
In July 2006, Handanović was loaned to Rimini, with a pre-set price of €1.2 million.
Thanks also to his saves, Rimini remained undefeated in both championship games played against Juventus.
The club finished fifth in Serie B and conceded the fourth fewest goals in the league.
Handanović was considered the second best goalkeeper of that Serie B season, after Gianluigi Buffon.
2007
Handanović returned to Udinese ahead of the 2007–08 season, where he played as a starter for the next five years.
In the next season, he also played European football for the first time, making his debut in UEFA Cup.
In June 2007, despite Rimini excising the option, Udinese also excised the option by paying Rimini €250,000 in net.
2009
During the 2009–10 campaign, Handanović was the most used player on the field, collecting in total 40 appearances, including 37 in league.
2010
He went on to earn 81 caps for his country, the most by a goalkeeper, and played for them at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Nicknamed Batman, due to his acrobatic saves, he is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation, and is one of only four non-Italian keepers to be named Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year, winning the honour three times.
A penalty saving specialist, during the 2010–11 Serie A season he saved a total of six penalty kicks, equalling an all-time league record set in the 1948–49 season.
The squad started the 2010–11 season with four losses in its first four Serie A weeks, leaving Udinese in last place.
Handanović kept his first clean sheet of the season on 26 September 2010 during a goalless draw against Sampdoria, helping the team to collect its first point of the season.
2012
After five years as starter and more than 200 appearances, Handanović joined Inter Milan in July 2012.
Handanović returned to Udinese in the summer of 2007 after Udinese excised the counter-option to reject the buying, where he replaced Morgan De Sanctis and signed a new and improved contract lasting until 30 June 2012.
Despite the arrival of the Venezuelan goalie Rafael Romo, Handanović retained his spot as the number one goalkeeper.
He started his fourth season as an Udinese player by featuring full-90 minutes in team's opening league match of the season, a 2–2 home draw against Parma.
He kept his goal intact for the first time this season on 19 September in matchday 4 against Napoli, which ended in a goalless draw.
2013
In Serie A, he made a total of 130 saves which were priceless for Udinese, who ended the season in 15th position.
Before the start of the season, Handanović changed the squad number from 22 to 1.
2019
In February 2019, he was named club captain, while in September, he made his 300th appearance for the club, and subsequently went on to reach the 2020 UEFA Europa League final that season.
He made his 500th Serie A appearance in February 2021, and won his first trophy that May by winning the title.
During the 2019–20 season, he equalled Gianluca Pagliuca's record of most penalties saved in Serie A with his 24th stop.
2020
He broke the record the following season on 17 October 2020.
Born in Ljubljana, Handanović started his career at local side Slovan.
