Nebojša Simić: “The MVP award is the cherry on the cake”

“A dream came true.” 🏆❤️

Inspired by legends like Dirk Nowitzki, Nebojsa Simić has written his own chapter of sporting history.

From crucial saves to European champion — what a journey.#ehffinals #ehfel #elm #handball pic.twitter.com/SopL1enImd

— EHF European League (@ehfel_official) May 31, 2026

The Montenegrin goalkeeper even returned home with two pieces of silverware: the gold medal for the title in the EHF European League and the MVP award for the best player at the Winamax EHF Finals 2026.

“The gold medal is the cake, the big pie, and on top of that is the MVP award, the cherry on top. It's nice to be MVP, but the gold medal means everything to me. I could live without the award, but not without the gold medal,” Simić said after the final.

He was completely emotional when he left the court, where he just had been awarded in the confetti rain.

"It's incredible. I had a whirlwind of emotions after the final whistle: I cried, I laughed, I celebrated — and afterwards I will have a few beers. I will never forget this day for the rest of my life. The match was so close, but I always had the feeling we were going to win the game, especially in the last five minutes. We were incredibly strong then. I also knew that this was my time – and that's exactly how it turned out.”

Last season, he missed Melsungen’s debut at the EHF Finals in Hamburg after a severe knee injury. From March to November he was ruled out, then slowly came into his old form. Simić was highly motivated for the Winamax EHF Finals – and felt confident from the start.

“I was extremely well prepared by my goalkeeper coach, Carsten Lichtlein. We worked so hard and analysed a lot. I'm incredibly happy that I played so well in these two games, and against two top teams, no less. The defence helped me enormously, because as a goalkeeper, you can never be good without a good defence.”
In the end, his dream to win a trophy with MT came true – after a long, long wait.

"It's simply insane. I've been in Melsungen for nine years now. I've had many offers from other clubs during that time, but I've always said: I'm staying, I'm staying. And now I deserve this, we deserve this. We talked about winning a title for so many years, but it never happened. It was a sad story, and now to bring this trophy home is incredible. We've made history.”

Winning the trophy in Hamburg could have a nice side effect for Melsungen.

"If we were to play in the Champions League, that would be phenomenal. The Bundesliga and the Champions League have always been my dream, and now it's possible,” said Simić, who is the third goalkeeper awarded as MVP of the EHF Finals, after Benfica's Sergey Hernandez in 2022 and Flensburg's Kevin Møller in 2025.

“Nebo was really good, especially against Flensburg, and again today, the defence worked well with him. In handball, everyone knows how important the goalkeeper is. He had many crucial saves in both matches and was one of the reasons why we have this trophy,” said MT coach Roberto Parrondo.

And right back Dainis Kristopans added: “He is our engine for emotions, he is a showman and can destroy opponents mentally.”

The top scorer of the EHF European League 2025/26 season was not awarded in Hamburg: Swedish back Axel Månsson scored 98 goals for IFK Kristianstad, who were eliminated from the competition in the play-offs.

images © 2026 Anze Malovrh / kolektiff