Talant Dujshebaev takes over Hungarian men’s national team

Just three weeks out of the first matches in the EHF EURO 2016 Qualification, Talant Dujshebaev has been appointed new coach of the Hungarian men’s national team and replaces Lajos Mocsai who had stepped down about a month ago.

The Spanish handball legend, who won Olympic gold in 1992 and three times the EHF Champions League with Ciudad Real, has signed a contract until 2017.

He will remain the coach of Polish VELUX EHF Champions League participants Vive Tauron Kielce which he has been coaching since last season.

Olympic Games are most important

"It’s an honour to represent such a prestigious national team I am grateful for the Hungarian federation’s support and trust in me.

"Our aim is to qualify for the Olympic Games which will be an extremely difficult task but as long as there is hope we will give everything we have to reach the event," said Dujshebaev in on Wednesday.

Hungary narrowly lost to Slovenia (25:22 / 26:32) in the play-offs for the World Championship 2015 and will therefore miss the tournament in Qatar.

Lajos Mocsai resigned following the fiasco and with the qualifiers of the European Championship approaching the Hungarian federation needed to present a solution as quickly as possible.

Hungary play Portugal at home on 29 October, followed by a match against Ukraine in Kiev on 2 November. The fourth team in Group 5 is Russia.

Not a sidejob

There are doubts about how much energy Dujshebaev will save for the national team but the coach tried to calm everybody at his inaugural press conference.

"From (Juan Carlos) Pastor to (Dagur) Sigurdsson there are a lot of positive examples for coaches who worked with clubs and national teams at the same time. I’m not afraid of the task. I know I can reconcile my duties."

Juan Carlos Pastor coached the Spanish national team from 2004 to 2008, while he was also in charge of BM Valladolid.

Füchse Berlin coach Dagur Sigurdsson was only recently appointed head coach of the German national team. He will be in charge of both teams until the end of this season.

Dujshebaev will be assisted by ex-Veszprém playmaker Laszlo Sotonyi, who is one of the most promising faces in the current generation of up and coming young coaches.