Bebeshko takes the reins in Brest

Belarusian champions HC Meshkov Brest will have a new head coach in the upcoming season. Croatian Zeljko Babic, who has led the team to two national titles in two years, will be replaced by Ukrainian Sergey Bebeshko.

This was announced by club management just after the dramatic final of the Belarusian league, which Brest won in decisive third game in the best-of-three series against SKA Minsk in a breathtaking penalty shootout.

Bebeshko, who has signed a two-year contract, is enthusiastic about his new challenge.

"HC Meshkov Brest is the most promising handball project in the former Soviet Union at the moment. Good funding, great arena, fantastic fans, participation in the Champions League and SEHA-League — who else has that? It is an honor to work for this club," the 47-year-old told eurohandball.com.

Zeljko Babic's departure was announced already a few weeks ago as he had been appointed as the head coach of the Croatian national team in February.

The Balkan team has already played two Men's EHF EURO 2016 qualification matches under his guidance, exchanging victories with Norway. Babic was able to perform both jobs until the end of the season, but for the future, the Croatian opted to concentrate on the work in his homeland.

For his successor Bebeshko, Belarus is not a new destination in his career. After starting as a coach in Spain, the 1992 Olympic Champion with the CIS team was at the helm of Dinamo Minsk from 2009 until 2013, the main rival of HC Meshkov Brest at that time. His spell in the Belarusian capital was quite successful as Dinamo won the championship in each of the four seasons.

But in 2013, Dinamo and Bebeshko went their separate ways. The Belarusian club appointed the Slovene Boris Denic as the head coach, but within his first season the club went bankrupt and ceased to exist. Meanwhile, Bebeshko decided to return to his homeland, signing the contract with HC Motor Zaporozhye.

His first season with with Motor seemed quite successful as they won the national league in 2014. But in the following season, the team could not get past the group phase of the VELUX Champions League and the coach decided to step down.

After a few months without a job, Bebeshko is now taking over at HC Meshkov. He was not the only contender for this position: media informed about Brest's negotiations with Iuri Chevtsov, Kasim Kamenica and Slavko Goluza. However, it was the Ukrainian who was eventually selected by the seven-time Belarusian champions.

Bebeshko's advantage is that he knows some Brest players quite well. Belarus national players Dzmitry Nikulenkau, Maxim Babichau, Dzianis Rutenka, Siarhei Shylovich, Dzmitry Kamyshyk worked with him at Dinamo.

"This factor should help me in my work because those players will easily understand me. It is a big bonus for any coach. But it will not give any advantage to the players since I am going to treat everyone equally," Bebeshko said.