Not being present at the 2025 edition is obviously a disappointment, but at URBH, we preferred to roll up our sleeves. If Yérime Sylla left her post to try to qualify China for Los Angeles 2028, Cherif Hamani took up the torch of a team that has changed.
The Red Wolves aim for Euro 2026 handball with Cherif Hamani as new coach: “My goal was to coach as high as possible”
“We saw a 90-91 generation (Editor’s note: Qerimi, the Bolaers brothers, the Kedziora brothers, Spooren, Robyns, Lettens…) retire internationally at that time, remembers Jean-François Hannosset, the president of the Fédé. The news, with guys abroad in particular, still needs to mature. The project that should take us towards 2028 is precisely to perfect this group, because the potential is there!”
gullWe need to work on osmosis in the group.
The new version of the Red Wolves (led by Deekens, Kötters, Coolman…) does not lack ambition. With Hamani, the Federation wants to regain a place on the world stage. Moreover, the coach comes out of a three-day training course with around twenty players to work on the game plan.The Euro 2026 (Editor’s note: Belgium has never qualified for a European Championship) is part of our ambitions, continues the boss of Belgian handball. But the 2027 World Cup and Euro 2028 are an obligation. It’s not just possible. It’s clearly a goal.”
The objectives are clear, but Hamani’s debut has not been the most encouraging, with two defeats in the group stage of the Euro 2026 qualifying campaign in November against Croatia and the Czech Republic. “Against the Czechs, our match was disastrous (Editor’s note: 15-31), but it’s a recurring problem with us: the size. We have technical, fast players, but very few who grow above 1m90. We have to work on this, assure Hannosset. Also on communication, because, in this group, there is not this natural osmosis as we have experienced. These are several horizons, several mentalities that must be put together in a puzzle. We must also instill in them the culture of winning.”
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