Dujshebaev does not fear taking risks

Hungary head coach Talant Dujshebaev is preparing the Hungarian national team for the EHF EURO 2016 at which the team faces top drawer opponents in its quest to reach the Olympic qualification, but the Spanish coach nevertheless brought in youngsters to replace some of his ’battle-hardened’ veterans.

Dusjhebaev is not afraid of taking risks – something his predecessors at the national team helm could never say about themselves.

The utmost importance of this tournament is beyond doubt, especially as it is Hungary’s final chance to reach the qualification for the Olympic Games.

In this kind of pressure situation head coaches tend to play it safe to avoid becoming the scapegoats for missing out on the most important tournament of all.

After Hungary failed to qualify for the World Championship in 2015, former head coach Lajos Mocsai stepped down and Talant Dujshebaev was appointed with a two-fold mission: marshal the long overdue generation change and lead the team to the Olympics via the EHF EURO 2016.

Let the young guns fire

The Spanish coach started to bring in youngsters from the Hungarian league during the qualification phase for the EHF EURO and the team quickly sealed its place in Poland.

Ahead of the Provident Cup in Debrecen at the beginning of November, Dujshebaev shocked the Hungarian public when he announced his squad.

The absence of veteran left back Ferenc Ilyés (MOL-Pick Szeged) and right wing Gergely Harásnyi (Tatabánya) could be explained by their age, but leaving Veszprém’s playmaker Máté Lékai out of consideration raised quite a few eyebrows.

“I can’t send out names to win us games. I want to underline that I have maximum respect for those players who were left out of the squad now, but I invited the players who are in the best shape. The door of the squad is open but as for now this is my team,” he answered his critics.

Is lack of routine an issue?

The Provident Cup obviously left a lot of questions unanswered, however, the two easy wins against Belarus and Argentina proved that there is a great potential in Dujshebaev’s team.

The youngsters, who were nominated to replace the aforementioned players, did fairly well and the team seemed to be getting used to the different handball philosophy the Spanish coach has been implementing.

However, it is not the talent of left back Richárd Bodó (Tatabánya), centre back Rudolf Faluvégi (Csurgó) and line player Bence Bánhidi  Balatonfüred) that some people question, but their international routine.

Take into consideration the fact that because of the missed World Championship 2015, Hungary have to do extremely well in Poland to clinch an Olympic qualification berth, it means this young team will have to win games against such heavy weights as Denmark (whom they face in Group D), Spain and Sweden (whom they are likely to face in main round).

“I had to ignore the past and concentrate on the players’ current form. Our common goal is to reach the Olympics and I want to be sure that my men are in top form when we face the finest teams in Europe,” claims Dujshebaev.

The Spaniard has the trust and support ofthe Hungarian Handball Federation, but he has to bear in mind that he will have to take the blame, if Hungary fail to qualify for the Olympics.

It is not conventional to have a national team undergo such major changes before the end of an Olympic cycle, but Dujshebaev is brave enough to do so.

But at this stage it is not enough to bring forward a good team. They have to deliver results, too.