Israel Handball Team Begins European Championship Qualifiers Against Czech Republic

The Israeli national handball team is set to commence its European Championship qualifying campaign on Wednesday, November 3rd, with an away match against the Czech Republic in Zlin. This marks the first of two crucial away games, with the second scheduled for Saturday against Slovenia, following a successful negotiation to swap home-and-away fixtures.

The team's clear objective is to qualify for the European Championship for the first time since 2002. To achieve this, they must secure one of the top two spots in their group, which also includes Bosnia, or finish as one of the four best third-place teams across all eight groups. Every point and every goal is critical, as results against the fourth-place team do not count towards qualification.

The squad arrived in Zlin and was joined by players based abroad, including Yoav Lombroso, Yahav Shamir, Yonatan Dayan, Tal Feld, and Daniel Mosindi. Tomer Rash Armen, who plays in the Czech Republic, was also added to the roster. The coaching staff, led by Spanish coach David Pisonero and his assistant Chen Pomerantz, is also in place.

Following the recent successes of the youth teams, who qualified for the World Championship, there is a strong desire to replicate this achievement at the senior level. Louick Baksou, a member of the successful youth squads, has been promoted to the senior team for the first time and will also play with the U20 team in the World Championship this summer.

Czech Republic finished 17th in the last European Championship, while Slovenia placed 8th. Coach Pisonero acknowledged the difficulty of the upcoming matches, stating, "Our guys are full of enthusiasm and desire to do something great and continue the progress we started in the previous campaign." He added, "We clearly understand that both games will be extremely difficult, away from home. Czech Republic is a very dangerous opponent, but we will try to start well and believe in our way."

Player Daniel Mosindi expressed confidence, "We will face a very, very good opponent in the Czech Republic, but we are also coming with the attitude of going to win. We are a very cohesive team, we have been playing together for a long time, and also with David and Chen. We have a good chance to win the games we have this week, it's important to stick to the game plan, to believe, and I believe we will do it."

In another match within the group, Slovenia will host Bosnia simultaneously.