Toni Gerona, coach with a vision to save Serbian handball: They said I'm crazy to take over Serbia

Previous coaches of the national handball team of Serbia had all the necessary knowledge about this team game, they completed the "game" several times and as hardened experts deserved a place at the head of the A team. But, they were also, and I apologize for saying this, but - they were difficult. As much as their expertise is indisputable, communication with the media, and thus the public - was not at an enviable level. The players, logically, had to follow the example of the coach, whether they wanted to or not. And that's how it came to be that in recent years, people know almost nothing about those guys who wear the Serbian jersey. Too bad, because there are so many interesting things worth saying.

The Serbian jersey is worn by smart, talented, witty, direct, charming players with difficult and less difficult, but certainly serious life stories through which each of them earned a place in the national team. Over the years, they developed relationships that other national teams cannot brag about. Some of them are godparents, some have been best friends since childhood (so much so that they dedicate tattoos to those friendships), one left the Croatian national team to play for ours, and the other, as the best player in Europe, left our A team dissatisfied with what happened in previous championships.

But, with Toni Gerona at the head of the Serbia team, things are different, and that can be felt in conversation with him, even before he gathered the players. It is felt also by the fact that the best player in Europe returned to the team because of Gerona. And only a month ago, it seemed impossible for Pepa (Petar Nenadic) to play again with the rest of Orlovi ("eagles," Serbian national team members).

With a smile into the fight against pressure

As we meet him for the first time, the Spaniard who just took over the Serbian national team sounds optimistic, enthusiastic, believes in the players who make up the current A team and speaks about them with respect and a smile and (which sold me in particular) - has a plan for the next eight years. He's not just talking about the need to think about the years to come. Toni has already planned them. He is not thinking only about the first team, but also about the B team, and the younger Serbian categories.

He only lost his smile twice during our conversation - when we discussed empty stands at the Serbian championship matches and when he remembered that people told him he was crazy to take over the Serbian national team.

Although he carries a considerable amount of pressure on his shoulders because he is the first foreigner to sit at the head of the national team bench, his face is dominated by the feeling of satisfaction and honor that he has been entrusted with this task. And it is not easy at all - Gerona is expected to bring Serbia back to the very top of the leading handball powers.

"You know, when I got the position in the Serbian national team, many friends called me and said, 'you are crazy, don't you know what their mentality is like'. That is the image that exists about Serbs around the world, that you have a very strong character. But I always say that I prefer a strong character to a weak one, the kind you have to push in order to achieve anything. That's because, if you have people with a strong character in the team and you make them work together, I am sure that something good will come out of it," Gerona told Telegraf.rs a day before his official presentation.

"What is a foreigner doing at the helm of the Serbian national team"

The Spanish expert knows that this is the first time that Serbia has a foreign coach.

"Serbs are a proud people and someone will surely say,'what is a foreigner doing at the helm of the national team'. And that's okay. But for me, it's a chance to show you how I work. I would like to remain the coach of Serbia for as long as possible, but of course one day a Serbian coach will take my place. When that happens, I want some trace left behind, that is the most important thing, a trace or a legacy that I did something good," Gerona is sincere.

"I know that this is the first time Serbia has had a foreigner as a coach and that is certainly a big challenge for me, but when you are a professional coach, then you know that the national team is the biggest responsibility, because the eyes of the nation, whose team you are heading, will be directed towards you. And that means that there is certainly some pressure, but I share that pressure with the professional staff and players, so that we can turn it in our favor and achieve results," he adds.

He spoke to Nenadic about returning

When Gerona took over the handball team, that was the first piece of good news. The second arrived soon with the best player in Europe, Petar Nenadic, announcing that he was returning to the team. As Nenadic stated, it is clear that with the arrival of Gerona, "real changes have finally been arrived at."

"I know Petar Nenadic from Barcelona when he was a very young player and then we got connected well and became friends, we kept in touch while he played in other clubs. When I came to Belgrade with the Tunisian team in 2018 to play against Serbia, he came to my hotel to see me and talk to me. We spoke when I became the coach and I am sure that he will help the national team a lot. I know that he will understand his role in the team and help us a lot to achieve the set goals," says the new Orlovi coach."

He has already heard from some players, he will talk to others soon, but it is clear that he is eager to finally gather them, in order to start realizing his vision.

"I can't wait to gather the players and start working with them. Unfortunately, that was impossible due to coronavirus, because clubs in different countries ended this season in different ways. Our priority is the safety and health of the players, so we have to wait a little longer, but we have already started with certain activities. I have already heard from some players, in the coming days I will invite others to present the situation and my plans to them, because that is how it should be. Players must know what will happen and how," Gerona is clear.

"Serbia must know how to have incredible players, with a huge potential to achieve much better results than those achieved in previous championships. But, I must also say that I have great respect for Dejan Peric, Nenad Perunucic, they are my friends. I don't know what exactly happened when they led the national team, I don't know what the situation was like then, or what happened, but we have to get the best out of their experience. And I thank them because they gave me all the information I needed," adds the coach.

A coach with a vision and a worked out plan

Gerona came to Belgrade for the weekend to present his plans to the leaders of the national team, and these are clear and include not only the A team of Serbia.

"On the one hand, we must focus on the European Championship, which will be played in 2022, but we must also focus on what will happen in 2028. Which means we now have a group of 30 players to work with for 2022 and that's our A team. But there is another group of younger people, who are between 15 and 20 years old, with whom we have to work for the future. They represent our B team. We will work with these two teams equally well during the coming years," explains Gerona.

As he stressed, all this serious work requires cooperation with coaches at the helm of teams in Serbia.

"Most players from the national team play in teams abroad. Some are here, but most aren't, which means we can't have that much of an impact on them because I can't go to some foreign club and tell the coach how to work with them. In fact, it may not be so impossible for me, because most of the coaches are Spaniards, but we must also turn to the players who play for Serbian clubs. They are young and they are the future of Serbia. That is why it is very important to have an agreement with local clubs and to try to work together in order to have better results in the future," the coach is clear.

"EHF has taken away our chance to fight for World Cup. We must respect that"

Handball fans, but also those working in handball, were affected by the decision of the European Handball Federation to cancel the playoff for the 2021 World Cup in Egypt, which meant that Serbia was deprived of the right to fight for a place in that tournament. A slim hope showed up in the form of a wild card, but it can be assumed that our team will not be lucky with that either.

"It is very difficult to accept that, although I understand the situation in which we all found ourselves and in which the EHF had to make such a decision. The same thing happened in the Champions League, where they also decided to deprive some clubs of the chance to fight for a place in the F4. The EHF decidedn based on one criterion. If we were in their place, we might have made decisions based on some other criteria," says Gerona.

"But we must respect theirs and hope to get a wild card for the World Cup. For now, we are focusing on a clear schedule we have, and those are qualifications in November and January. And then, if we happen to play the World Cup, I am sure that we will be ready for that as well," he says.

Anecdotes involving Serbian players

During the conversation and the story about working with legends of Serbian handball, he could not fail to mention Dejan Peric, with whom he collaborated with in Barcelona. He also remembered an anecdote from 2005, when they won the Champions League together.

"I remember it well, in the week when we won the Champions League, in 2005, Dejan Peric injured his back and did not train all week. But, two days before the final against Real, he was ready for training, and the day before the final he asked us to go to the small hall and do training adapted to him because the injury was still bothering him at that moment. Despite the back pain, he played that game. In fact, he played it excellently, and in the end we won the European title."

It's a blow to the Spanish coach that the stands in the home championship matches are empty.

"Serbia has really always had incredible players. I'm sorry to see that the stands are empty now. When Peric, Perunicic, Skrbic played, that was not the case. And that is also one of the things important to young players, the support from the stands. I hope that we will be able to fix that as well," Gerona is optimistic, with a smile that, I believe, will soon become a trademark of our national team.

A rich biography

He started his coaching career in the junior categories of Spain's Barcelona in 1999. From 2004 to 2008, he was a member of the professional staff of the famous generation of Barcelona ​​which won the EHF Champions League in 2005. He was the technical director of the youth school of Barcelona from 2008 to 2015, leading the second team of the most successful team in the history of handball.

As the coach of Qatar's El Jaish, he won the triple crown in the 2015/2016 season and the double crown in the 2016/2017 season.

He achieved the greatest coaching success with the Tunisian national team, winning the gold medal at the 2018 African Championship. During his time in Tunisia, he also won continental silver in January 2020, silver at the 2018 Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, while the team finished 12th at the 2019 World Cup in Germany and Denmark.

From the 2018/2019 season, he was on the bench of the French first league club Chartres, where Serbian national team member Vanja Ilic plays.

He was a lecturer at the Department of Handball at the Ramon Llull University in Barcelona. He is the author and co-author of several professional publications and videos and has given lectures at more than 50 conferences and seminars around the world.

(Jasmina Stakic)