The Egyptian Handball Federation (EHF) has finally named the successor of Roberto Garcia Parrondo as the head of the Egypt men’s senior national team, with another Spanish coach taking over on a one-year contract.

According to the official statement of the EHF, Juan Carlos Pastor will take over “The Pharaohs”, becoming the fourth Spanish coach in the history of the side and the third consecutive one, following in the footsteps of Javier Garcia Cuesta, who led the side between 1996 and 1999, David Davis, who spent one year at the helm of the team between 2018 and 2019, and Roberto Garcia Parrondo, who took over from Davis.

“We have great ambitions and our goal is always to reach the podium of major international tournaments. We know how good Egypt really are now, and this is why it was necessary to name an experienced coach for the team,” said Amr Salah, the Secretary General of the Egyptian Handball Federation.

With Parrondo wanting to continue his career at club level with German side MT Melsungen, Egypt went for Pastor, a 54-year-old coach with plenty of experience and a huge CV highlighted by excellent results both at club and national team level.

Pastor was the coach of the team which delivered the first-ever gold medal for Spain at the IHF Men’s World Championship in 2005 and added a silver medal at the EHF EURO 2006 and a bronze medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, completing a trio of medals in major international tournaments.

At club level, he helped BM Valladolid win the Spanish Cup twice, beating giants like Ciudad Real and Barcelona, and has been leading Hungarian powerhouse OTP Bank – Pick Szeged since 2013, announcing his resignation at the end of the season after winning three domestic titles and the Men’s EHF Cup in 2014.

Egypt will be only the fourth side coached by Pastor in his career, after Valladolid, Szeged and Spain’s national team.

Photo: Pick Szeged