It was 2001 and Gonzalo Carou, back then only 21 years old, was making his debut at the IHF Men’s World Championship. 20 years later, he returned to the world handball flagship competition, in Egypt, for the last time, marking his 11th appearance.

It was a record for the Argentinian captain, who was not supposed to be at Egypt 2021, but the Covid-19 pandemic made him change his plans. Carou was always going to retire after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, but as they were postponed for one year, the line player made sure he said goodbye to his playing career at Tokyo.

That also meant that Carou’s final IHF Men’s World Championship was going to be in Egypt, where he returns, this time as a coach, in a one of the biggest challenges in his star-studded career for the former Argentina player. 

A few weeks ago, Carou, who worked as an assistant coach for Argentina men's national team at the 2023 IHF Men's World Championship and at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, got an interesting proposition from one of the nine teams taking part in the IHF Men’s Club World Championship. The California Eagles, winners of the 2024 North American and Caribbean Senior Club Championship, needed a coach for the competition. 

When Carou got the question, he got immediately excited.

“I am happy and humble to be here, it is a competition where I wanted to play as a player, but I never had the chance to feature in. When this chance appeared, to be here as a coach, I took it. It is a huge motivation, but a big responsibility, we are playing against some of the best teams in the world,” says Carou.

Everything took off in a matter of days, as the initial contacts were positive and were followed by a formal offer, accepted by Carou, who played in Spain for over 20 years, with only a season in France, at Istres, between 2014 and 2015.

“Pablo, who is the president of the team, was looking for a coach, he was in contact with Fede Vieyra, a former teammate in the national team, he told him he is looking for a coach to lead the team in the competition. When Pablo found out about me, he liked the idea, he knew me as a player, how I am as a coach, we had some online meetings. I told him my idea of handball, he told me how the team is, what can we really do,” says Carou.

Carou was not there when the Eagles secured the berth for the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, sealing the title at the 2024 North American and Caribbean Senior Club Championship, where they lost a match against Los Angeles THC, but bounced back and clinched the final against New York THC, 24:21. 

Yet Carou, the best defender in the Spanish league in the 2019/2020 season, did not travel in the United States of America, rather staying in Spain, where he is based now and spent nearly all of the last 20 years, supervising the team’s training sessions online.

“It is a difficult competition, because we will travel to Egypt without having a joint training session, it will be difficult, I told him how was my idea of work, he loved it, therefore I am here,” says Carou.

“I think I can help with my handball knowledge. It’s been almost 25 years since I left Argentina and played in Europe, it was 2001 when I left first, I played in Spain, I also was in France. I played for excellent coaches, like Jordi Ribera, Manolo Cadenas, Rafael Guijosa, Jorge Duenas, they are excellent coaches, whom taught me a lot and I have learnt a lot from them, both in clubs and at the national team.”

At the draw which took place in a luxurious setting  in the New Alamein City in Egypt, the California Eagles were sent into Group C, alongside reigning champions, SC Magdeburg, which have a 12-match winning streak, and Khaleej Club, which finished on the sixth place in each of the previous two appearances in the competition.

“We know that in our group there are strong teams, Magdeburg are one of the best teams in the world, Khaleej are a team which play very strong, very physical, they have good quality. We will try to do our best, we know how difficult it is to play without training together. We will prepare for the next matches too, to give our best in those matches. We do not only want to take part, we want to win at least one match, this would be very good for handball in the United States of America,” adds Carou.

“For all players, to play against Magdeburg, is a huge honour, because every player wants to play against the best, right? There would have been three chances to play against a strong team – Veszprem, Barcelona and Magdeburg – we are playing against Magdeburg and I am very happy to be here, to play against them. We need to be focused and enjoy this match and see how far we are able to go against one of the best teams in the world.”

The Eagles are team with a mix of American players, as well as some players from Europe and will try to be as competitive as possible at the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship.  

In the previous editions, the other two American clubs, the New York City THC finished ninth, while the San Francisco CalHeat finished 10th in 2021 and 2023, with the Eagles also aiming to secure at least one win in Egypt, to create a better future for American club handball.

“The objective is to compete, to show a good look for USA handball, it is very important also to win a match or two, the closest to us might be Taubate or Sydney Uni, but I think the most important is to have a good feeling, to progress from match to match and improve tactically,” says Carou.