After Dagur Sigurðson, who has been Japan men’s national team coach since 2017, left in February, the Japan Handball Association (JHA) set out on a mission to find a new coach, one who could continue the path set by Sigurðson.

At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Japan, which finished 11th for the third consecutive time in the competition, were led by Antonio Carlos Ortega, FC Barcelona’s coach, but both Ortega and Japan knew that this was only a three-months contract, with the Asian side needing to find a new coach after this summer.

Already qualified for the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, where they will play in Group F, alongside Sweden, Spain and Chile, Japan decided to continue with a foreign coach, and the chosen candidate was Spanish mastermind Toni Gerona.

Gerona, who just turned 51 years old in July, started his career as an assistant coach for FC Barcelona, between 2004 and 2008, then leading the second team of the Spanish giants, between 2009 and 2015.

Then, he spent two years at Qatari club El Jaish, before signing up to lead the Tunisia men’s national team, between 2017 and 2020, while also fulfiling the head coach role at C'Chartres MHB, in the French first league.

Between 2020 and 2024, Gerona also was the Serbia men’s national team coach, which he led at the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship, finishing on the 11th place, with four wins and two losses.

"I saw the Asian qualifications for the Paris 2024 Olympics and the World Championship and even how the team played at Olympics, seeing that the Japan's performance was getting better and better and feeling that it had a big potential. From here, I will continue to develop young people and help Japan grow even more. I want to get involved and I'm very excited because I see great potential in his speed," said Gerona.

The Spanish coach will also fulfil the role of the coordinator of the youth and junior teams in Japan’s handball pyramid, as well as aiming to improve the methodology of the Japanese coaches.

“The first goal is to win at least one match to be able to qualify for the main round of the World Championship in 2025. Then, in 2026, we host the Asian Games, in Nagoya. In the same year, the Asian Men’s Handball Championship is played. In 2027, the World Championship returns, which will take place in Germany, and the qualifiers for the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028. It will be four years with a lot of work and complicated challenges,” concluded Gerona.

The new Japan national team coach already made his debut in a friendly match, where the national team of Japan played giants Paris Saint-Germain, during the Japan tour of the French champions.

Credit photo: Japan Handball Association / Yukihito Taguchi