Türkiye appoints Gordo as head coach of the men's national team

Experienced Spanish coach Daniel Gordo has been appointed the new coach of the Türkiye men’s senior national team, as he will try and engineer a progress, with the aim of bringing the European side to its maiden international competition.

Türkiye, which finished second at the 2017 IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, have missed the cut for the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, being eliminated by Italy in the Qualification Europe Phase 1, after a 64:65 aggregate loss.

While Turkish teams have delivered some progress at club level, the national team has failed to meet expectations, therefore Gordo, who has plenty of experience at both club and national team levels, was brought in to improve Türkiye’s team.

"Turkish handball has a long history. This is of great importance among European teams. We have strong goals and I will work hard to bring Turkish handball to the best possible levels. I even dream of making it to a level where I can compete with European countries," said Gordo, according to the official website of the Türkiye Handball Federation.

“I want to create team spirit in the Turkish handball team and give new players a chance. The most important thing are the players' high motivation and team spirit. For this reason, camps and training are very important. The 10-month preparation before the first official matches is a chance for us, we will have time for new techniques and strategies. "It will be my goal to bring new ideas and missions to the team," added the new Türkiye coach.

Gordo started his coaching experience at the highest level in 2012, when he was the assistant coach for Ademar Leon. He also spent time in the Faroe Islands, Brazil, Egypt and Belarus, before returning to Leon, where he has been the head coach since the summer of 2023.

The Spanish coach also led Brazil men’s national team between 2019 and 2020, reaching the semi-finals of the Pan American Games.

“I can say that our team has been in a period of development recently. We are happy with that. We have different goals now. We will not have an official match until next November, before the Qualifications for the EHF EURO 2026. We will have time. We made an agreement with Dani, whose school of thought and experience we trust very much, after our long-term meetings. I believe that he will bring a different breath, a different energy to Turkish handball," said Uğur Kılıç, the President of the Türkiye Handball Federation.

Photo credit: Türkiye Handball Federation