Costica Buceschi behind Türkiye’s master plan at maiden EHF EURO

A 29:29 draw with Serbia and a 30:28 loss against Montenegro on their home court proved that Türkiye are on the right path. And a big chunk of that growth is due to the ambition of the Turkish Handball Federation to improve the sport, while naming an experienced coach on the bench.

Costica Buceschi has plenty of experience under his belt, winning the Romanian domestic league with HCM Baia Mare in 2014 and then moving to Dunarea Braila, before returning to Baia Mare. He also spent one year at Turkish champions Kastamonu Belediyesi GSK, leading the side in the EHF Champions League Women.

And then, since 2022, he assumed the head coach position of the Türkiye women’s senior national team, spearheading a change that materialised into a berth at the EHF EURO.

“The biggest challenge for me and this team was to change the mentality of the players. Many of the players who are still in Türkiye are not full-time professionals. Many of them are physical education teachers. So we had to change their mindset and help them improve and become better and better. Of course, having nine players featuring in domestic leagues outside Türkiye helped, because they are already being used to this level,” says Buceschi.

Several changes have been made around the squad and the results could be seen over the last year, when Türkiye were really confident on their home court and provided some excellent results against more experienced and better teams on paper.

“The federation understood the need for development and several training camps, we got the players who are featuring domestically earlier than needed, we had one week more with them. They are also learning English, to communicate better, because this is needed for a successful team. We have some seminars in each training camp and the players are answering positively,” adds the Romanian coach.

Now, there are nine Turkish players featuring overseas, with four of them playing in the Romanian league. The most experienced are left back Asli Iskit Caliskan, who was between the top five scorers in the Romanian league last season, and left wing Beyza Irem Türkoglu, who signed for the Romanian side Gloria Buzau, after spending two seasons at Team Esbjerg, in Denmark.

This means that Türkiye are slowly making the right steps for development, especially as they will be one of the five hosts of the Women's EHF EURO 2026, a competition where they will aim to shine on their home court.

“Basketball and volleyball are big in women’s sports in Türkiye, they had excellent performances. So our aim is to grow organically and become better and better. We had some hires in the federation from volleyball, therefore we are improving and becoming what we want to be,” adds Buceschi.

Back to the EHF EURO 2024, Türkiye will have their work cut out, having been drawn in group A of the preliminary round, against Sweden, Hungary and North Macedonia. That means the debutants will face two of the best teams in Europe, a perennial contender in Sweden, and an ambitious Hungary team, who will play on their home court, in Debrecen.

But the biggest match for Türkiye, which will likely start every match as outsiders due to their lack of experience, will be the one against North Macedonia, a match that Buceschi has circled since the draw.

“Of course, we will face some very difficult opponents. Sweden and Hungary are some of the best teams in Europe and will likely fight for a medal here. But against North Macedonia, I think we have a chance, we can win the match. We saw them at the Carpathian Trophy, where we were too, so we know them well. Maybe we can spring a surprise there,” says the Romanian coach.

Indeed, a win in the maiden appearance at the EHF EURO for Türkiye would be a fantastic performance and a confirmation that things are moving in the right direction.

Photos © MSVPhotographers (main and in-text), Ekrem Ozsoy & Stefan Ivanovic (in-text)