Poland
Poland start their quest to revive old glory under new leadership. After signing a five-year deal in March 2023, Marcin Lijewski enters his first major event as head coach at EHF EURO 2024. Lijewski’s mission is clear: guide Poland back to where the four-time World Championship medallists and 1976 Olympic bronze winners once were – among the very best teams in Europe. Their last notable success was bronze from the 2015 IHF World Championship.
Lijewski has stepped in after Poland failed to deliver in three consecutive EHF EUROs. After making it to the quarter-finals of their 2016 home tournament, Poland didn’t even qualify in 2018 and had any medal hopes dashed soon in both 2020 (preliminary round) and 2022 (main round). Also, crashing out in the main round of the 2023 World Championship they co-hosted with Sweden was nothing short of a disappointment for Poland.
But if anyone knows how to win medals, then it is Lijewski. As a club player, he won the EHF Champions League with Hamburg in 2013; as a national team player, he helped Poland win silver at the World Championship in 2007 and bronze in 2009 while making the All-star Team as the tournament’s best right back on both occasions.
Can he replicate the success as a coach? At least, Lijewski can work with a Polish squad that looks stronger than it has done for quite some time. Industria Kielce star Szymon Sicko, 26, is in the prime of their careers and will guide the team alongside experienced on-court leaders like Orlen Wisla Plock right back Michal Daszek and Paris Saint-Germain HB line player Kamil Syprzak. However Arkadiusz Moryto's participation is in doubt as the tournament begins, due to an injury.
Poland look ready for the challenge in one of the toughest preliminary groups at EHF EURO 2024, which includes Norway, Slovenia, and the Faroe Islands.
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| # | Player | MP | Goals | Shots | % | 7m | YC | RC | 2 Min | TP |
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| # | Goalkeeper | MP | Saves | Shots | % | 7m |
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| TOTAL | {{totalSaves}} | {{totalShotReceives}} | {{totalSaveEfficiency}} | {{total7mSaves}}/{{total7mShotsReceives}} |
32
28
25
32
32
21
31
14
29
31
30
27
28
38
19
37
30
23
EHF competition history
Netherlands
25
Poland
24
Poland
27
Netherlands
21
Poland
26
Sweden
24
Poland
23
Croatia
37
Poland
32
Belarus
27
Poland
28
Norway
30
France
25
Poland
31
Fyr Macedonia
23
Poland
24
Poland
29
Serbia
28
Hungary
31
Poland
28
Croatia
28
Poland
24
Poland
27
Serbia
26
Denmark
28
Poland
27
Poland
21
Sweden
24
Korea
20
Poland
25
Poland
38
Chile
23
Argentina
23
Poland
24
Poland
35
Slovakia
33
Poland
26
Iceland
29
Croatia
24
Poland
21
Poland
24
France
29
Poland
35
Czech Republic
34
Poland
32
Spain
26
Poland
30
Slovenia
30
Poland
27
Sweden
24
Germany
25
Poland
27
Poland
34
Romania
22
Montenegro
23
Poland
31
Poland
32
Sweden
32
Poland
32
Turkey
21
Turkey
20
Poland
30
Sweden
27
Poland
24
Romania
33
Poland
29
Poland
30
Montenegro
20
Cyprus
11
Poland
34
Poland
35
Cyprus
11
Poland
27
Letonia
12
Switzerland
28
Poland
20
Poland
27
Spain
27
Letonia
19
Poland
36
Spain
30
Poland
24
Poland
24
Switzerland
22
ECh Beach Handball
2024 - Champion
Key Players
Szymon Sicko was one of Poland’s top scorers at the EHF EURO 2022 with 31 goals. He made his debut in the national team in 2017 and is a classical shooter, the successor of legendary left back Karol Bielecki. Sicko was signed by Kielce in 2017, but was on loan to Hüttenberg in Germany and Zabrze in Poland until he returned to Kielce in 2020. In the current Machineseeker EHF Champions League season, Sicko has scored 45 goals for Kielce; he scored 70 goals last season as Kielce reached the final.
With 164 international matches played and 334 goals, Kamil Syprzak is the most experienced and the tallest (2.07m) player in the Polish team. However, he missed Poland’s home World Champioship in 2023 because of a calf injury as well as the 2021 edition in Egypt due to Covid-19. Syprzak moved from Plock to Barça in 2015 and after four seasons transferred to Paris Saint-Germain. He was the second top scorer in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2022/23, with 103 goals, and has netted 74 times for PSG so far this season in Europe's top club competition.
Head Coach
The former Polish international became the national team coach in March 2023 on a five-year contract that runs until the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. He replaced Patryk Rombel in the role. Lijewski previously coached Polish clubs Gdansk and Zabrze between 2017 and 2022. As a player, he made his national team debut in 1997 and scored 711 times in 251 matches for Poland. He was named in the All-star Team at the 2007 and 2009 IHF Men's World Championships, where Poland won silver and bronze, and also won the EHF Champions League in 2013 with Hamburg.
