Top-flight experience a boost to Belarus

The Belarusian standard at EHF EURO events is tenth, their final position at the previous three tournaments. Now they aim higher but face tough opponents in Bratislava - Germany, Austria and Poland. Their final preparation will be a three-nation tournament in Hungary, facing the hosts and Bahrain, currently preparing for the Asian championship.

In qualification, Belarus finished second below Norway, despite beating the EHF EURO 2020 bronze medallists once as both finished with 10 points from six matches.  

Three questions ahead of the Men’s EHF EURO 2022:

Is the Belarusian team experienced enough despite the relatively young average age?

Head coach Iouri Chevtsov’s team are set to play their seventh EHF EURO and their sixth in a row. Chevtsov has led the team since 2009, building a squad including many rising stars from EHF Champions League clubs.

Right wing Mikita Vailupau, left wing Andrei Yurynok, line players Artsem Karalek and Viachaslau Bokhan as well as tall left back Uladzislau Kulesh have developed and gained experience in recent years. Between the posts, Meshkov duo Viachaslau Saldatsenka and Ivan Matskevich stand as a wall, combined with a strong defence. Although Belarus are quite a young squad, they are well-rehearsed and have played together for many years.

How important is the fact that Belarus can count on so many Champions League players?

“We have a very weak domestic league, therefore this international experience is worth gold and the only way for our young players,” says coach Chevtsov.

“Looking at Germany, they have few Champions League players but playing in the Bundesliga every week grants them the same experience as international matches,” says the former coach of the German clubs Essen and Rhein-Neckar Löwen. Having some Belarusian blocks at Meshkov Brest, Kielce and Motor Zaporozhye is crucial.

Will Belarus play with the classic Russian tactics - hammering shots from the back court?

Definitely not. Chevtsov is a master of tactical variations and one of his greatest assets are counter-attacks and high-speed handball, represented by the wings Mikita Vailupau and Andrej Yurynok. Also, the defence’s anticipation is famous for causing turnovers.

“All teams play modern handball at high speed and we try to find the balance between counter-attacks as often as it is possible with positional attacks. Because we saw that the number of technical errors is extremely high when we only focus on speed. And then we get punished, like in our EHF EURO 2020 match against Germany,” Chevtsov says.

Under the spotlight:  Mikita Vailupau

Mikita Vailupau was the second-best overall scorer of the EHF EURO 2020 with 47 goals, only topped by Sander Sagosen and best Belarusian scorer at the 2021 World Championship with 35 goals. He is the expert for counter-attacks and penalty shots in the team and for his club Meshkov Brest, where he also became the second-best scorer of the 2020/21 Champions League season and top scorer of the 2019/20 SEHA League.

Vailupau moved from SKA Minsk to HC Meshkov Brest in the summer of 2019 and will make the next step of his career by his transfer to Veszprem in 2022. The 26-year-old has a quite unusual hobby: he is an artist with Luc Abalo as a role model, painting in the style of abstract expressionism and already had some exhibitions in Minsk.

Self-esteem

Belarus won two test matches against their neighbours Russia at the beginning of November and coach Iouri Chetvsov was quite pleased that many of his players showed a rising form in those matches and in international competitions, mainly those coming from Meshkov Brest.

“Our main goal is to proceed to the main round. For me, Germany are the favourites, though they have rejuvenated their team. I am sure that the three remaining teams have the same opportunities to finish second in this really tough group. Proceeding to the main round would be a crucial step in the development of our team. In the world of handball, we are rated where we belong, but I hope, we can move ahead in the near future.”

Fun fact

Belarus were the first winners of a match at a Men’s EHF EURO: At the premiere in 1994 in Portugal, the team beat Germany in the official opener in Almada on 24:23 after a 12:10 half-time deficit. This was the start of their best EHF EURO final ranking, finishing eighth as they lost the 7/8 placement match 28:24 against Hungary.

What the numbers say

15 players, named in the provisional squad list, currently play in the group phases of the top club competitions with 11 of them in the EHF Champions League, seven of them for Meshkov Brest and two each at Kielce and Motor Zaporozhye.