“Romania do not know the word patience. But we need to learn it”

The four-time world champions have not made it to the EHF EURO since 1996 and have failed to progress to the IHF World Championship since 2011.

Their hopes to qualify for Poland-Sweden 2023 were dampened Thursday following an eight-goal loss at North Macedonia (30:22) in the first leg of the qualification phase 2.

Yet Romania are still moderately upbeat about their chances, after their opponents ended the game on a 9:2 run, preventing Xavi Pascual’s side from scoring more than twice in the last 15 minutes.

“It is disappointing, we know that, because the gap is big. Yet everything could be turned around in the second leg, we need to hope that we can do better and get a good start in the game. That would help us a lot,” said Romania goalkeeper Ionut Iancu, who finished the game with 11 saves and a 34.3 per cent saving efficiency.

The 28-year-old goalkeeper has constantly been one of the best players in the Romanian league over the past few years and is one of the veterans of the squad, which has seen major changes in that period.

Currently plying his trade at Steaua Bucuresti, who are third in the league and trailing leaders Dinamo by six points, Iancu knows a thing or two about comebacks, but also about disappointments.

A year ago, Romania needed a win against Montenegro in the EHF EURO 2022 Qualifiers, only to drop the game (23:19) after winning a single point from two matches against Kosovo, extending Romania’s absence from the EHF EURO for at least two more years until 2024.

“It is difficult to compare disappointments, especially big ones. I would say that this game against North Macedonia ranked a bit higher, because we really thought we had a good draw and could eliminate them,” Iancu said.

“The loss against Montenegro was surely painful and it left a mark because it meant that we failed to qualify for the EHF EURO. Yes, it has been difficult for Romania.”

The expectations are, however, big. While men’s handball in Romania has been on the downside over the last decades, the importance of its history cannot be understated.

Therefore, bringing one of the best coaches around for his second stint at the helm of the team just underlines the ambitions. But even Xavi Pascual, winner of the EHF Champions League Men with Barça last season, cannot create miracles on the go.

“We are truly honoured to have such a coach and it means a lot,” Iancu said.

“But we, Romanians, do not know the meaning of the word patience. It is not only in sports, it is true in every aspect of day-to-day life. But we need to learn it.”

The goalkeeper was aware that Romania won’t earn back their powerhouse status overnight.

“We need that time to gel, to improve our game and become better and better. Otherwise, if we just hunt for short-term results, we will get back where we are not,” Iancu added.

Teams like Netherlands or Portugal have been mentioned at length regarding their improvement over the last years and could serve as models for former powerhouses. Tearing up the status quo means that every step on the way must be carefully debated and planned.

That is why Xavi Pascual enlisted one of the best former Romania players in his staff: 37-year-old goalkeeper Mihai Popescu, who was named best Romanian male player for eight years between 2010 and 2019, was announced as assistant coach of the national team, while he is still an active player for French outfit Saint-Raphaël Var Handball.

Iancu and Popescu shared the duties for over six years in Romania’s team between the goal posts, with the 28-year-old being Popescu’s understudy. Now, his former teammate is the assistant coach.

“It is a funny situation at times, because I remember when we were both playing, I was giving him some pieces of advice when I was on the bench and he was on the court. Now, it is the other way around,” Iancu said.

“Definitely, it is a big win for Romania, because he has a ton of experience and we always got on amazingly. He will help because he knows Romanian handball very well.”

Experience, a bit of luck and a perfect game will be needed for Romania to mount an astonishing comeback against North Macedonia in a packed ‘Dinamo’ Arena on Saturday (live on EHFTV at 17:00 CET). An eight-goal deficit is huge in a double-header, but the stakes are high.

The winner will face Czech Republic in the play-offs for a ticket to Poland-Sweden 2023.