Rubén Garabaya: Georgia have chances in EHF EURO 2028 Qualifiers

Spaniard Garabaya was brought in to replace Kalandadze after Georgia missed out on a place at the 2027 IHF World Championship, losing narrowly to Israel. His relatively young squad is placed in group 2 for the EHF EURO 2028 Qualifiers alongside Norway, Austria and Türkiye, and they will need to be at their best in order to progress.

With matches against Norway in Bergen and against Austria in Tbilisi coming up in November, eurohandball.com spoke to Garabaya ahead of his debut.

eurohandball.com: What are your expectations ahead of the start of the EHF EURO 2028 Qualifiers and the matches against Norway in Bergen and against Austria in Tbilisi?

Rubén Garabaya: The match against Norway is naturally the most difficult because they are a top-tier team, but we will go there to give our absolute maximum. For the match against Austria, I hope that with the warmth and support of our home crowd, we can compete on equal terms and push for the win.

eurohandball.com: How would you rate your chances of securing a place at the final tournament and can you analyse your opponents a bit for us?

Garabaya: In our group of four, two teams qualify directly, alongside the four best third-placed teams. Norway is an elite selection, and Austria is also a fantastic team with many players competing in the Bundesliga. It will be very, very difficult, but I believe we have our chances.

eurohandball.com: With back-to-back EHF EURO appearances for Georgia, how important is it for the development of the national team to continue the trend of playing at EHF EURO final tournaments?

Garabaya: Reaching the EHF EURO previously was a massive achievement for Georgia, and repeating it is not easy. We have a great generation of players and we are going to fight for it.

Unfortunately, since I took over the national team, we have had very few opportunities to consolidate the style of play I want to implement. Everything comes down to this week in November. It is still a bit early to apply everything I want into the tactical system, but we will fight with everything we have regardless.

eurohandball.com: Georgia boast a relatively young squad with not many players over the age of 30. Is that an advantage or disadvantage for you?

Garabaya: Players with experience have the advantage of knowing how to compete in complicated situations. On the other hand, younger players may be physically superior, though that is never guaranteed. Generally, younger players have a greater capacity to assimilate new concepts quickly. The most important thing is that they are quality players regardless of their age, and I believe we have a very balanced squad in that regard.

eurohandball.com: The upcoming qualifiers will be your first major challenge since taking over the helm of Georgia. What would you say is your main objective during your tenure and what would you consider a success when you look back on it in the future?

Garabaya: It is a huge challenge. Since I took charge, we have only had two weeks of training, which were several months ago. Given how much time has passed, trying to assume two very important matches in just a single week is not easy, especially since many tactical details we worked on will have been forgotten.

I believe the team will perform better as time goes on, but unfortunately, the competition schedule does not give us much margin. I don't expect to see the best version of the team this November, but I do expect it to be enough to compete successfully against both opponents.

photos © Aleksandar Kotevski / HC Eurofarm Pelister