Handball Mastermind series continues with Xavi Pascual

Through his lengthy tenure at Barça, a period at Dinamo Bucuresti, his stints as head coach of the Romania national team, and his current roles with Veszprém and at the helm of the Egypt men’s side, Pascual has been one of the most influential in the game for almost two decades. Now, he shares on his handball philosophy.

“Handball, from the beginning, was my passion,” says Pascual. “It’s not only what I know — the players, they are teaching me every day, in every practice. It’s something amazing, to learn every day.”

From Catalonian youth teams to the top of the Champions League

Pascual, a former player himself, finding his place as goalkeeper, started his coaching career training those in his old position. From goalkeeper coach for Barça he became assistant to Manolo Cadenas and then head coach — a position, leading Barça, that he would truly make his own, creating an enormous legacy of dominance in 12 years in the role.

“Barça is the top club in the world. It’s number one in handball. I spent a lot of years there, and it was amazing what we did,” reflects Pascual, but says that his approach was no different there than with any other teams: Coaching is his passion and his obsession.  

“It doesn’t matter if, you know, you are at Veszprém or before in Dinamo or in Barcelona, when I was working with the young players, also in Octavio or in other clubs — I’m spending a lot of hours to think how we can improve. How we can do something different. And it’s something that I’m enjoying too.”

Pascual talks about his coaching evolution in the Handball Mastermind episode, reflecting on the early years working with youth players, while he was still active on court.

“From the beginning, I started to be coach with the young players because it’s something that I think is internal of mine,” says Pascual of his pull towards coaching. “While I was a player, I was a coach also with a lot of young teams.”

“This guy had something different”

Looking at Barça’s success, Pascual highlights the contribution of the youth academy system, emphasising the importance of longevity in the work.

“It’s not something that we did last year or in 10 years or in 20 years,” says Pascual. “It’s very complicated because the level of the first team is so big and they must win the Champions League as a goal.”

Pascual talks about how difficult it is for even the most talented players coming through academies to make the jump to the top level — and then stay there.

“When one guy appears in the first team and he has the capacity to have the continuity, it’s amazing.

“I remember that Aleix Gómez was, in his category, playing,” reflects Pascual. “Barça had another young team also, who had better players than him, but this guy had something different.”

“When you have pressure, it’s because you can win something”

Through his career, Pascual has seen it all — helped develop the future stars of the game on the youth level, learnt what it takes to reach the top in the toughest competitions and withstood the pressure that comes with expectation from both himself and externally.

“I always tell to my players that the pressure is a privilege. When you have pressure, it’s because you can win something. If you don’t have pressure, you never can win something,” says Pascual.

“My job is what I want to do. Then of course, I have good moments and bad moments, but this is a part of the life. Who doesn’t have bad moments in his life?”

You can also watch the Pascual episode of Handball Mastermind now on EHFTV and the Home of Handball YouTube channel.

Photos: Roland Peka